Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Happy New (Mentoring) Year!

We all know January to be a time for fresh starts, new resolutions, and… mentoring? A National Mentoring Month? Well mentoring is important year round but this January marks the eighth time an entire month has been dedicated to it.

This month of awareness-raising mentoring gives what we do here at Generations Incorporated a national platform, and I love that. To celebrate the month last year we hosted Irene Smalls and our mentors had a wonderful time.

This year we’re putting a different spin on how we observe the month. We’ll be making a special effort on January 22^nd to get all our staff and AmeriCorps members to participate in Thank Your Mentor Day™ (and I encourage you to join us). For those interested in participating there are “Four Ways to Honor Your Mentor”:

1) contact your mentor directly to express your appreciation
2) pass on what you received by becoming a mentor to a young person in your community
3) make a financial contribution to a local mentoring program
4) write a tribute to your mentor for posting on www.WhoMentoredYou.org.

For more information visit: www.nationalmentoringmonth.org

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Get Your Feet Wet…With Experience Corps!

It’s not every day that a literacy volunteer takes their teaching to the swimming pool. But that is exactly what Experience Corps volunteer Sheldon Appel did with his student this winter. Eric, a student at the Blackstone Elementary School, was reluctant to go swimming with his class. But when Eric confided in his Reading Coach that he was nervous about the water, Sheldon told him that he would be happy to help teach him how to swim. After obtaining permission from Eric’s parents, teachers, and the school administration, Sheldon arranged their first swim meet. Eric met “Mr. Shelly” at the pool, and Sheldon showed him the basics of kicking, stroke technique, and how to do laps! Now Sheldon says, Eric has made great progress, “I helped him, [and now] he’s swimming.”

I’m continually amazed at the depth of relationships our volunteers build with their students. By spending just a few hours a week reading together, these students are able to relate to these retirees in ways most wouldn’t even consider. And visa versa. That’s one of the things I love most about GI– we’re learning from each other. Constantly.