Helping Youth Tutoring, Mentoring Programs Grow:
Building Collaborations and Collective Action

Agenda for May 19, 2014. Thank you for all who attended.

All speakers are volunteers who share their time and expertise to help volunteer-based tutoring, mentoring programs grow throughout the Chicago region. Workshop topics and speakers are subject to change without notice.

8:15am-8:45am

Registration and Continental Breakfast
Plan to arrive with enough time to pass through security screening. Bring a valid photo ID with you

8:45am-9:30am

Welcome:

Daniel F. Bassill, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

John Hosteny, Director of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Illinois Office.  http://www.nationalservice.gov/

Networking IceBreaker - Jordan Hesterman, Founder/Executive Director, Becoming We The People

9:40am-10:45am Workshops

How to be Radical, Relevant and Relate to Urban Christian Youth through Mentoring(101), presented by Frank Walker, Jeff Green, Mars Hill Baptist Church

Participants will understand the importance of forming a Youth Mentoring Ministry towards youth of color both naturally and spiritually and will leave with some strategies/approaches they can use to get Urban Christian Youth involved in mentoring as well as how to fund a youth mentoring ministry in high poverty areas.
Participants will use the biblical examples of Jesus to develop methods of being radical, relevant and relatable in mentoring.

Communication: Youth, Conflict & the Media, presented by Hannah Holtgeerts, The Chicago School

How does the media impact the way our youth handle conflict? Where does the online meet the offline? What does gender have to do with it? Come and learn through clips, stories, and interactive discussion.

Blogging to Promote and Expand Mentoring, presented by Kelly Fair @Kellyfairthementor

This session will share the experiences of the presenter in developing and implementing her own blog that has helped expand her reach and resources for her growing her own mentoring program, and how she's been able to use it as a tool to support the entire mentoring community facing the challenges of daily practice.  See how Kelly uses her blog to encourage participation in this conference.

Youth Involvement in an Urban Setting, presented by Guillermo Guitierrez, First Defense Legal Aid, Board Member/Mentor and Fernando Moreno, Special Projects Manager, BUILD, INC

The workshop will consist of interactive learning styles, sharing successes and understanding challenges of working with urban youth. Participants of the workshop will learn different styles of engaging and working with at-hope youth. Participants will also hear first hand from mentors who are now working with the Juvenile Detention Center Court system, Chicago Police Department, and the streets of Chicago through First Defense Legal Aid and BUILD's perspective.

This workshop is best designed for front-line staff, social workers, probation officers, mentors, mentees, and other adults working with young people on a daily basis. Participants will be able to understand the methodology of Asset Based Development and Positive Youth Development approach. Participants will also have the opportunity to share their stories and engage in an example of participatory research learning and how this can assist them better in the understanding of urban culture.

10:55am-12:00 noon Workshops

12:00pm -1:30pm

Box Lunch & Networking -

Keynote Presentation -  Purpose Based Learning in School and Non-School Programs, Acronym-phobics Beware: PBL + CCSS + MDGs + C2C = OnIn,  presented by Eric Davis, Executive Director, GCE Lab School, and students from GCE

GCE students showcase their purpose-driven learning projects which live online as digital installations. All project posts are structured to include the course title, guiding question, scenario, samples of work, CCSS & MDG alignment. In short, we're demonstrating how inquiry and project-based learning may be showcased and highlight student education and quality of life standards without dumbing down student work or creative curriculum. Read GCE blog.

Slides from conference presentation - here

Link to GCE student blogs

1:40pm-2:45pm Workshops

Evaluation strategies for Tutor/Mentor Programs, presented by Kristen Strobbe and Christine Driskill, Working in the Schools
WITS will discuss best practices for delivering quality literacy-focused mentoring programming, powered by volunteers and serving Chicago Public School students. The discussion will focus on proven best practices for maximizing program experience, and approaches to building a data-informed evaluation process.

Mentoring Myths and Realities: Creating Pivotal Mentoring Opportunities, presented by Mark Carter, One80
Creating a mentoring program can be a daunting task.  Not just because of the time needed,  but deciding HOW to build it.  We'll move past myths (1 on 1 matchmaking is the best) and learn how you can create organic, successful mentoring opportunities for people in your organization.

This session will be an active discussion; NOT a lecture.  You're going to learn more than 10 mile high theories about mentoring; we'll be using Idea Climbing to help you learn how to 1) be a mentor, 2) be mentored and 3) how to create successful mentoring programs with measurable results (yes, you'll learn how to create metrics rather than unfocused conversations).  Expect to walk away with a strategy you can start using the next day to create pivotal mentoring opportunities.

Here's an example of ideas Mark shares about mentoring. http://www.markjcarter.com/2014/03/start-mentoring-conversations/

Attracting Service-Learners to Support your Organization, presented by Jennifer Maddrell, Designers for Learning

Service-learning is a two-way street with students offering service in exchange for the opportunity to learn. In this session, we will contemplate ways to match the service needs of your organization with the learning needs of potential students.
Find materials from this workshop here.

Helping to Make Good Programs Even Better - Using The Elements of Effective Practice in Mentoring Programs Checklist, presented by Cheryl Howard-Neal, Illinois Mentoring Partnership

Mentoring can be extremely rewarding for the youth and mentors in our programs, but it can also be hard work for the staff that manage the program.  Learn about mentoring best practices and find out how you can strengthen your program using evidence based approaches.

After this session, participants will be able to:

1  Understand the six key elements in creating and running a mentoring program
2  Look at their programs and get ideas for ways to strengthen or change program delivery
3  Meet the Illinois Mentoring Partnership and hear about ways we can help programs

Handouts:
IMP Conference Presentation
Elements of Effective Practice

Stopping The Violence: The Embodiment of Core Values and Key Components that Must be Employed and Embraced, presented by Bishop Steve Braxton, Founder, Marketplace Ministries, Inc, Freelance Writer, Author, Life Coach.

This workshop will be an interactive dialogue and discussion concerning 'Key Components' to help elevate, diminish and/or curtail crime, violence, drugs and gang activity among young people in the neighborhood-of-communities across the City of Chicago, in particularly, North Lawndale. Outcome: To gather a cadre of like-minded people to form a collaborative group to be a consistent voice to allay fears and make the community a better place that's closely akin to a 'Safe Haven' to live, work and play.

2:55pm-4:00pm Workshops

Volunteer Recruitment: Who Represents You In The Community Matters, presented by Gwendolyn Young ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Attendees will identify the five basic requirements of implementing an effective volunteer recruitment and screening process and build a clear understanding of how volunteer selection affects the community perception of their organization.

Attendees will leave excited about the next steps and ready to grow and/or strengthen their volunteer base.

Handout from workshop.

Developing and Improving Tutor/Mentor Programs for Special {ISP, LSP, ESP, SB} Behavior Students, presented by Rev. Terry Weston TW Ministries

The CPS {Community - Parent - Student} After School Program will provide conference participants on Best Practices for developing, designing and deploying a After School Program for Special Need {ISP, LSP, ESP, SB and ED} Students.

Service Planning How-To: presented by Michael Crotty and Sonya Acosta, Project YES! AmeriCorps program, Northwestern Settlement
This will be a discussion of process of planning for a service project, including steps for raising needed funds, and a process of reflection upon completion of the project.  This will be useful for AmeriCorps volunteers and project managers in any school or tutor/mentor program.

THE STORY WITHIN: Using Questions to Unleash Creativity, presented by Bob Boone and Mark Henry Larson, Glencoe Study Center

The authors will show how a question-based approach can be used to unleash creativity from within even the most reluctant writers. Using a WRITE THROUGH CHICAGO prompt, participants will plan, compose, and share original writing.  They will then conduct a brainstorming session on how/why this technique can be adapted to specific tutoring situations. Participants will leave the workshop with a firm understanding of the process, an array of field-tested techniques, and access to support materials and websites.

Before, During and After the Conference: Connect with peers in on-line space
Participants are encouraged to think of the spring and fall tutor/mentor conference as a meeting place where they can bring a group who is interested in creating more tutor/mentor programs in a specific region or in a specific focus area (such as health careers, technology, arts, etc.).  We encourage you to join on-line forums and help plan the conference and other T/MC actions. If you would like to organize a single workshop, or a conference within the conference, please contact us online or connect with Dan Bassill on Skype at "dbassill".