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MAY 25 AND 26, 2006 TUTOR/MENTOR LEADERSHIP and NETWORKING CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Held at the Northwestern University Law School, 365 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Il.
More than 190 people attended this conference. Participants were able to choose to attend one of five or six different workshops that were offered in each time slot on May 25 and 26, 2006. On line discussions were held in early May and will be continued on June 5-9, 2006. Learn more at e-Conference Workshops.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered to host a workshop. One of the primary benefits of this conference is networking, and your participation enriched the experience for everyone.
Look at the speaker bios page to see the range of people and organizations that were part of this conference. If you would like to present a workshop in Chicago or via the Internet, in a future conference, email
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to discuss your options.
NOTE: Workshops and presenters subject to change without notice. This page will remain on this site until September 2006. After that it will archive at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/Partner/CC/Presentations/Leadership_Conference/index.htm
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REGISTRATION OPENS AT 7:30 AM ON BOTH DAYS.
Continental Breakfast will be available
May 25 Schedule and Workshop Descriptions (click here for speaker bios)
8:30 - Conference Welcome
8:50 - 9:10 - Keynote Speaker; Professor Robert Halpern. chair of the Research Council at the Erikson Institute http://www.erikson.edu . He holds the position of faculty associate at the Chapin Center for Children at the University of Chicago. His current research focuses on the evaluation of after-school programs for poor children and their families.
9:15 am to 10:30 -
Volunteer Recruitment Strategies, presented by Janet Takehara, The Chicago Mentoring Institute, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago (http://www.bbbschgo.org )
In this interactive workshop, participants will learn how to identify potential sources of volunteers and how to develop recruitment targets and methods. Drawing on the collective wisdom of participants and presenter, the workshop will provide tools and techniques that can be adapted to the particular needs of participants’ programs.
High School Scholarship Program Networking Session, Facilitated by Mark Duhon, Executive Director, High Sight, www.highsight.org.
If your organization offers scholarships to help inner-city kids get into private high schools or into college, come and learn how others do similar work, or how similar programs might collaborate. If you want to learn more about how your tutor/mentor program can connect with scholarship programs, this is a workshop session for you to attend.
Inspiring Advocacy Model: “I AM”: Paving the Road to Success, Presented by Silvia Villa, GEAR UP Network Director, Chicago Teachers’ Center, Northeastern Illinois University and Kenneth King, Founder/President, New Concepts Tutor/Mentor Connection, http://www.newconceptstmc.org
There are systematic assumptions of a linear pathway to successful transitions to college for all students. However, in our student and parent population, we know this is not the case; therefore we have created a program that responds to this challenge. The Inspiring Advocacy Model (I AM) is a holistic and relevant response to the needs of first generation low income families at the high school level. I AM provides an arena for educational partners to continue impacting student access to success and post-secondary education. I AM creates a much needed bridge between students school, home life, and personal way. I AM creates possibility for students by engaging them in the learning process and validating their own pathway to success via anchored adults and mentors. This personal model nurtures the opportunity of connecting students successfully to one to one mentoring, community services and early job experiences. This is a life long learning process and a professional career path.
Project YES! AmeriCorps Networking, facilitated by Shea Coughlin and Patrick Bader, Project YES!
Do you want to learn how to connect your AmeriCorps program to others in the city, state, country? Are you a program working independently of other programs under the same umbrella? It's time to COLLABORATE! The state of Illinois has tons of hard-working AmeriCorps programs that could be even stronger with the help of its partners. Come to this workshop if you are an AmeriCorps member, AmeriCorps staff, or someone who is seeking to learn how to connect like-minded organizations in fun and interesting ways." Learn more about Project YES! at http://www.nush.org/introduction1.htm
Supporting and Evaluating Your Tutors & Mentors with Limited Management, presented by Gary Kosman, http://www.americalearns.net
Reading tutoring, school-based, and community-based mentoring programs in Chicago and across the nation use the America Learns Network to reduce evaluation and reporting workloads while providing personalized support to every tutor and mentor every week. The Network does not rely upon media that volunteers and program staff members often do not have time for, such as e-mail listservs, guidebooks, or web-based bulletin boards. Participants will have an opportunity to explore the Web-based Network, to learn about its history (it was designed in partnership with more than 300 tutoring and mentoring stakeholders nationwide), and to find how one organization in Chicago recently began to use it. (Please note that organizations pay to
use the Network. The presenter will recommend free alternatives to accomplishing some of the work the Network accomplishes.)
Top of the Pyramid: 9:15 am till Noon
Participants in the Tutor/Mentor Conference are welcome to join in this networking session, to be held in Lowden Hall, LMI117.
Top of the Pyramid is a group of advocates from different agencies and organizations in the Chicagoland area meeting on an ad hoc basis for over two years to discuss issues critical to girls in the juvenile justice system. We called the group, "Top of the Pyramid" which we developed to mean that if we had answers to issues for the girls at the top of the pyramid -- the girls involved in the system, then whatever programs we would or could develop would trickle down and somehow be of help to the girls -- all girls-- at the bottom, those not in trouble. The meeting is very informal.
10:40 to Noon -
Motivating Students to Learn - Presented by James Poindexter, Mathematics Coordinator for Operation Excel After School Program in Clarksville, Tennessee (This is part 1 of a two-day workshop)
This two day workshop will explore various techniques that can be used to build students' enthusiasm for learning. Several discussions will take place on the issue of motivation and attendees will be able to participate in hands-on tutor training sessions. Key topics that will be discussed:
* General Principles of Motivation
* Best practice strategies for increasing student motivation (mathematics/reading)
* Training volunteer tutors to motivate students
* Importance of rewards systems/structures
Reflecting Upon Five Years of Collaboration: Students in Higher Education as Mentors, Presented by Tom Holub, PhD, Associate Professor, Education Department, Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin
Throughout the past seven years, Edgewood College has collaborated with Cabrini Connections in Chicago, Il. The relationship is grounded by an interest that Edgewood has in assisting youth at-risk and an interest that Cabrini Connections has to form partnerships with universities.
This model includes 6 Graduate credit of instruction (poverty, special populations, the achievement gap...) and then a 3-day on-site field experience at Cabrini Connections. During the on-site visits, Graduate students work with teens discussing their futures and promoting access to postsecondary education. Visits, by Cabrini youth to Edgewood, and electronic relationships have followed.
The 2006 session will introduce two new components to this partnership: an internship and a photojournalistic perspective. The internship will take a Graduate student who will spend time at the tutor/mentor connection environment and will then return to make presentations to Edgewood College students upon return. The photojournalism is collaboration between the Education and Psychology Departments at Edgewood and will showcase success realized by Cabrini Connections youth.
Dr. Holub will describe this model, what has been learned and where the partnership plans to go in the future. If you are considering a long-term partnership with a community based program, as part of a university education strategy, or as part of developing a pipeline of minorities to your college or industry, this is a workshop which can help you develop strategies for your own efforts. If you lead a community-based program like Cabrini Connections, this is a workshop that can show you ways to build similar partnerships with colleges and universities in your area.
Students as Partners in Transforming Schools and Communities. "Decisions about Students Should be Made With Students", Presented by Gary Goldman, President, International Quality Leadership Institute, Chicago, Il. http://www.iqli.com
This comprehensive model channels the enormous power of youth in impacting whole communities through youth-adult partnerships. Lessons participants might expect to take away from this workshop:
- Create successful partnerships with youth and adults
- Have a better understanding of the importance of student involvement in impacting a community culture
- Get new knowledge about how other communities have implemented this adaptable plan unique to their own community
- Addressing the Whole Person for student learning, literacy, mentoring and success
How to Conduct Effective Orientation and Training Sessions for Volunteers, presented by George Cox and Carmelita Dockery, Mentoring Network for Juvenile Court Wards, Circuit Court of Cook County, Juvenile Justice Department
This workshop will provide techniques on conducting orientation and training for potential volunteers. The techniques include, icebreakers, group participation exercises, and various methods to involve your volunteers in the training process.
Review of Changes to the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator Internet Database, presented by Daniel F. Bassill, President, Tutor/Mentor Connection (view Program Locator link at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org )
If you are the leader of a Chicago area site-based tutoring and/or mentoring program, this workshop will show you how to maintain your program's contact information in the Tutor/Mentor Connection's Program Locator database. The presenter will review changes made in the database in the past few months and show you how to edit your own program information. This will be an informal 30 minute session, repeated twice in the time frame of this workshop. If you cannot attend, but want to learn how to use the program locator, email Dan at
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to schedule a time.
Lunch and networking Noon till 1:30 pm
Keynote speaker: 12:50 pm till 1:15 pm - The State of Latino Chicago: This is Home Now, presented by Sylvia Puente, Director Metropolitan Chicago Initiative, Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame
Metropolitan Chicago is undergoing a profound transformation from a region dominated politically and demographically by European Americans to one in which no single racial or ethnic group will be the majority. Long a preeminent center of manufacturing and trade, Chicago is known as a city that works. In The State of Latino Chicago, we examine the status of the region's fastest growing and, arguably, hardest working population.
1:30 to 3:00 -
Get More Volunteers: 5 Easy Communications Strategies to Attract Volunteers, Presented by Rosemary Walter, Mosaic Marketing
Learn five easy ways to use marketing communications to keep your name in front of potential volunteers. You’ll learn:
- How to communicate on an on-going basis
- How to maximize your August/September recruitment activities
- How to leverage your community resources for added communication “punch”
Rosemary Walter is a Chicago area marketing consultant who has won high scores presenting to our group in the past. Come learn and be energized by her solid and practical marketing tips and suggestions. Feel free to call her or email her before or after the conference with questions or comments at 847-483-5018 or
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. Her firm, Mosaic Marketing Management, is located in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Now that You've got 501 (c)(3) Tax Exemption, How Do You Keep It?, Presented by Jody Adler, The Community Economic Development Law Project (CEDLP)
This is a seminar for organizations that have received recognition of income tax exemption from the IRS but are unsure or need a reminder of all the legal requirements imposed on public charities. This seminar will review the on-going reporting requirements for public charities, and overview of lobbying and political activity restrictions, unrelated business income tax, current governance issues, donor acknowledgments, reporting to the IRS at the end of the advance ruling period, etc.
The seminar is geared to Executive Directors, Staff and Board members with the responsibility to ensure legal compliance of their organizations. They will receive a checklist of reporting requirements, current IRS hot topic issues for charities, and an understanding of acknowledging donations when there is a quid pro quo.
More specifically, the seminar will provide an overview of the following issues: The Sec. of State of Illinois-annual reporting form and repercussions for failing to file. Attorney General's annual reporting form - AG990. IRS Reporting - 990, etc. changes in corporate structure, name, purposes. Donor letters - use of funds, acknowledgement of donations over $250, quid pro quo issues, public inspection of documents, advance ruling follow-up, political activity, prohibition and lobbying restrictions, and unrelated business taxable income.
Even if you do not lead a Tutor/Mentor Program, this is a valuable workshop for leaders and Board Members of small to medium size non profit organizations.
Engaging Leadership from Faith Communities in Volunteer Mobilization and Community Collaboration, A Discussion led by Rev. Lorraine Bogan, PhD, Founder and CEO of OverComers-SAFE Haven Ministries, Programs, and Services (OSHMPS):
While there are hundreds of faith organizations in neighborhoods throughout the Chicago region, there are too few volunteer-based tutoring/mentoring programs in the high poverty neighborhoods of the South and West parts of Chicago, and in suburban communities such as Joliet, Elgin, Aurora and Waukegan. This is probably true in other big cities, like Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, etc. Rev. Bogan invites ministers and faith leaders to join in a discussion of ways churches, temples and mosques can be places where community organizations meet, network and build communications collaborations intended to build greater visibility for every tutor/mentor program in a zip code. Such strategies, if repeated weekly and monthly, like sermons in a weekly service, can draw potential volunteers to web sites where they learn more about where tutoring/mentoring is needed, why it is needed, and ways volunteers from throughout a metropolitan region can help sustain programs in specific high-needs neighborhoods. What you learn in this discussion you can implement in August 2007 as part of your neighborhood's volunteer recruitment campaign!
Measure What Matters - an Opportunity to learn about and share performance measurement strategies for your Tutor/Mentor Organization, presented by Debra Natenshon, The Center for What Works, http://www.whatworks.org
The Center for What Works facilitates benchmarking for nonprofits to continuously improve performance. Join us for this overview on performance measurement and receive some tools and samples to start your measurement strategy off right. The Center provides an efficient and effective 'how-to' guide for nonprofit grantees to tackle one of the most challenging issues
facing the sector: how to measure and account for their results.
The Center is now releasing a full performance measurement toolkit, including a fully animated eLearning course, an award winning book on nonprofit benchmarking, access to a researched framework of common outcomes and indicators for measurement, and training services to complement all of the tools.
Using Experiential Activities in Curriculum with Youth and Volunteers in a Mentoring Program, presented by Taryn Walker, MS, Youth Mentor Program Supervisor, OMNI Youth Services, Buffalo Grove, Il.
This session will give hands-on examples of curriculum that are currently being used in training of volunteers but also every month at the mentor and mentee get together activities. Please come with questions and ideas, but most importantly be ready to get up and experience for yourself. Come ready to Play!!
This workshop can be applicable to trainers, supervisors, anyone who works with people. You will walk away with tangible examples of experiential activities and situations when to use these activities to enhance your program. We will look at how to incorporate this information into existing or newly created curriculum. The biggest thing that participants will take away from this session is that anytime we as leaders can get the group up and involved the more likely they will be engaged. The youth and mentors want to get up and be involved and gain self confidence from figuring out difficulties using "out of the box thinking".
Mentor + Volunteer Equal Community Empowerment, presented by Dr. Alejandro Padilla and Elizabeth Romero, Morton College & Chicago GEAR-UP Alliance
This workshop will share the history and development of a successful Bridge program at Morton College. A particular focus will be on the program requirements such as community service and mentoring and how the two essential components are integrated into the heart of the content curriculum rather than add on component. This presentation will include student voices.
3:10 to 4:40 -
GANGS: An Overview of the Culture of Gangs, presented by Everett Gutierrez and Carmen Scott Boria, B.U.I.L.D. http://www.buildchicago.org
The speakers will draw upon their personal experiences and documented statistics to provide an overview of the culture of gangs. They will discuss the core reasons why young people get involved, such as searching for identity and responsibility. This presentation touches on all the real situations that are faced by those involved in gang life, while also helping people better understand the complexity of this circumstance.
This presentation is for anyone working with youth at risk of becoming involved or influenced by gang culture. Throughout the workshop you will learn to understand gangs with a degree of deeper meaning than just young people committing senseless violence.
Established in 1969, BUILD is a non-profit community organization whose mission is to engage at-risk youth in the schools and on the streets, so they can realize their educational and career potential and contribute to the stability, safety and well-being of our communities.
Elements of Success in College Readiness, presented by Renee Tucker Martinez, Associated Colleges of Illinois, http://www.acifund.org
This workshop will provide participants with a list of key factors contributing to the success of The Associated Colleges of Illinois College Readiness Program, from program design to strategies for fund raising. After 5 years of high school graduates, 100% of College Readiness students graduated high school on time, and 95% have chosen to pursue high education. Participants will walk away with 1) a list of ideas to infuse their own programs with, and 2) strategies to connect & instill ownership in constituents.
Lessons Learned from Research on the Natural Mentoring Relationships of Latino Youth, presented by Bernadette Sánchez, Assistant Professor of Psychology at DePaul University
The aim of this workshop is to highlight research on the natural or informal mentoring relationships of Latino adolescents and how these relationships play a role in their academic functioning. The presenter will highlight quantitative and qualitative research she has conducted to illustrate who serves as mentors to Latino youth, the characteristics of these mentors and mentoring relationships, and how mentoring plays a role in adolescents’ academic adjustment. This workshop will be beneficial for any volunteers and/or staff members who work with Latino youth and would like to understand how to better serve them. Audience participation will be solicited to discuss how the research findings can be applied to mentoring and other helping relationships.
Research will be presented on the natural or informal mentoring relationships of Latino adolescents. Quantitative and qualitative data will be presented to illustrate who serves as natural mentors to Latino youth, the characteristics of these mentors and mentoring relationships, and how mentoring plays a role in adolescents’ academic adjustment.
Grant Writing (From A Foundation Perspective), presented by Virginia S. Peoples, as the President of Peoples & Associates, Beaumont, TX
This session will cover the important components that Foundations look for in submitted grant applications, which includes: staff leadership; innovated projects; collaborative partnerships; civic engagement; solid budgetary projections; organizational sustainability; and a thorough evaluation of grant outcomes.
This workshop is geared to nonprofit Executive Directors, Project Directors, Directors of Development, Teachers, Principals, Tutor-Mentor Leaders, Tech Support/IT Directors, and Grant Writers. The session will cover the key components of successful grant submissions, as well as examples of the types of Community, Education and/or Tutor/Mentor Grants funded in Illinois and nationwide, from 2002 – 2005.
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May 26, Schedule and Workshops
REGISTRATION begins at 7:30 AM
8:40 - Conference Welcome - Daniel F. Bassill, President of Tutor/Mentor Connection
9:15 am to 10:30 -
Writing Grant Proposals -- Not Just for Grant Writers Anymore, Presented by Kevin Hogan, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago
In 80 minutes, Kevin will try to convince you that the "organization's history" is NOT the first section of the grant application you complete and that the "project evaluation" is NOT the last section you complete -- even though we all know that's how we write our grants!!
Not for decaf drinkers, the faint of heart, or after-lunch snoozers, this workshop will take participants through an abridged grant cycle in which they will write a mini-grant, present it to a "foundation" program officer, and ultimately, learn who received "funding" and why. Good for beginner or advanced fundraisers.
Strategies to Develop Non-Fiction Reading - Presented by Janis Fitzsimmons, North Central College
In this session, participants will learn creative ways to address a kind of reading that is most difficult for students----non-fiction
reading. Participants will learn about the importance of background knowledge and be given strategies and bibliographies as well as helpful hints. Participants will also learn about some creative ways to position non-fiction reading with students to make it an activity that everyone is dying to do! Contact Jan at
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Engaging Youth Leaders, Mentors and Students in Academics, presented by Joy Conway and John Lybolt, Leap Learning System, http://www.leaplearningsystems.org
Leap Learning Systems has provided academic support and professional development for Chicagoland community agencies for more than 12 years. In their Language for Scholars Program, adult partners work with students or children. The teachers, leaders and tutors are taught to use speech goals to improve communication, to increase listening, problem solving, and academic skills, and to focus on changing behaviors that will promote learning.
Leap Learning System’s experiences in training mentors (youth workers and tutors) have provided the organization with many examples of what may work and what may not work. Leap Learning Systems have learned a great deal about adapting our goals to principles of adult learners, and have had to alter our methods to adapt to the needs of each group we encounter. The presenters will share some of their methods with participants in an activity centered approach, and gain insights shared from the experiences of our listeners
After School and Community School programs Matter: After School Tutoring and 21st Century Community Learning Centers, presented by Tricia Hersey, Program Coordinator for Supplemental Education Services for the Chicago Public Schools and Adeline Ray, Progam Coordinator for 21st Century Program at Chicago Public Schools office of After School and Community School Programs
As part of No Child Left Behind, schools that have not made adequate yearly progress for three years in a row must offer free math and reading tutoring programs called Supplemental Educational Services (SES), to all low-income students.
This workshop will provide an overview and introduction on some of the programs that the Chicago Public School offers to schools within the district. The speakers will discuss the Supplemental Educational Services (SES) program which offers free tutoring to over 80,000 children in Chicago and also the 21st Century Learning Centers program, which is designed to provide opportunities for academic enrichment to help students who attend low performing schools.
The workshop is intended to educate community leaders, public school staff, parents and volunteers on the opportunities available to schools and parents by the Office of After School and Community School Programs.
For-Profit Mindset in the Non-Profit World, presented by Mr. Angel Diaz, Midtown Center for Boys, http://www.midtown-metro.org
This workshop is divided into two parts. Initially, participants will examine and discuss the meaning and motivation of a for-profit enterprise versus a non-profit organization. Participants will work in small groups to define professionalism and discuss the vertical, horizontal, internal and external dimensions of professionalism in the workplace and beyond. In the second half of the workshop, small groups will be asked to identify universal organizational/departmental goals, prioritize them and allocate non-financial resources to reach those goals. Small group conclusions will generate group-wide discussion and instruction. Recommended reading before the workshop: "From Good to Great and the Social Sectors" by Jim Collins, $11.95 at Borders. It's a quick read.
Independent Sector Interview with Jim Collins: http://www.independentsector.org/members/perspectives0306b.html
10:40 am to Noon -
Leadership for Youth Organizations and Individuals, Presented by Eric Davis, Founder, Educational Endeavors,
http://www.educationalendeavors.org
This workshop introduces organizations and instructors to the necessary aspects of cultivating leadership in communities and individuals. The seminar reveals the complex interplay of institutional structure, parental involvement, and student socialization and proposes strategic steps toward leading successful collaborations.
Participants will be actively engaged in this workshop. Questions and concerns about relevance and application help orient the session. Specifically, the workshop focuses on the following: Goal Setting, Planning (Tasks, Objectives, and Resources), Problem Solving, Influencing & Motivating, Personality Types, Leadership Styles, and "The Active Follower".
Recruit Volunteers Online: Learn How to Use Chicagovolunteer.net/1-800-volunteer.org, Presented by Jocelyn S. Dionisio, Director, Volunteer Resources, Community Resource Network, Chicago
Are you looking for ways to complement y our volunteer recruitment efforts by using a free, u ser-friendly and online tool? Come learn about Community Resource Network's http://www.chicagovolunteer.net powered by 1-800-Volunteer.org (a national database created by the Points of Light Foundation for Volunteer Centers across the nation.) By attending this workshop volunteer administrators and staff members responsible for their non profit organization's volunteer programs can learn about how to use this volunteer matching web site. You'll learn
- About the benefits of using Chicagovolunteer.net/1-800-volunteer.org
- About the various tools on the web site
- How to use the web site to recruit volunteers, track volunteer activities and generate reports
Successfully Transitioning Teens to Careers, A Group Discussion Facilitated by Diane Decker, Workplace Consultant, Quality Transitions, http://www.qualitytransitions.com
Review this handout created during the conference (a pdf) Successfully Transitioning Teens to Careers
In this session you will participate in a discussion of ways to successfully transition teens to careers. With your colleagues, you will tap into your creative juices to brainstorm and organize your ideas. The outcome of this session will be a document that captures the wisdom of the group, and is available on the Tutor/Mentor Conference Website for future reference and discussion. Leaders and volunteers who care about this topic are invited to bring their ideas, energy and vision (and board members and business sponsors) as they share in the discussion.
To ensure the session goals are met, we ask that those wishing to participate arrive by 10:40 for the setting of the
stage and discussion guidelines. A maximum of 30 will be able to attend this session. After the session, the facilitator, co-author of "First Job Survival Guide: How to Thrive and Advance in Your New Career," will be available to share ideas, sell, and sign her book.
“Keep ‘Em Coming Back, and Back, and Back”, How to retain mentors over time, Presented by Kristene Ruddle, BSW, MA and Shellie Hartford, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana (BBBSCI) is a nonprofit organization with a 35 year history of serving children and youth in the local community through providing mentoring relationships with adults. The organization is part of a national organization, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA), which provides leadership and guidance in best practices and safety measures to ensure the success of mentoring programs. An analysis of BBBS programs show that children involved in mentoring relationships show improvement in school work and are less likely to be involved in self-destructive behaviors.
Mentoring can be defined as a sustained relationship between a young person and an adult in which the adult provides the young person with support, guidance and assistance. The premise of mentoring is the idea that if caring, concerned adults are available to young people, the young people are more likely to become successful adults themselves. The longer the length of the mentoring relationship the greater potential for successful outcomes. BBBSCI has a higher than average match length.
This presentation will demonstrate how to build relationships that last. It will show the steps needed to sustain mentors and keep them involved in mentoring. Partnerships with community resources will be emphasized. Tools used to evaluate mentoring relationships will be shared. A range of successes and challenges will be discussed.
This interactive oral presentation will demonstrate how through shared mentoring experiences, both children and adult mentors can build relationships which ultimately serve to enrich both groups. It will provide ideas on how to develop and maintain relationships through a variety of means. The history of mentoring programs will demonstrate how relationship building can serve as an entry level to keep
SAFE: Screening Out Inappropriate Applicants, Presented by Sarah Kremer, Program Manager, Friends for Youth Mentoring Institute http://www.friendsforyouth.org
Each year, 35 million adults come in contact with 80 million young people through activities provided by youth-serving agencies. Within any pool of potential volunteers, there exists a portion who specifically target youth-serving organizations with the hope and goal to sexually abuse children. This training was developed to help prevent these applicants from infiltrating programs and gaining access to youth.
Based on current research, the mentoring field's Recommended Best Practices, and Friends for Youth's 27 years of direct service experience, this workshop offers practical, tested tools to prevent child predators from turning mentees into sexual abuse victims. This workshop is geared to program leaders, directors, and staff; it is not intended for volunteers, mentors or youth.
Goals of this workshop:
- To raise awareness of the prevalence of child predators and the tactics they employ in targeting victims in community youth-serving organizations
- To learn about the latest research on child molester profiles as well as potential red flags and warning signs to be aware of during your application and monitoring processes
- To offer practical screening tools and guidelines that youth professionals can apply in order to maximize the safety of the children and youth that they serve
The workshop will be presented as part lecture, small breakouts and individual activity/reflections. The presenter will be offering the Mentoring Center's latest publication, SAFE: Screening Applicants for Effectiveness, to participants. Organizations, program staff, and other involved adults need to know steps they can take to protect the young people in their programs.
Lunch and networking Noon till 1:30 pm
1:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Grant Writing (From A Foundation Perspective), presented by Virginia S. Peoples, as the President of Peoples & Associates, Beaumont, TX
This session will cover the important components that Foundations look for in submitted grant applications, which includes: staff leadership; innovated projects; collaborative partnerships; civic engagement; solid budgetary projections; organizational sustainability; and a thorough evaluation of grant outcomes.
This workshop is geared to nonprofit Executive Directors, Project Directors, Directors of Development, Teachers, Principals, Tutor-Mentor Leaders, Tech Support/IT Directors, and Grant Writers. The session will cover the key components of successful grant submissions, as well as examples of the types of Community, Education and/or Tutor/Mentor Grants funded in Illinois and nationwide, from 2002 – 2005.
Motivating Students to Learn - Presented by James Poindexter, Mathematics Coordinator for Operation Excel After School Program in Clarksville, Tennessee (This is part 2 of a two-day workshop)
This two day workshop will explore various techniques that can be used to build students' enthusiasm for learning. Several discussions will take place on the issue of motivation and attendees will be able to participate in hands-on tutor training sessions. Key topics that will be discussed:
* General Principles of Motivation
* Best practice strategies for increasing student motivation (mathematics/reading)
* Training volunteer tutors to motivate students
* Importance of rewards systems/structures
Finding your niche at low or no cost mentoring/tutoring for your population, Presented by Rose Mabwa, Manager, Mercy Housing, Inc
Don't miss out on this dynamic workshop that gives you simple solutions to attracting mentors and/or tutors in your after school programs using some very innovative resources available from higher education institutions and within your own community at no money or very low cost.
A Discussion of Universities Involvement, facilitated by John Zeigler, MSW, Project Director, Community and Neighborhood Partnerships, Msgr. John Egan Urban Center, Dr. Horace R. Hall, Professor, Educational Policy Studies and Research, School of Education and Dr. Darrick Tovar-Murray, DePaul University
This panel presentation looks at the multiple roles that the urban university can play in reaching out to communities primarily by way of youth mentoring. The presenters discuss community-university collaborations as a means of providing access and agency in a long-term context, in addition to practical and everyday strategies that seek to support all community participants. An example of such collaborations is a program such as REAL (http://www.realprogram.org).
This discussion is intended to connect faculty and students from different universities serving Chicago and other Midwest cities, with shared information, and with a network of peers doing similar work in different locations. If you work with a university, or at a university, please attend and encourage members of your professional networks to participate.
Maximizing Your Student Strengths, presented by Fernando Arroyo, Northeastern University Chicago Teacher Center
This is a hands on workshop that will have participants engaging in a simple self assessment that can be used with students to assist them in locating mentors and developing plans that are aligned with their strengths and goals.
3:10 to 4:40
Building The Diversity Pipe Line Through Mentoring, hosted by Karina Ayala, Executive Director, Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend-A-Hand Program (http://www.lend-a-hand.net)
Karina and Adewale Oduye will speak on the importance of mentoring as a way of increasing diversity in the legal profession. This discussion should be of interest to lawyers, law students and Law School admissions leaders, as well as volunteer managers at tutor/mentor programs. .Karina can be contacted at
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Summary and Next Steps Discussion, facilitated by Daniel F. Bassill, President, Tutor/Mentor Connection
Bassill will review the Technology and Collaboration Strategies of the Tutor/Mentor Connection, and highlight the on-line forums that will continue in June and beyond at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org
Building scientific aptitude using low costs materials. Presented by Arvind Gunapatel, Founder, Young Scientist Foundation, India,
The Objectives of the Foundation are to to develop microscopic vision and scientific aptitude in kids which in turn will improve their overall performance in their studies and help them become contributors to the future of their family, society in particular and in large to our nation and mankind. To develop microscopic vision in kids, the Foundation trained children from the ages of 7-15 how to use a small microscope and presented them with their own microscope. They improved their skills with the microscope and then provided their friends with the same training.
Project:
In a country like India where resources are limited for education, we have prepared more than 50 charts (posters) with simple scientific experiments, which they can perform at home with readily available materials. The experiments, performed at their convenience, initiate self-learning as well as develop an understanding of the truth. It also aids in improving hand-eye-mind coordination. These posters (size 16”x22”), which are economical to make, are posted on the walls of the classrooms, corridors, and passages of schools. Students are continuously exposed to the content of the posters while they are in school. Since many options are available, students are free to select when and what experiment to perform. They tend to perform these experiments during their free time. The basic material cost of the posters if done with Xerox copiers is approximately $0.50 per poster. The presenter will talk about how this project is helping youth in India, and share the posters via the Internet, so that schools and youth programs in the US and in other countries can apply this idea in more places. View posters
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DISCUSS TUTOR/MENTOR ISSUES AND NETWORK WITH PEERS ON THE INTERNET- e-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS PLANNED FOR MAY AND JUNE, 2006
The goal of the Tutor/Mentor Connection is to continue some of the workshop and panel discussions on the Internet at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org or in similar portals hosted by others who focus on education, tutoring, mentoring, workforce development, poverty reduction, etc. There is no FEE to participate in the e-Conference Workshops.
On-Line Discussions will be held from May 1 to May 12 and will continue again on June 5-9. If you are planning to come to Chicago, visit the Conference Networking Area in the Discussion Forum at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org and introduce yourself. Make plans to meet with others who will be coming to Chicago on May 25 and 26, or who will be participating in the on-line learning and networking.
Click the eConference workshops link to review the schedule of on-line workshiops being offered in May and June.
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