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2022 T/MI Newsletters

The monthly Tutor/Mentor e-Newsletters are intended as a study guide, for all who are working to help
youth in high poverty areas move more safely through school and into adult lives, jobs and careers.
They focus on actions needed at specific times each year, and on learning that needs to be on-going.

Below are links to all 2022 Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC newsletters.

Dec 2022 - click here
Nov 2022 - click here
Oct 2022 - click here
Sept 2022 - click here
Aug 2022 - click here
July 2022 - click here
May-June 2022 - click here
April 2022 - click here
March 2022 - click here
Feb 2022 - click here
Jan 2022 - click here

View 2021 Newsletters at this link.

View previous year newsletters at this link.

Feb 2022 eNews

February 2022 - Issue 208

Help K-12 youth in High Poverty Areas

While February is Black History Month, study of race and inequality in the USA should be a year-round effort, focusing on all racial and religious minorities.

As I do every month, this newsletter focuses on sharing resources from a web library that I've built since the mid 1990s. It includes ideas that help build and sustain mentor-rich, volunteer-based youth programs that reach K-12 youth in high poverty neighborhoods. It also includes articles and research about race, poverty and inequality.

Take a look. Please share with your friends and family.

Use this newsletter as a study guide.

The ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter point to a library of resources that can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world, to help mentor-rich youth programs thrive in all of the neighborhoods where they are most needed.

If you are a consistent reader, consider a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Use Resources from January Mentoring Summit

I participated in this year's virtual Mentoring Summit with about 2000 other people and shared some of what I was learning with Tweets on Twitter and in an article on my blog.

In my blog I highlighted work done in Nebraska to understand the mentoring sector.

I also pointed to a new resource titled "Becoming a Better Mentor" which can be found at this link.

In addition I highlighted eMentoring lessons from ICouldBe.org, Finally, I encouraged other participants to share what they learned via their own blogs and to connect on social media.

Resource Library: Race, Poverty, Inequality

Use year-round

This section of the Tutor/Mentor Library has links focused on poverty, inequality, social justice, prevention, housing and community development, gangs and more. It has 8 sub categories.

When you open any sub category link you'll find a list of websites, in alphabetical order.

These are in list format, so you'll need to scroll through to know what's there. I add new links often.

Chicago Area Tutor and/or Mentor Programs are seeking volunteers

At this time each year tutor/mentor programs are seeking new volunteers to replace those who dropped out over the holidays. Browse the list of Chicago area programs that include various forms of volunteer-based tutoring and/or mentoring at this link.

These are organized by the section of the city or suburbs where the organization is located.

These programs also need dollars and tech support. Look for ways to help them grow.

Building Comprehensive AfterSchool Programs

In this Tweet the Afterschool Alliance shared a graphic that visualizes elements that make a comprehensive afterschool program.

I included it in this blog article, along with a graphic I've used to visualize elements of a comprehensive, on-going, tutor/mentor program.

These resources need to be used by leaders of individual youth programs. However, they also need to be used by policy makers, donors, volunteers, businesses, colleges and others, who need to be proactive in helping high quality, comprehensive youth programs reach k-12 youth in EVERY high poverty neighborhood.

It's not just the responsibility of youth program leaders and educators to help kids to careers.

Take a Tour of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Resource Library

Here are three resources to help you understand what's available on the www.tutormentorexchange.net website and in the resource library that's hosted on the site:

Resource Library - shown on Google Slides - click here

Tour of website - shown on SlideShare - click here

Strategy Map - Commitment needed from many leaders - shown on Google Slides - click here

Create your own version of this strategy map and apply it to your own city or state. Please share it with me if you do.

Community-Building Resources

Helping youth in every high poverty area of Chicago or any other place requires the work of many people, from many sectors. This is "movement building" and requires talented, well funded, persistent leaders.

In this Tweet I point to an article that talks about tools that can be used to measure movement growth and improve it over time. Follow the links and read the articles.

This is one of several hundred resources that can be used to build support for any cause, not just youth development, which you can find in this section of the web library.

Below are resources to use to help youth in your community.

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles:

Mentoring Summit blog article - click here

Wealth Inequality map / Orbit Model of Movement Building - click here

Mentoring Connections over many years - click here

What You Don't See When You Visit a Tutor/Mentor Program - click here

Elements of Effective Afterschool Program - click here

Complex Problems: Helping Kids from Birth to Work - click here

Celebrate Dr. King's vision - adopt this commitment - click here

Building a Super Bowl of Support for Youth Serving Organizations - click here

Sharing vision using Wakelet to share stories - click here

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

* Resource Library - click here

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

* Concept Map library - click here

* Mapping for Justice blog - click here

* Work done by interns - click here

* Digital Divide resources - click here

* Blogs I follow using Inoreader - click here

Resources & Announcements

* National Mentoring Partnership, resources - click here

* Brookings Metro - follow on Twitter - click here

* Polished Pebbles - "Closing the HOPE Gap". click here

* The Chicago Community Trust on Twitter - click here

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

* MyChiMyFuture - City of Chicago - visit site and find map of activities for youth - click here

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

* Strengthening Chicago Youth website, click here; blog - click here

* To & Through Project website - click here

* Thrive Chicago collaboration - click here

* Chicago Learning Exchange - click here

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

* AfterSchool Alliance - resource center - click here

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here

Thank you for reading. Thank you for contributions.

About this newsletter.

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

Encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email)

Thank you for reading and sharing the ideas in this newsletter.

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March 2022 Tutor/Mentor eNews

March 2022 - Issue 220

Learning Resources for Anyone Helping Youth Living in High Poverty Areas

As I write this month's newsletter my attention is divided between work needed in Chicago and other places to help kids living in high poverty areas and the tragedy unfolding in the Ukraine, which is only the most recent conflict that is causing extreme suffering in different parts of the world.

This newsletter focuses on sharing resources from a web library that I've built since the mid 1990s. It includes ideas that help build and sustain mentor-rich, volunteer-based youth programs that reach K-12 youth in high poverty neighborhoods. It also includes articles and research about race, poverty and inequality.

Take a look. Please share with your friends and family.

Use this newsletter as a study guide.

The section of the library that focuses on community building, knowledge management, maps and visualization may provide useful information for helping you understand the conflicts and challenges we face.

If you are a consistent reader, consider a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Upcoming Virtual Events

Join iMentor Chicago for an open and candid panel conversation about mentoring Chicago's young women of color and their unique experiences. Students and mentors from iMentor Chicago, Chicago Scholars and Youth Guidance's WOW will be featured on the panel.

Date: Thursday, March 31, 6-8 pm. You can register to attend in person, or for the virtual presentation.

Visit this link to sign up.

To&Through Data Collaborative - virtual event, March 22, 2-3PM CDT.

Presenters on behalf of A Better Chicago, Thrive Chicago, and the Chicago Public Education Fund will share an in-progress Youth Opportunity Index that aims to track and report a set of cradle-to-careers and resource-access metrics. The metrics map across the city of Chicago and are disaggregated by demographic and socioeconomic factors.

Free webinar - Edward DeJesus: Social Capital for Youth Economic Mobility. April 1, 2022 @ 4:00 - 5:30 PM. Edward DeJesus is the Founder of Social Capital Builders, a minority owned social enterprise dedicated to changing the face of equity and access for youth and adults living in America's low-income communities through the power of social capital literacy, development and analysis. Follow him on Twitter @Socialcapital01

Resource Library: Tutor and/or Mentor Programs in Chicago

Support local programs

This section of the Tutor/Mentor Library includes links to volunteer-based tutor and/or mentor programs throughout the Chicago region, along with other types of youth serving programs that focus on arts, STEM, computers, etc.

Visit websites. Get to know different programs. Find ways to help with time, talent and dollars.

Build Digital Access to Support Digital Learning

In this Tweet the Christensen Institute points to a new article about Digital Learning and points to new models of formal learning.

Covid 19 has already shown the huge gaps in health care and economic opportunity between rich and poor as well as the different learning opportunities available.

Visit these articles on the Tutor/Mentor blog and review the resources I've been aggregating about the Digital Divide, Digital Learning and Digital Access.

These articles are intended to support Digital Learning of Volunteers who connect with youth in tutor/mentor programs. They can be advocates who help bring greater digital access to these kids and families if programs make an effort to educate them continuously.

Shout Out To

HOPE Chicago, The Chicago Community Trust, the Field Foundation of Chicago and the To&Through Project at the University of Chicago for the good work each is doing to help Chicago's most vulnerable kids.

Visit this Tutor/Mentor blog article to read more.

Mentoring Connections over Many Years

This article on the Tutor/Mentor blog shows some of the connections made between Chicago youth and adult volunteers in the programs I led between 1975 and 2011. These reinforce my belief in the value of well-organized, on-going programs and why I encourage volunteers and donors to support them.

That's myself in 1974 and 2014 with Leo Hall.

Below are resources to use to help youth in your community.

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles:

Connecting seniors with youth in organized tutor/mentor programs - click here

Using Maps to Draw Resources to High Poverty Areas - click here

ZOOM Interview with Dan Bassill of Tutor/Mentor Institute LLC - click here

Navigate the Tutor/Mentor resource library the same way you'd play Monopoly game - click here

Birth-to-Work Goal and Use of Knowledge Base - click here

Elements of Effective Afterschool Program - click here

Tour the Tutor/Mentor Institute LLC website - click here

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

* Resource Library - click here

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

* Concept Map library - click here

* Mapping for Justice blog - click here

* Work done by interns - click here

* Digital Divide resources - click here

* Blogs I follow using Inoreader - click here

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here

Resources & Announcements

* Youth Mentoring Research Symposium - Virtual Event - April 27, 1-4 PM. click here

* College Changes Everything Conference, week of July 11, 2022. Call for proposals - click here

* National Mentoring Partnership, resources - click here

* Austin Coming Together (ACT) Community Resources - click here

* The Chicago Community Trust on Twitter - click here

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

* MyChiMyFuture - City of Chicago - visit site and find map of activities for youth - click here

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

* Strengthening Chicago Youth website, click here; blog - click here

* To & Through Project website - click here: View winter newsletter - click here

* Thrive Chicago collaboration - click here

* Chicago Learning Exchange - click here

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

* AfterSchool Alliance - resource center - click here

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

Thank you for reading. Thank you for contributions.

About this newsletter.

View current and past newsletters at this link.

Encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email)

Thank you for reading and sharing the ideas in this newsletter.

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

April 2022 TM News

April 2022 - Issue 210

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month

In this month's newsletter I show video interviews and animations that help draw attention and, hopefully, volunteers and donors to youth tutor, mentor and learning programs in all high poverty areas of Chicago and other places.

Youth can learn to create similar videos and learn of their personal power to help make change happen.

Take a look. Please share with your friends and family.

Use this newsletter as a study guide.

If you are a regular reader, consider a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Drawing Attention to Tutor and Mentor Programs

Mentoring interviews.

Scroll through the Twitter feed of Anthony Brogdon and view video interviews with David Shapiro (MENTOR), Dan Bassill and others. View the videos on this website.

Think of ways youth in your school or non-school program could be doing similar interviews of local youth program leaders.

Connecting with Nigeria

Aliyu B Solomon, from Nigeria, first connected with the Tutor/Mentor Connection in the late 2000s, via the T/MC Ning forum. Since 2013 we've stayed connected on Twitter.

In early April 2022 he hosted an interview with Dan Bassill, to talk about ways youth mentoring programs, and an intermediary like the T/MC, could grow in Africa. See video links in this article.

Learn from a Tutor

Sara Caldwell was one of the founders of the Tutor/Mentor Connection in late 1992, after having been a volunteer since the late 1980s. In early April she shared this animation, which draws attention to tutoring and encourages others to get involved.

In 1990 she created this documentary about the tutoring program at Montgomery Ward.

Amplifying Tutoring

For the past few months I've been seeing Tweets with graphics like this, posted by @ProvenTutoring.

Staff at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Research and Reform in Education developed and manage this site, in collaboration with the Success for All Foundation. Visit the website.

This is an example of how universities can collect and share information about tutor/mentor programs.

More about Social Capital

On April 1, I participated in a webinar featuring Edward DeJesus, who talked about Social Capital for Youth Economic Mobility.

I wrote this article following that webinar and pointed to Edward's website, blog and the interview. Read the article about "social capital literacy", posted on the blog.

"Social networks that can bridge across geography, race and class are key to success in the new economy". This is a quote from a 2002 article that i point to in my blog along with a few other articles about social capital.

Chicago morns loss of Merri Dee, WGN TV personality and supporter of youth programs throughout the region.

I first met Merri Dee in 1994 when she presented a grant from WGN TV to support the tutor/mentor program I was leading in Chicago. A couple of years later she acted as Master of Ceremonies for a Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference, which we held at IIT in Chicago.

Merri had a slogan, which she shared often. "If it is to be, it is up to me." I've borrowed it to support my own commitment, just with the modification "...up to me, and YOU!"

Here is a Chicago SunTimes tribute to Merri Dee.

Social Determinants of Education

I'm sure many have heard the term "Social Determinants of Health" but I had not heard the same phrasing applied to education, until attending a webinar this month that described potential data dashboards that could be created using ESSER dollars.

In this blog article you can find links to the webinar, and additional articles describing "social determinants of education".

April Volunteer Recognition Can Boost August Recruitment

In this blog article I focus on the year-round planning that helps volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs sustain and grow their efforts from year-to-year.

While many view April as "near the finish line" for a year of service, it can also be a time to involve volunteers in planning that expands the pool of talent helping programs grow in the coming school year.

Below are resources to use to help youth in your community.

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles:

20 Years of Failed Education Reform - SSIR article - click here

Building Data Dashboard Using ESSER funds - click here

Tour the Tutor/Mentor Institute LLC website - click here

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

* Lists of Chicago non-school, volunteer-based, tutor and/or mentor programs - click here

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

* Resource Library - click here

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

* Concept Map library - click here

* Work done by interns - click here

* Digital Divide resources - click here

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view the concept map shown below. Follow the links.

Resources & Announcements

* Black Men & Boys Commission - click here

* Youth Mentoring Research Symposium - Virtual Event - April 27, 1-4 PM. click here

* College Changes Everything Conference, week of July 11, 2022 - click here

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* National Mentoring Partnership, resources - click here

* Austin Coming Together (ACT) Community Resources - click here

* The Chicago Community Trust on Twitter - click here

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

* MyChiMyFuture - City of Chicago - visit site and find map of activities for youth - click here

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

* Strengthening Chicago Youth website, click here; blog - click here

* Thrive Chicago collaboration - click here

* Chicago Learning Exchange - click here

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

* AfterSchool Alliance - resource center - click here

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

About this newsletter.

Encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Thank you for reading. Thank you for contributions.

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

May-June 2022 eNews

May-June 2022 - Issue 211

Celebrate Tutor/Mentor Programs

and Build for Next School Year

Around the country volunteer-based tutor and/or mentor programs that operate on a school-year schedule are now planning year end graduations and celebrations. I held a year-end event at programs Ied in Chicago for 35 years.

As I gave my year-end reflections I challenged everyone to use the experience to build brighter futures....and.....to return the next fall to help the program continue for another year.

Please share your end-of-year activities on social media, in your blogs and on your websites.

Use this newsletter as a study guide.

If you are a consistent reader, consider a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Visit Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC Website

Youth who benefit from organized tutor/mentor programs.

Focus of most volunteer-based tutor and/or mentor programs

I created this graphic over 20 years ago to show categories of youth who most benefit from different forms of tutor and/or mentor programs support. The Tutor/Mentor Connection/Institute, LLC focuses on youth living in high poverty areas.

Visit http://www.tutormentorexchange.net to see a web library, list of Chicago programs, and ideas people can use to help programs grow in high poverty areas.

Other youth need help, too

The Tutor/Mentor Connection/Institute LLC strategy should be duplicated in other categories where more specific, and professional, forms of support are needed than what most volunteers can provide.

However, this graphic (see 5/16 article) shows that kids who don't live in poverty or have any of the needs shown on my first chart, may be growing up in areas where the adults and experiences around them provide a limited view of the world.

Read follow up 5/20 article.

What's Your Planning Cycle?

In the "start a program" section of the website I show a year-round planning strategy aimed at year-to-year improvement of programs that provide continuous support to youth as the move through K-12 and on toward jobs and careers.

During May/June programs are hosting year-end celebrations and graduations, recognizing work done during the past school year. However, they should also be collecting ideas that they put into summer planning, then lead to improved, renewed programs beginning in August/September.

This cycle repeats every year.

Do youth programs in your community have a written planning calendar? Share this with them.

Improve the funding stream

For tutor/mentor programs to be able to attract and retain youth and volunteers over multiple years they must be able to more consistently attract operating dollars.

I was the primary grant writer for 20 years in programs I led in Chicago. It's the most frustrating job I held, yet essential.

In my 1973-1990 retail advertising roles with the Montgomery Ward Corp I learned how weekly advertising drew customers to ALL of our 400 plus stores.

That strategy needs to duplicate in every city to help youth programs grow. If someone hosts a database of programs (which I do in Chicago) anyone can use their own media and visibility to draw volunteers and donors to any of the programs on that list.

Is this happening in your city?

Learn about all the resources on the

tutormentorexchange.net site.

I started this website in 1998 and it's available to anyone in the world. The ideas are intended to help people better understand where youth and families need help, where tutor/mentor programs are most needed, and ways to help programs grow and constantly improve.

Visit this "get started" page and view the PDFs that provide a tour of the website.

While this site points to Chicago the ideas and strategies, and web library, can be used in any city.

Create your own version borrowing from this site.

Get the App

The Mayor of Chicago's MyChiMyFuture program is launching an app to help youth find summer involvement opportunities. View this PDF to learn more. Share this with youth programs and youth.

Visit the MyChiMyFuture - City of Chicago website. View the map of activities for youth - click here

View videos in Tutor/Mentor Theater

Visit this page and look at videos created since the early 2000s to share Tutor/Mentor Connection/Institute, LLC ideas.

Many were created by volunteers and interns. Many were created to draw support to the Cabrini Connections program that I led from 1993 to 2011.

A page of videos and PPT presentations like these, created by youth and/or volunteers, should be available in every city in the world! Use mine as thought-starters for your own.

Social Determinants of Health - HOPE as a medicine.

This concept map points to many public health resources that show poverty as a "condition" that needs to be cured, not as something that people deserve blame for. Many article focus on HOPE as a powerful medicine that fuels people's ability to survive difficult circumstances.

In this blog article you can find links to concept map.

Learn about Tutor Mentor Programs

Use the lists of programs that I share on the T/MI website to find Chicago area youth tutor and/or mentor programs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and in my own library.

Get to know these programs. Help them share their stories and/or improve their websites. Help them attract volunteers and donors and ideas that help youth.

If no one hosts lists like this in your community build and host the lists yourself!

Below are resources to use to help youth in your community.

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles:

Is Public Education in a State of Crisis? - click here

Steps Leaders can Take - click here

Using the Internet Archive to Find and Fix Broken Links in Your Blog - click here

Mentoring Youth Who Don't Live in Poverty - collection on Wakelet - click here

Learn about the Chicago Community Health Index - click here

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

* Featured collections on Wakelet - click here

* Resource Library - click here

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

* Concept Map library - click here

* Work done by interns - click here

* Digital Divide resources - click here

* Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view the concept map shown below. Follow the links.

Resources & Announcements

* School Segregation in US Metros - interactive map. - click here

* Our Common Purpose - Reinventing Democracy for the 21st-Century. click here

* Kalamzoo Promise - year 16 report - click here

* Collection of articles & links focused on progressive issues and fixing Democracy - click here

* College Changes Everything Conference, week of July 11, 2022 - click here

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* National Mentoring Partnership, resources - click here

* The Chicago Community Trust on Twitter - click here

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

* Strengthening Chicago Youth website, click here; blog - click here

* Thrive Chicago collaboration - click here

* Chicago Learning Exchange - click here

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

* AfterSchool Alliance - resource center - click here

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

About this newsletter.

Encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

(If you subscribe, don't forget to respond to the confirmation email).

Thank you for reading. Thank you for contributions.

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

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