Preston Students Getting Wild!

Posted on March 8, 2012 by admin

Amy Schmer has never seen her class quite like this. Amy is a sixth-grade science teacher at Preston Middle School in Fort Collins, Colo., where she and her students are participating in a unique wildlife research project in conjunction with nearby Sylvan Dale Ranch, an historic working horse and cattle ranch in Loveland. David Neils, director of the International Telementor Program, an academic project-based mentoring program that matches students with real-world professionals, arranged for the multi-year, project-based association to take place between the school and the ranch. How did he do it? He simply asked the ranch owners and they said yes.

“We now have 3,000+ acres on which to conduct science research,” says David. “This is a dream come true for me. I’ve been looking for an opportunity where students are tackling real wildlife issues, improving wildlife habitat, and collaborating with real professionals every step of the way. That dream is now a reality thanks to the ranch owners and many others who have stepped up to the plate.”

The students have now installed the ranch’s first wildlife guzzler—a stock water tank for wildlife. Sixth graders were literally swinging pick axes and setting up fixed movement-triggered cameras to document their studies. A few weeks later they already had their first thirsty visitor (check out more videos and photos here).

When David visits the classroom, he says, there are never less than five hands in the air at a time. “It’s electric,” he says. “Students thrive when they’re learning math and science in a way that makes a difference. This kind of learning will be something they remember for the rest of their lives.”

From a teacher’s perspective, Amy’s class is working on real science projects in collaboration with professionals in the workplace who are mentoring them through the secure, web-based messaging system provided through the International Telementor Program. Students are getting help beyond their teacher and their parents from concerned professionals who are listening to what they have to say and guiding them forward in more depth than possible through the usual route.

Amy shares more of her thoughts here:

Personal Traction: How’d you hear about the program? 
Amy: I heard about the program while teaching a class with David Neils [David is the Founder and Director of the International Telementor Program].

Personal Traction: What prompted you to get involved?
Amy: I got involved because I knew that this was a one of a kind opportunity for me and my students. I knew that I wanted my students to do something special and this was what I was looking for.

Personal Traction: How does it support your teaching goals?
Amy: One of my goals was for my science students to do more writing, and they are doing a ton of writing in Science class. They are also hearing from their mentors that it does not matter what area you go into after school, you will have to know how to read and write.

Personal Traction: What have been the value and benefits of the program for you/your students?
Amy: The mentors. The mentors give so much time to my students that I could not give them. The students are learning about collaboration and time management. When I ask that an assignment be looked at twice by your mentor before turning it in, the 6th graders know that they need to manage their time wisely. They can not wait until the last second for their mentor to give them feedback. This is a piece of information that I could not teach without this program. Also, my students now have connections outside of Preston in a field that they are highly involved in.

Personal Traction: What are some highlights in working with the mentoring program/mentors?
Amy: I have many highlights….The feedback the mentors give is amazing. The time the mentors give is astounding. The quality of the messages that the mentors write is wonderful. It really gives the students an example that writing and communicating after their school years is still important. The mentors really take the time to get to know their student. I get many emails from mentors asking about their student. How they are, how can they help them, Are they staying on task, and many, many more questions.

Personal Traction: What are your thoughts on education these days?
Amy: I know that the students at Preston Middle School are getting to do things that I never got to do even in college. The students at Preston are working very hard and love coming to school.

Personal Traction: Anything else you care to say or add about the mentoring program?
Amy: I have felt supported all the way!

CAMERA, ACTION! “We set up the first camera on Friday morning,” says David. “Friday night we had our first thirsty visitor.” Have a look at two bears as well as a mountain lion.

PICTURE THIS. Check out all 93 photos of the Preston Middle School Wildlife Project.

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Getting ‘Authentic’

Posted on February 24, 2012 by admin

As a tip for educators, David Neils, director of the International Telementor Program, says projects that include the following elements will ensure that students are truly engaged, informed and connected to their learning and can experience what he distinguishes as ‘authentic’ learning:

1. Students are making a real-world difference working with leaders to address local issues (or in some cases, specific state, regional or international issues) as identified by those leaders.

2. Examples of excellence are known, shared and students set the bar high for quality work.

3. All student work goes through a process of mulitple iterations, the practice and process of student draft, mentor review, refined student draft, and so on.

4. Student-mentor collaboration is required for students to move forward with their projects.

“This is as much a journey for the teacher as it is for his or her students,” says David. “It’s a rare classroom where these attributes are flourishing. But we’re making headway thanks to our mentors and a handful of pioneer teachers and students,” he says. David writes more about what authentic learning means here.

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How to Predict the Future? Invent It!

Posted on February 2, 2012 by admin

Palmer Tetley, an inventor and community volunteer, was recently called upon by North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple to present his anti-flood system to a team of civil engineers working to avert future catastrophes as occurred in Minot, N.D., last June, where thousands fled their homes after some of the worst flooding in 40 years. What’s interesting is that Palmer is a student at Preston Middle School in Fort Collins, Colo. After witnessing the devastation first-hand (his father’s work in the region’s oil fields brings their family there occasionally), Palmer wanted to help. Along with the governor, the mayor of the town of Minot and the engineers will review Palmer’s design to decide whether or not they might construct and use it. Palmer (pictured above with his 2011 Outstanding Volunteer award from ColoradoFIRST), participated in the International Telementor Program last fall. David Neils is now helping him connect with local mentors in Fort Collins where he can continue to work on solid engineering projects.  “Palmer is setting a tremendously good example,” says David, “and there are a lot more of our youth out there that mentors will be challenging and supporting,” he adds. “It’s been said, the best way to predict the future is to invent it. Through our mentoring program, we’re making sure students are connecting their ideas to the real world around them, and letting them hear from professionals who take them seriously. After all, they are our future.”

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Academic Growth

Posted on February 2, 2012 by admin

Ashley, a middle school student, recently wrote to her mentor, Brian, upon wrapping up a recent science project. “I just wanted to say thank you for everything,” writes Ashley. “I really appreciate all the ideas you gave me, especially in the beginning when we were deciding on projects. The amount of things I learned was astounding!” Ashley goes on to talk about her project methodology, to offer a critique on the clarity of her past communications and to bring up some interesting facts she has learned about bees, such as that they will actually kill off other bees. “But most importantly,” writes Ashley, “I learned the importance of keeping on top of projects…I had to be responsible and remember to email you whatever I had finished working on shortly after it was finished.” She details several key elements of her approach she would do differently going forward (keep her mentor more informed, email more frequently, avoid procrastination, be more prepared, and identify what’s in email attachments more clearly). “I know now that I can’t expect everyone to know everything that I’m talking about,” she writes. Judging from her email, she’s already communicating and articulating her thoughts on a much higher level than before. “Ashley’s post-project email is a great example of the realizations that students have as they move through the student-mentor process,” says David Neils, director of the International Telementor Program. “Having a mentor, she was able to reflect on her learning and going forward, she’ll have a different experience. She thought long and hard about her process and has become a more aware student capable of and ready for deeper learning,” he says. “In these times where mile-wide, inch-deep learning is often the norm, this sort of student-to-mentor communication is a beautiful thing to see.”

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Lasting Impressions: What Are Iterations?

Posted on July 27, 2011 by admin

CATHY SOWARD IS a mentor from HP. She recently assisted a student from Topeka, Kansas. In her messages, she includes simple yet powerful concepts. Iteration is the act of repeating a process with the aim of approaching a desired goal, with each repetition itself called an iteration. It’s a lost art in many schools of today. But not where Cathy is involved. With one iteration’s results usable as a starting point for the next iteration, improvement is inevitable. So wherever students regularly turn in works of poor quality week after week without being “called out” on it, Cathy gently insists they keep grooming their drafts. In so doing, she assists sixth graders to accomplish college-level work. Here’s a snippet (already in progress) of her million-dollar advice:

(from Cathy, to her student)

“It is better, and like you said, a rough draft. I definitely do not think you should start over, because the second draft is so much better than the first. All the suggestions I made are just to get it to the point where it will be the real deal. Don’t give up. Actually, this reminds me of how I think of cooking; I figure I’ll be 90 years old before I get everything right, if I get to live that long. But it’s fun to work on. Anyway, just keep trying, you’ll get it. Kind of like sports in a way too, you don’t start out a pro, you have to keep working on things. Thanks for writing and talk to you again soon.”

Is it possible to realistically maintain such educational environments? We want to know. Tell us what you think and what makes you think that way. Include your name, company, your city and state. Write to us at: staff@telementor.org

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Startling Statistic: Over 45,000 Students Mentored

Posted on July 18, 2011 by admin

■ 45,040 students mentored since 1995 through a single, secure online community — tens of thousands benefiting from life-changing positive results.

Source: International Telementor Program

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Students, Relationships and Authentic Work

Posted on July 18, 2011 by admin

MENTORING GEMS | By Zac Burson

WE ARE SEEING the value of authentic work on a daily basis as student develop and leverage relationships near and far to articulate their interests and pursue their ambitions. As we look at each student in the program as an individual with a panoply of strengths, weaknesses, aptitudes, and interests, we can’t help but marvel at the complexity of human beings and the infinite variables that come to play in any person’s life “pathway.” In the midst of this complexity lies incredible potential energy that when set in motion is astonishing. In recent years, I have been most amazed to see how mentors living thousands of miles away from our schools can encourage students to take important actions within their local communities. Sometimes the catalyst is a student who just needs an opportunity to think big getting a chance to network with big thinkers and sometimes it is a matter of a student needing a mentor to help her communicate those big thoughts to the people who live right down the street or just across the river from her.

Two years ago, Nicole ran away from home and dropped out of high school for over a year. She returned to school with a passion for helping kids, like her now one year old who nearly outweighed her. With the help of a telementor and support from a teacher and her parents, she began to fashion a career and education plan that would allow her to graduate from high school and pursue certification for child care work at the post-secondary level. With a plan and network of support behind her, she found an internship at a local church daycare willing to help her launch her career.

Last school year, Jasmine impressed us with her natural ability to work with celebrities and promote their work through social media. She leveraged a scholarship to a summer leadership workshop to showcase her gifts and develop more practical experience at project management. Last fall, she collaborated with a telementor to develop a career and education plan that she then presented to Millenium Studios who immediately made her the first intern of any kind, high school, college, or graduate level, to work for them. Last week I got to hear her boss talk about how Jasmine had opened up opportunities for talented students who will come after her. That was a powerful experience!

Sam, from the first time I met him in middle school, has impressed me with his ambitions. Not many seventh graders can let teachers know that their passion is linguistics, especially psycho-linguistics. As a freshman in high school, he took courses at the local college in sociology and psychology, and was not afraid of the challenges. He wanted more challenges, in fact! It was no surprise then, when he worked most effectively with one of most talented telementors in the program. Together, they connected Sam’s intelligence and passion for learning to a community of learners that included national and international experts. In fact, when they managed to correspond with Noam Chomsky, one of the most prolific linguists, political activists, and radical intellectuals of the 20th Century, I let Brian and Sam know that they had set a new standard for networking in the program.

As an eighth grader, Kevin began articulating with the help of a telementor his love for plants and animals as well as agriculture and conservation. His 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens project included the creation of an action plan that connected his interests with genuine opportunities to develop his natural abilities independently and within collaborative ventures. As a high school student, he is building networks of support that people doing important conservation work in our community, state, region, and nation. His volunteer efforts on public lands included marking trails, renovating a farmhouse that would become an educational site, cleaning up a neglected graveyard, and presenting at a state environmental education conference. His passionate regard for conservation was included in a Spring 2011 report to Congress prepared by the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a national coalition of 21 wildlife, sporting, conservation, and scientific organizations. It’s no wonder that his work also landed him a job this summer with Americorps, where he is engaged in conservation work in our region.

We work with all students, including gifted and talented students and students with disabilities and talented students with disabilities and gifts we just don’t know about yet. I am blessed to get to see each day that mentors and relationships are catalysts for student action or that student actions can be the catalysts for the formation of new relationships and mentor/protege relationships. Some days a mentor in California helps an autistic student in Louisiana with a passion for the logical systems that run computers develop a career and education plan. Other days it’s a shy student in Louisiana taking a plan he made with his mentor from Pennsylvania to share with the hiring manager of a local grocery store. It is quite humbling to watch student aspirations and ambitions move forward in great leaps or grow in even small increments, sometimes after years of inaction or paralysis or dysfunction, or simple unrealized potential. I am grateful for every opportunity that we have had to link students with adults who have faith that the next generation of adults will be substantially better than the current one!

——-

Zac Burson is the Program Coordinator for the International Telementor Program and a teacher at Bossier Schools in Louisiana. Write to: staff@telementor.org

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Authentic Student Work: Rocket Fuel for Youth

Posted on July 18, 2011 by admin

FROM THE FOUNDER | by David Neils with Zac Burson

I’M GRATEFUL FOR the opportunity to help youth maximize their potential through our International Telementor Program (telementor.org). It’s humbling and inspiring to see what happens when teachers and mentors work together to encourage, support, and challenge youth. After witnessing the results of over 45,000 students being served since

1995, patterns have emerged that are worth sharing. These patterns have been substantiated within and outside the program. One pattern that is as obvious as the law of gravity is the value of authentic student work.

What is authentic student work? It’s an environment where students are tackling real issues, where the bar of quality is set high and set collectively by professionals, teachers, and students, where students go through an iterative cycle with every outcome throughout the project (draft, refinement, new draft), professionals in that issue space are as interested in the process and what’s discovered as the students are, students have an authentic audience for their work, and finally, the results of this collaborative work have a real impact that lasts for months or years.

A ‘CONTRIBUTING’ ATTITUDE

Authentic student work changes lives. We are all hard wired to derive joy and satisfaction from contributing in a positive, powerful way. When we know we’re making a real difference it not only lightens our step but changes our perspective about people and what’s happening around us. Back in 1993 I was interviewing high school students for scholarships in Walden, Colorado, a small rural town in Northern Colorado, and noticed that many of these students were way ahead of their urban peers in maturity, self knowledge about interests and abilities, and their ability to communicate with adults. As I reviewed their applications, I noticed most of the students were involved in one or more of the following programs: scouts, 4-H, and church youth groups. The strongest students were involved in at least two of these programs. As I reflected on why these programs made such a difference I was drawn to the fact that these environments were places where youth were contributing, making a difference, collaborating with healthy adults who care about youth, and where the contributions had a lasting impact.

A high school student in our program from Northwest Louisiana tackled an authentic project where he was the focus of the experiment. He wondered whether he could control his insulin level better giving himself shots versus using an insulin pump. This was an issue that affected many diabetic individuals in his community and around the world. His mentor from Merck helped him connect with local diabetic professionals as well as the LSU medical research team. These professionals had a keen interest in his findings. His work was of exceptional quality because the bar of quality was set at the beginning of the project collectively with input from him, his teacher, the mentor, and local professionals.

THE VALUE OF AUTHENTIC WORK

We are seeing the value of authentic work on a daily basis as student develop and leverage relationships near and far to articulate their interests and pursue their ambitions. As we look at each student in the program as an individual with a panoply of strengths, weaknesses, aptitudes, and interests, we can’t help but marvel at the complexity of human beings and the infinite variables that come to play in any person’s life “pathway.” In the midst of this complexity lies incredible potential energy that when set in motion is astonishing. In recent years, I have have been most amazed to see how mentors living thousands of miles away from our schools can encourage students to take important actions within their local communities. Sometimes the catalyst is a student who just needs an opportunity to think big getting a chance to network with big thinkers and sometimes it is a matter of a student needing a mentor to help her communicate those big thoughts to the people who live right down the street or just across the river from her.

THIS IS REAL-LIFE

Two years ago, Nicole ran away from home and dropped out of high school for over a year.  She returned to school with a passion for helping kids, like her now one year old who nearly outweighed her.  With the help of a telementor and support from a teacher and her parents, she began to fashion a career and education plan that would allow her to graduate from high school and pursue certification for child care work at the post-secondary level.  With a plan and network of support behind her, she    found an internship at a local church daycare willing to help her launch her career.

Last school year, Jasmine impressed us with her natural ability to work with celebrities and promote their work through social media. She leveraged a scholarship to a summer leadership workshop to showcase her gifts and develop more practical experience at project management. Last fall, she collaborated with a telementor to develop a career and education plan that she then presented to Millenium Studios who immediately made her the first intern of any kind, high school, college, or graduate level, to work for them. Last week I got to hear her boss talk about how Jasmine had opened up opportunities for talented students who will come after her.  That was a powerful experience!

Sam, from the first time I met him in middle school, has impressed me with his ambitions.  Not many seventh graders can let teachers know that their passion is linguistics, especially psycho-linguistics.  As a freshman in high school, he took courses at the local college in sociology and psychology, and was not afraid of the challenges.  He wanted more challenges, in fact!  It was no surprise then, when he worked most effectively with one of most talented telementors in the program.  Together, they connected Sam’s intelligence and passion for learning to a community of learners that included national and international experts.  In fact, when they managed to correspond with Noam Chomsky, one of the most prolific linguists, political activists, and radical intellectuals of the 20th Century, I let Brian and Sam know that they had set a new standard for networking in the program.

THE HUMBLING EFFECT

We work with all students, including gifted and talented students and students with disabilities and talented students with disabilities and gifts we just don’t know about yet :)   I am blessed to get to see each day that mentors and relationships are catalysts for student action or that student actions can be the catalysts for the formation of new relationships and mentor/protege relationships. Some days a mentor in California helps an autistic student in Louisiana with a passion for the logical systems that run computers develop a career and education plan. Other days it’s a shy student in Louisiana taking a plan he made with his mentor from Pennsylvania to share with the hiring manager of a local grocery store. It is quite humbling to watch student aspirations and ambitions move forward in great leaps or grow in even small increments, sometimes after years of inaction or paralysis or dysfunction, or simple unrealized potential.  I am grateful for every opportunity that we have had to link students with adults who have faith that the next generation of adults will be substantially better than the current one!

Authentic student work is project-based learning on steroids. It’s all the right stuff without the fluff. It ensures students are really making a difference. When I ask students in our program what determines the amount of energy they put into work at school. The answer is, “Is it real, or is it fake?” “If it’s real, I’ll put in real effort.” “If it’s fake, I’ll put in just enough effort to get by.”

By helping teachers take the curriculum requirements and turn them into authentic student opportunities, the students will be able to apply the concepts real time, and develop skills that are impossible to develop any other way.

AN INVITATION TO RESULTS

I invite you to share in the results of our students and mentors at www.telementor.org as well as our news site: www.personaltraction.org. We have incredible mentor professionals from 22 countries who have years of experience. They created matches with students again today for a summer project in Topeka, Kansas where students will receive career and education research and planning support that leverages their unique interests and natural abilities. Mentors chose students at the rate of one every three minutes.  If we can help serve youth in your community, please send an e-mail to davidn@telementor.org or call 970-481-9795.

For youth,

David Neils

——-

David Neils, founder and director of the International Telementor Program, has made it possible for more than 44,000 youth to receive academic mentoring support from hundreds of professionals representing a variety of fields. Write to: davidn@telementor.org

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Interview | Kelly DeTommaso: Helping One Student at a Time

Posted on May 20, 2011 by admin

“A co-worker of mine mentioned this program to me,” says Kelly DeTommaso, an Instructional Designer and Manager of the Global Curriculum Development Team at Merck, in response to how she became an e-mentor. “I originally got involved because there was a perfect match between one of the student projects and my background.” Kelly is a certified Franklin Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People facilitator; a project of the same name was the first project she signed up to mentor a student on, and Kelly has paid it forward ever since: “I enjoyed the experience so much that I kept coming back for more,” she says. “I, in turn, do the same for other colleagues—when I see a project or a student that I think they’d be a perfect match for, I encourage them to volunteer as a mentor. They, too, have chosen to get involved.” Here, Kelly again share her insights, including more about the benefits of mentoring, advice to other would-be mentors, her wider views of education and a poignant story about a starfish…

Personal Traction: What sort of personal benefit do you gain from participating in e-mentoring?

Kelly: I have a passion for youth. I could have benefited greatly from having a mentor in my life as a youth. Personally, it just makes me feel good to know that I may potentially have an impact (no matter how small it is) in the life of a teenager. What makes you say that? I work with youth at our church. I also have two teenagers myself. I understand some of the challenges they face today (and they are more extraordinary than when I was a youth—I am amazed at what they are exposed to at such a young age). I’d like to help the youth from a positive perspective, even if all I can give them is encouragement.

Personal Traction: What are some highlights of working with students?

Kelly: It’s truly a win-win. I don’t give any advise that I couldn’t put into practice myself. I also get a glimpse into the challenges they are facing and it opens up even further dialogue for me and my own kids. I really have fun too. I enjoy dialoging with the youth, especially the females because there’s so much that I can connect with them on. One of the projects I volunteered to mentor several students on was an Interior Decorating project. I had to do some research to be able to give them guidance. It helped as my daughter and I were preparing to decorate her bedroom. I really enjoyed several of the girls styles too.

In fact, I am currently mentoring a student for the second time on a separate project. Our first project was Interior Decorating. When I selected her for a second project this semester I said to her: “Is this the ‘Pink Zebra-striped’ Samantha?” Her response was “Ahhh Kelly!” It just warmed my heart to be able to continue to mentor her on a new project!

Another highlight, or win-win is that some of the students really open up and share a lot, including their mistakes. I can share with them similar mistakes I’ve made at the same age and help them to see how to change things for the future and to encourage them that they can get passed this. It helps them to see that not all adults are perfect, in fact, none of us are. But the adults closest to them in their lives may not be willing to admit that they’ve made the same mistakes. Given that e-mentoring (at www.telementor.org) is confidential and only first names are shared, it’s a safe environment to be vulnerable for both the student and the mentor.

Personal Traction: What are your thoughts on the state of education in the US and worldwide?

Kelly: My perspective is on the state of education in the U.S. only. I am not confident that we are teaching youth to be successful beyond high school. I base this mainly on the experiences of my high school aged daughter. It still feels very much about teaching toward successful completion of tests and not as much on practical application of the knowledge. That’s one of the reasons why I am an advocate of e-mentoring. This is such a benefit for the youth to take these opportunities to explore topics that may interest them beyond high school and even in high school. I actually am hopeful that one day I will hear about some of the youth that have participated in this program and learn of the success that they have become in their life.

Personal Traction: How does what you do in mentoring, relate to the bigger picture?

Kelly: Have you ever heard the story of the starfish? There was a man walking along a beach one day and he noticed that thousands of starfish were washed up on shore. He knew that they would not survive out of their environment. So, he started to pick them up, one-by-one, and throw them back into the ocean. A passerby noticed his ‘futile’ attempt at saving the starfish. She said to him, “Don’t you realize how many starfish are washed up on the shore? What possible difference can you make?” He bent over, picked up another one, through it back into the ocean, then said to her: “I made a difference to that one didn’t I?” That’s what mentoring is all about. It’s about helping one student at a time, not knowing what the outcome may be, but realizing that you may possibly make a difference in their life. I don’t know about you, but this gives me the chills! What a blessing it is to help someone else.

Personal Traction: What sort of formative experiences in your own education relate to your mentoring approach?

Kelly: Wow, we’re going way back, lol! For me, high school was really about “checking the box”. I went to high school because it was against the law not to. Not that I really would have considered not going to school, but for me, it was a necessary evil. I enjoyed high school more for the social aspect. I had a lot of friends and enjoyed the social opportunity available through school. I studied and did my homework when I had to and got mainly B’s and C’s. It wasn’t until I got to college (three years after I graduated from high school) that I got serious about my education. I had a few teachers, who didn’t necessarily mentor me, but their approach to teaching me was very influential. They helped me to get organized and helped me to focus on what I really wanted to be when I grew up. I embraced education as a result of having my professional experiences align with my educational goals. I was working full-time most of my college years and I could always relate what I was learning to what I was doing on my job. The e-mentoring program is an opportunity to build the bridge for students about practical application of what they are learning in school and through their e-mentoring projects.

Personal Traction: What advice or tips might you have for others considering mentoring a child?

Kelly: Get involved; it’s the most rewarding experience being able to help youth.

Personal Traction: What makes you say that?

Kelly: I have mentored about 10 students through e-mentoring. It started with one student in 2008. I was so impressed with what he was willing to share about himself including his goals and aspirations to get into the NBA. While I couldn’t provide him with any tips on playing basketball, I was able to encourage him and let him know that I believed in him. I hope to one day hear his name in the NBA draft!

When mentoring a student, be willing to share of yourself personally. Don’t hold back. Share the mistakes you have made and the experiences you have had. You’ll be impressed at how this can help break down any walls that the students may put up. In doing so, they realize you are human just like them. You had similar life experiences as they are going through and you survived the chaos of getting through the teenage years.

Do your research and homework too. Follow the project guide so that you have a clear understanding of the expectations of you as a mentor and the students each week. This will help you provide the best guidance you can with the students.

Also, when mentoring on a project outside of your personal experiences, do a little research. It’s a win-win; you’ll learn through the process too. I had an opportunity to “fill-in” for another mentor who needed a little break. In order to get acquainted with the student, I read through the previous mentor-mentee messages just so that I knew my guidance would be aligned to her original guidance. What I learned was that she did so much more research on the project than I was doing. I copied some of the websites that she recommended and saved them for future reference. It was a win-win-win! It helped me step up my game ever since.

Also, be prepared to devote at least 30 minutes a week towards mentoring a student (that time commitment does not double if you mentor 2 students, you actually can mentor 2 or more students very efficiently because you will have already done the research). But, in my experience, it takes me about 15 minutes per message for 1 student.

Finally, realize that not all students are the same. Sometimes you’ll have a very rewarding experience, really connecting with a student  on a project, and on another project, the student just may not open up or stay on track of their assignment. Don’t take that personally. Realize that they have so much going on in their lives that we are unaware of. The environment they sometimes live in is less than ideal and they are negatively influenced. Persevere and don’t give up, on this student, or future students. Let them know that you miss them, when they take a break. Continue to send messages, even if you don’t get any back. You just may impress them with your perseverance.

Personal Traction: Regarding mentoring and education, Is there anything else you care to add, emphasize or share?

Kelly: I am so grateful for this opportunity and I appreciate all the support that mentors receive through David Neils. He will occasionally send encouraging messages just to me. It makes me realize that what I am doing really does matter in the lives of others.

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Interview | Will Good: The Value of Mentoring

Posted on April 27, 2011 by admin

Personal Traction: How’d you hear about the mentoring program?

Will: I was introduced to the Telementor program through internal marketing efforts by my employer, MasterCard. MasterCard is involved in a number of initiatives that benefit the community by helping youth through education. I received emails and saw flyers posted on campus about Telementor.

Personal Traction: What prompted you to get involved?

Older adults had such a huge impact on my life during my middle school, high school, and college years.  Because of their mentoring efforts (both formally and informally) I feel like I had an advantage over others. While others were focused on social status or pleasing mom and dad, I was focused on life application. My mentors helped me develop a greater personal awareness and that enabled me to use my education and extracurricular experiences in the context of life, and not just to “get through graduation.”

I jumped at the opportunity to give back.  If I could provide just a portion of the impact on a young person’s life that others had on me, the risk of involvement would be well worth it!

Personal Traction: What sort of personal benefit do you gain from participating? What makes you say that?

Will: This is a great question. I don’t think I asked myself this question until now! Originally I joined Telementor because I thought my involvement would help me be recognized as a team player. However, the real benefits of interacting with students have outweighed the original, albeit selfish, motivation.

Today my primary benefit is interacting with students who are well outside my current work, family, community, and church circles. It’s great to interact with people from all over the world to be a more well-balanced person and maintain a broader worldview.  Telementor is a great opportunity for mentors and mentees to broaden horizons.

Part of my personal ethic is to help make the world a better place. Certainly what many would call my “religious convictions” play a role here.  I believe it is my responsibility to live not only for myself but for others. I feel like I have something to offer students just by telling my story; offering what I’ve learned for the benefit of others gives me a great sense of contributing to society!

Personal Traction: What are some highlights of working with students?

Will: Although I don’t have a specific “highlight” to speak of, there is one moment that is really significant to my relationship with students: the moment the light bulb turns on!  It’s one thing for a mentor to offer suggestions and work alongside a student with a standard “thanks” reply. It’s quite an amazing moment when students understand the “big picture,” when both their work and their understanding of it change for the better. Hopefully grasping a broader perspective throughout a mentoring experience will also help how they process their life, too.

Personal Traction: How does what you do in mentoring, relate to the bigger picture?

Will: Life is miserable when I’m focused solely on myself.  One simple phrase I’ve learned in life is this: it’s not about me. When I’m mentoring students, I get the focus off of me.  When a student is mentored, the volunteer sets forth an example of giving himself for a cause outside of himself. That example is more powerful than a hypothetical situation or than what clever story can accomplish. Part of “big picture thinking” is captured when a student looks at the world as being bigger than himself.

One other consideration about mentoring and volunteerism, in general, is how important it is to experience relationships wherein one authentically cares about you. So many in a student’s life may have motivating factors that are not necessarily for the student’s best interest.  We volunteers are genuinely interested in a student; volunteers in general do not have ulterior motives, and that helps create an authentic relationship for which everyone longs.

Personal Traction: What sort of formative experiences in your own education relate to your mentoring approach?

Will: When I was in high school my biology teacher, Mr. Stone, took special interest in me.  He really invested in me outside of the classroom and encouraged me to apply the things I was learning into my immediate context, which, at the time, was agriculture. I was able to use that encouragement to develop an incredible, intense science project that spanned many months and required hours and hours of research, analysis, and data gathering. Mr. Stone allowed me to work on the project during class and after hours. He also introduced me to the “real deal” biologists and agricultural science experts at Purdue University. At Purdue I was able to interact with professionals in the field I was studying,  as well as use their specialized equipment to analyze my samples, quantify data, and do so much more than was possible in my high school. Mr. Stone really opened my eyes to the power of someone’s personal investment in a student and how significant applying educational opportunities to real world scenarios can be.

Personal Traction: What advice or tips might you have for others considering mentoring a child?

Will: If mentoring seems intimidating or scary, it is. At first I wasn’t sure I had anything to offer, but quickly realized that was just fear of the unknown. Recognizing that I have my own story to tell is huge.

Personal Traction: What makes you say that?

Will: Using my own stories in the context of where a student is at (in life and in education) is both helpful to the student and eliminates some of my fear. Just keeping an authentic dialogue, using personal stories, and being honest, makes a mentoring relationship much easier to cultivate.

Personal Traction: Regarding mentoring and education, Is there anything else you care to add, emphasize or share?

Will: Simply asking a student what makes him or her “come alive” as a person is an incredible approach. That’s how I want to approach every relationship—helping students recognize their passions. If I can help a student see his project or assignment through the lens of his passion he may just “come alive” in his work and see the tasks as exciting ones rather than mundane.

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