"Making Mentoring Work" Conference  
December 5, 2008 7:30AM - 12:00PM

Keynote: Dr David DuBois

Workshops:

9:35-10:30

• Wheres The Evidence? A Practical Guide to Using Evaluation to Improve Program Quality: Dr David DuBois
• E-Mentoring, An Innervation worth Pursuing: Peter Knight and Will Zheng
• Working with Survivors of Sexual Assault: How Can You Help: Dr Rondi Rork

• Program Leader Panel: Insights on Program Managment: Dr David DuBois, Tom Weiss, Dr Mike Frontier, Jim Smith
• The Power of Mentoring Relationships: Dr. Jeffrey Wilkins
  
• Fundrasing for Mentoring Programs: Len Iaquinta

This weekend I was explaining to my daughter the concept of a compass and how it works.  But she was really struggling to understand.   I gave her the example of, “If I want to find my house….” And she said, but HOW does the compass know where your house is?  Silly me.  I had left out the most important part of the explanation.  I had left out the fact that the compass was a tool that could take me to my house, not just to my house, but east to my house.  Now she got it.  In order for the compass to help, we had to know not just where we wanted to go, but the direction we wanted to take to get there.  The compass is nothing more than a tool we use to help us get where we want to go.

Well, that got me to thinking.  As mentors, we have so many tools and can always learn more to help us help our kids.  But where do we want to go with our kids and where do they want to go?  I mean, our tools can point us, but how far can we take it without knowing where we want to go?  Dan Bassill speaks of the importance of kids having goals that take them into their twenties.  I certainly have worked with enough kids that didn’t expect to live that long.  Yet, when we start to talk with kids about long term goals, we begin to open up the door to the possibility of having a future, a future they can create.  

How do we do this?  One way we teach our kids to look to the future is to live by example.  When appropriate, share stories of your goals, both past and present.  Children and teens can be inspired by our dreams and our stories of triumph.  Not all of my stories are winners, I admit.  But my lesson?  It is better to try and know if something will work than to never try at all. Our kids can reap the benefit our stories.

Another strategy is to break in to your student’s mindset and start to teach them the process of looking toward where they want to go.  When I was a kid, I heard a million times, from relatives, teachers, family friends, “Maria, what do you want to be when you grow up?” “Maria, which college will you go to?”  Growing up not too far from West Point Military Academy, I had an uncle that would always tease, “So, Maria, when are you applying to West Point?”  Now military school was not for me……but oh, the power of those words.  West Point? Well, yes I could do that.  College?  Of course.  It was a matter of fact.  Not all those people were family.  I had some teachers in my life that stared me down and told me to work hard and let me know what they could see for me in my future.  That miss-matched group of people, from people who told me to learn from their mistakes, to people who were scholars, to religious leaders;  I give each and every one of them a bit of credit for my success.  Their challenge to me, to look in the distance to where I wanted to go, allowed me to pick up that compass and start moving.

In the days to come, look at your relationship with your student and reach out to them.  Make their future part of your ongoing discussions.  Like me, your student may someday carry your words with them as they pick up their own compass and journey to their future.

Please feel free to go to http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com to discuss this article.

Maria Murphy writes a monthly Tutor/Mentor Coaching Tip for this site and has been a presenter for Cabrini Connection’s Tutor/Mentor Conference. She is a speaker, consultant and writer. Other mentoring articles can be found on her new blog at Mentoring Simply Put.

I have been writing grant requests, hosting site visits, and writing final reports to gain the operating dollars needed to support the 2009 activities of Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection.

So, what are we not seeing, or taking for granted.  This is a long article. In the first section I write about the thinking that goes on to make a program like this available to kids and volunteers.  In the second section is a list of elements that must be in place to support this process. 

a)     Someone had to make a commitment to start this organization, and keep it going. Cabrini Connections was not created by some government initiative, with a bundle of up-front dollars. It was started in October 1992 by seven volunteers who saw a need.  They created Cabrini Connections to provide a 7^th grade through high school support system for kids who were aging out of the 2^nd to 6^th grade Montgomery Ward/Cabrini Green Tutoring Program.  They had no money. They had no space to operate. During the spring of 1993 there was no paid staff, and volunteers and kids met each week in the day-room of St. Joseph’s Church on Orleans, and once a week at Wells high school.

b)      Space needed.  We operated from the dayroom of a church for the first six months of 1993. Then Wards donated an entire floor of their corporate tower (almost 20,000 sq ft of space), along with desks, cabinets, parking and security. We operated from there from August 1993 until June 1999. Then we moved to rented space as Wards went out of business. We actually spit into two buildings, 8 blocks apart. The Cabrini Connections program operated at Holy Family Church on Larrabee, while the T/MC, and Fund Raising, operated from a room at 1111 N. Wells. In 2001 we moved into our current 4,000 sq ft location at 800 W. Huron, just a few blocks from Cabrini Green. 

While we had donated space we could devote all funds raised to our programs. And we had a $40,000 annual grant from Wards. This really helped us get off the ground because in 1993 we only raised $50,000 and in 1994 we only raised $114,000. Without the help from Wards the program would never have built any kind of following.  However, since 1999 space, utilities, and insurance has costs over $70,000 per year. This is a fixed expense that is necessary if we’re to continue to offer the program to kids in Cabrini Green. Without funds for the space, insurance, equipment and utilities there is no program.

c)      If you want good results, you involved talented people. Volunteers can do tremendous things. I led the tutor/mentor program at Montgomery Ward for 15 years while holding a full time job. We had more than 300 kids and 300 volunteers participating by 1990.  We had nearly 50 volunteers involved in various leadership roles. Many of these volunteers came from companies beyond wards.  However, to support this type of volunteer involvement I spent my lunch, evening and weekend hours, plus at least one week of vacation each year, doing the work of leading this organization.  I had tremendous freedom to take phone calls and work on this during the day, as long as my own work were being done to an outstanding level.

And while we did a great job of keeping kids and volunteers connected, I think we could have done much more if I or another leader had been able to devote 40 to 50 hours a week on this.  At Cabrini Connections the glue that keeps the kids and volunteers coming is the lead coordinator, who is a paid staff person.  We have 70 kids and more than 90 volunteers, and a more than 400 alumni. We have two full time staff people, one full time e-learning coordinator, and myself.  To keep the lead coordinators in place we need to reward them with decent compensation and benefits, and try to surround them with extra help (staff and volunteers) so they don’t burn out and leave after a couple of years.  

d)      Volunteers are critical to success of this organization; but they need support, too.  We have volunteers in a variety of leadership and organizing roles, not just on the board of directors. Many of them have been involved for five or more years. They represent the organizational knowledge, in addition to my own.  However, these lead volunteers need to be recruited, supported and mentored by our lead staff. 

e)      Volunteers are customers. The need to be recruited. They are not standing in line waiting to be your tutors and mentors. The best way to recruit new volunteers is to provide a great experience for your current volunteers. We started with seven volunteers in October 1992 and added new volunteers each school year from 1993 till today.  We’ve grown Cabrini Connections, and before that the Montgomery Ward/Cabrini Green Tutoring Program, by converting volunteers into ambassadors who go out and recruit other volunteers.  Many of these people are also recruiting the dollars we need.  However, this is not something that happens by accident. It takes lots of time, and a consistent effort to provide a well-organized experience, and to mentor volunteers as they attempt to build relationships with kids.  It takes a constant external communications (see below) to attract new volunteers to replace those who leave the program during every year. 

f)        Kids are volunteers, too. This is not a court mandated program, or a program for failing kids who are sent here by schools. We focus on kids who can succeed in school and life if they just get the support the need to overcome the obstacles poverty put in their lives.  These kids did not start Cabrini Connections. Our founders saw a need and invited kids to participate. Each year our customer service intends to provide an experience that motivates kids to come back each week, and each year. Each year our outreach aims to recruit new students who don’t know about our program, but might participate if given the chance. 

g)      Our volunteers are the CEOs of this effort, not the staff.  Each volunteer is different and each youth is different. The strength of a one-on-one program is the ability of a volunteer to tailor his/her mentoring and tutoring to the needs of the student and the talents and time available from the volunteer. The longer someone stays involved, the more experienced and effective they become. And while 25% of our volunteers will stay 3 or more years, many only stay one year, and some do not complete their first year. This means the volunteer work force is in constant need of mentoring and coaching from other volunteers and from experienced staff. 

h)      Finding space, finding staff, setting up a structure and a recruitment campaign to get kids and volunteers to participate is just the beginning.  Each week during the school year there is constant follow up and coaching of each student/mentor pair. There is constant planning to develop activities to support the weekly tutor/mentor sessions. There are mountains of details required to track attendance, keep information current in databases and on email lists, and to stay in touch with parents, teachers, social workers, as well as volunteers.  There are new volunteers to be interviewed. There are 70 kids, and 70 different sets of personal and family issues to deal with each week.

i)        Communications is hard work and takes time.  Creating the training materials, writing the weekly email newsletter, maintaining the web site and on-line documentation systems, and creating brochures to recruit new students and volunteers requires time and talent.  The less talent you have at writing, the longer it takes to write a letter, or a brochure.  We are required to multi-task because we only have 3 people. Yet, if we do not provide these communications, we cannot mentor and guild the process of our kids and volunteers.<!--[endif]-->

j)        Does it work?  We say kids and volunteers vote with their feet. Thus, if they come most of the time (80% is our goal), and most return from  one year to the next (kids goal: 80% return; volunteer goal: 65% return) then we feel they are telling us that they like what we are doing.  However, donors want to know more. What impact does this have on grades, test scores, social and emotional behavior. We can say from observation and feedback that it benefits some kids more than others and that some volunteers have had life changing experiences because of their involvement. That’s enough to keep me working on this every day.

However, we can’t quantify this via traditional research and evaluation. Why? We barely have the manpower to do what we’re doing. That’s why.  Furthermore, the impacts of this type of mentoring are long term. The accumulate over time. An evaluation would need to cover many years and extend into the years after kids have finished high school to paint a true picture of our impact. Such research is not being done in very many places because most programs have the same problem we have of not being able to stay connected to kids or volunteers once they no longer attend the program.

k)        The money does not come out of thin air. It took six months to find donated space at Montgomery Ward, along with a $40,000 grant, that enabled the program to hire part time staff, and purchase needed office equipment.  Every year since then, the organization has started the new fiscal year (Jan. 1) needing to raise all of the money for the program’s operations (rent, utilities, insurance, staff, etc.) as they also provided coaching to kids and volunteers.  During the 10/7/08 debate one question asked was “what level of sacrifice will you ask from Americans”.  I don’t think either candidate answered that question. If you read my blog I think that for there to be programs like Cabrini Connections in hundreds of places, lots of people are going to need to go beyond 2% annual donations, and a few hours of volunteering.  Our men and women in the armed forces give 100% for our freedoms.  Each person needs their own personal barometer, but hopefully our leaders can light a fire so some people will go beyond the  call of duty for citizen service.

l)    And we cannot attract donors without good communications and consistent outreach and evidence of impact.  Many larger non profits have full time development directors and staffs with many people. They can farm out creative work to ad agencies and creative services because they have the money to do that.  One potential donor, who was worth about $500 million, once asked me why I needed to spend $70,000 a year on fund raising. He said his charity did not need to do that. He could just call someone and get the money they need.  He gave me $1,000 one year and nothing after that.  My budget for Cabrini Connections is about $200,000.  How does he think we are finding the other $199,000?  If we’re spending all of our time coaching kids and volunteers, where do we find time to market and do fund raising?

m)       The answer would be to have people with high net worth adopt Cabrini Connections. Then they could call themselves up each year and say how much good work we are doing, and ask for a donation to cover the budget.  A CEO of a real estate company once said “that’s a tax deduction” when talking about the $4 million it would take to purchase a building for our operations. 

n)      Another answer would be to build a network of 1000 people with modest means who would each provide $250 per year to support the program. That has more potential. $250 is really just $5 a week, or, maybe the cost of one latte at Starbucks each week.  Is the potential future of an at-risk child worth a cup of java to you?

Our aim is to find both types of donors.

What Basic Conditions need to be met, to attract students and volunteers to a site based tutor/mentor program? 

Listed in order of priority are the organizational needs that must be met each week for CABRINI CONNECTIONS to maintain the high quality level for which it has earned a reputation of excellence.

1) Create positive environment for tutors and students to spend time together.

• Clean, orderly area (70 desks, 100 chairs)
• Pencils, paper, calculators, scissors, attendance lists, and other needed supplies stocked in cabinets
• Learning resources, such as library, worksheet binders, and geography materials in place and orderly.
• Coffee and snacks in stock and prepared for distribution.

2) Provide a structure and support that offers an opportunity for a satisfactory experience. Focus primarily on tutors because if volunteers were to stop coming, the program would not survive.

• Annual evaluation, review and plan which incrementally builds on previous year accomplishments
• Regular communications program (newsletters, email, blogs, web sites, bulletin boards, etc.)
• Informational and historical record (Annual Report, brochures, etc.)
• Information on community resources, field trip activities, etc.
• Motivation activities such as parties, field trips, and writing contests

3) Provide a broad base of resources from which individual children and tutors can build activities.

• Library, with reference materials and motivational activity worksheets

• Internet Library with home work help, suggested activities, tips for tutors/mentors, networking opportunities.

• Student history file with report cards
• Teacher referral forms from local schools
• School supplies, learning resources, library
• Computers, with dedicated work area
• Speaker/Role Model Program
• Field Trips to business and college sites
• Parties and informal social gatherings for kids and volunteers

4) Ensure frequency and consistency of participation. Focus on student attendance because if students come inconsistently tutors will eventually stop coming. Focus on tutor attendance to improve relationships and quality of tutoring/mentoring children receive.

• Preparation of weekly attendance record, with volunteers to do check in
• Maintenance of tutor and student address data-base with up-to-date info
• Tutor contact network with weekly follow-up
• Weekly calls and letters to children with 2+ absences
• Perfect attendance recognition and reward for 10 weeks without absence
• Recognition for volunteers with 90% or better attendance
• Marketing and maintenance of Point Bank system

5) Provide training and other motivational resources to enable tutors to have more satisfying and effective experience.

• Written Handbook, plus regular handouts
• Organized training sessions (Orientation, Fall Workshop, Jan. Workshop)
• First Year tutor orientations every 6 weeks
• Encourage participation in program committees and after-tutor activities
• Files full of math and language-skills worksheets, to be used as individual lessons
• SVHAT20 on-line support system for students and volunteers

6) Provide direct service benefits to children.

• Safe environment in which to interact with caring adult.
• Role models to spend time with
• Extra learning activities such as arts, technology, writing clubs
• Computer and Internet access for homework  help, networking, communications with volunteer
• Learning materials (books, pencils, reference books, dictionaries, etc.)
• Books to check out and take home to read.
• Snacks at sessions
• Experience and enrichment activities (field trips, etc.)
• Parties, with gifts and treats

7) Involve parents in tutoring activities and children’s education.

• Parent Orientation at start of year
• Involvement of parents in weekly sessions
• Informational literature provided through program
• Auxiliary parent-education programs on subjects such as nutrition, or reading to children at home

8) Involve teachers and social workers  in tutoring activities and children’s education.

• Teacher and Social Worker  Orientation or Introduction at start of year
• Involvement of teachers and social workers in developing mentoring and tutoring strategies
• Informational literature provided through program
• Report Card permission from parent so school can release information directly to program
• Coach volunteer to contact teacher or social worker directly

9) Involve business in tutoring and mentoring activities and children’s education.

• Through the Success Steps engage business in providing training programs to prepare students for work
• Create a pool of part-time and summer jobs for qualified students, at companies which commit to also “mentor” students while on the job
• Create scholarship pools from Success Steps companies which help student obtain advanced education.
•  Invite businesses to Career Day activities
•  Teach volunteers to be ambassadors for tutor/mentor within their company or industry

The leaders of Cabrini Connections need to be thinking about all of the things listed above, every day, every year.  Finding people who understand this, and can recruit volunteers and donors to help do some of the work, and who can relate to kids and families, and who will stay with this five or ten years, is the biggest challenge we face.  We can overcome part of this challenge if we can find donors who understand what's under the surface and who will help us have the operating dollars to try to make this type of program available to teens in this part of Chicago.

What are the elements that make your volunteer-based tutor/mentor program a success. Do you share this on your web site so others can learn from you?

The Study Hygiene Replay

By Maria Murphy

Whenever I teach a class on sleep, we talk about “sleep hygiene,” or the habits we can create to prevent sleep disturbances.  One of the things we know about human behavior is that we learn from repetition.  Habits, good and bad, can change our lives.  The same goes for the kids we are working with.  A few key Study Hygiene habits can help our students really thrive now and in years to come.

Before I get into these easy to remember habits, one thing all tutors should remind themselves is the incredible power of repetition.  If we decide to campaign with our students and share these habits with them every week, we will begin to make inroads.  Most of us can recollect the 10 million times we were told by our own parents to, “do your homework,”  “put your laundry away,”etc.  Learning is usually not a switch, but a slow process and one of the jobs of parents and mentors is to stick with it till it’s stuck with our kids. 

Replay

The Replay is a simple tool in which you repeat things over and over. It is so important for kids to learn what “study hygiene” means.  And the best way for them to learn is to have the people who care about them replaying it over and over for them.  I recommend you go over “study hygiene” with your student every week, until the eye rolling becomes unbearable and they can replay all the facts to you before you can get your words out.  Okay, that said, here are the key study hygiene habits.

Breakfast

Studies have pointed out repeatedly the impact of breakfast on student performance and testing.  Remind your student to have breakfast and the importance of protein.  A glass of milk in the morning is associated with higher test scores with students. (Don’t forget to check for food restrictions or allergies, though.)  Regardless, a bucket of sugar is not the goal here.  Most kids that don’t have breakfast available at home have access through the school system.

After school snack coupled with homework

This is two hygiene tips in one.  Most kids are hungry after school and a bit depleted.  A healthy snack will give another energy boost.  Do homework after school!  Retention is best the quicker we revisit something.  Kids can have a snack (this is a great time to add in a second glass of milk) and knock off homework while it is fresh. This is pragmatically good hygiene because energy fades as the day goes on and it’s also emotionally good study hygiene.  Instead of homework “hovering” over a child’s head, they are free for the rest of the night.  Never underestimate the power of finished tasks on the confidence and emotional strength of your student!

Sleep

Getting enough sleep makes us all function better. When you encourage your student to get to bed on time, you are planting seeds for them to build better habits.

Try it.  Replay the 3 Study Hygiene habits for your student.  Remind them week after week.  Let them complain and whine and then tell them that you care and that is why you keep saying it.  Use that minute or so of time to educate and encourage your student to make their way to a decent breakfast or an earlier night or homework after school.  Remember the power of your every contribution!

Please feel free to go to http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com to discuss this article.

Maria Murphy writes a monthly Tutor/Mentor Coaching Tip for this site and has been a presenter for Cabrini Connection’s Tutor/Mentor Conference. She is a speaker, consultant and writer. Other mentoring articles can be found on her blog column at http://www.simplyputtogether.com .

What does it mean when we say we want the kids who join us in 7th grade to "be in a job or career by age 25?"

Below is the front page from the October 15, 1992 Chicago SunTimes.  This editorial was created in response to the shooting of a 7  year-old boy in Cabrini Green.  We started Cabrini Connections, and the Tutor/Mentor Connection in the weeks following this tragedy.  In the editorial, the SunTimes demands action. They say "it is everyone's responsibility". 

We believe that. 

I look at this every week. Unfortunately, in the 16 years since, I've added additional stories like this to the tragedies claiming inner city kids. 

This year more than 35 Chicago Public School students have been killed. More have been shot. Any who live in inner city neighborhoods are terrorized.  The media don't do a front page story for most of these. They only cover this story occasionally.  During the lull, those of  us who have made a commitment to end the violence and hopelessness of poverty by providing paths to jobs and careers, are left on our own to find the help needed to sustain our programs.

We need more than random acts of kindness. We need a vision strategy that connects kids with school based and non-school learning, starting in elementary school and continuing through college and until a youth is working.  While parents, teachers and mentors are PUSHING kids to make good decisions, work hard on their studies, and stay away from drugs, sex and gangs, we need the workplace to support this process by encouraging volunteers to be tutors/mentors, and to support the infrastructure of tutor/mentor programs with talent and dollars.

Furthermore, we need leaders from business, politics, religion, media, sports, etc. who will make a concious effort to keep the focus on this vision every week, or month, throughout the year, and through the next decade.

That's because it usually takes 12 years for a first grader to finish high school.  That's in the best circumstances.  Kids in inner city war zones are not growing up in the best circumstances, or with the best schools.

In the links library at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org we have many articles on poverty, high school drop outs, workforce development, etc.  These show that kids in the highest, most segregated neighborhoods are without hope, and without lifelines, connecting them to the outside world.  Volunteers in tutor/mentor programs can create these lifelines, not only providing help in building aspirations and study skills, but in helping kids get into college, and get into jobs following college, or even following jail or a GED.   Most kids living in poverty will never have this type of lifeline, because there are very few programs like Cabrini Connections in most high poverty neighborhoods, and few with the long-term vision that we outline when we make a commitment to "do all we can to help kids be in jobs and careers by age 25."

In order to keep that commitment Cabrini Connections, and other tutor/mentor programs, must find ways to obtain the daily bread we need to operate. However, we also must turn our volunteers and supporters into learners and advocates, so that there are an army of people writing what I'm telling you, spreading the Gospel of tutoring/mentoring throughout the city and throughout the country.  Only then will be get the attention of CEOs, media and presidents, who need to become the owners of this vision and this strategy.

Each week during the year I will write articles about this vision and the needs of tutor/mentor programs like Cabrini Connections in my blog at http://tutormentor.blogspot.com. Other members of the Tutor/Mentor Connection (Nicole White and Mike Trakan) are also writing blogs that talk about the citywide need for tutor/mentor programs. Links to their blogs can be found on my blog.

El Da'Sheon Nix is the Administrative Coordinator for Cabrini Connections, and the primary writer of the http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com . This will focus on the activities of Cabrini Connections.  On the Cabrini Blog page you'll also find links to Chris Warren's blog, and the Tech and Writing Club blogs. You'll also find a fund raising blog written by Cassina Sanders.

We encourage volunteers and their students to keep their own blogs, as a journal of their time with each other and with Cabrini Connections. We created an internal community for students and volunteers, called SVHATS.

As a result of how we share information, we feel that leaders from around the country, who want to operate a program with similar goals and similar structure, can visit the Cabrini Connections web site to not only design their program, but to find ideas to support their students and volunteers each week.  You're invited to use the information. Just let us know you are doing this and join with us in on-line forums where we share what we do and collaborate to build visibility and funding for all of us.

As volunteers journey through the weekly sessions and the 2008-09 school year with Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection, we hope to expand the understanding of the responsibilities we all have to keep the memory of kids like Dantrell Davis alive, and to keep building a path to jobs and careers as a result.

We hope this helps you and look forward to hearing from you.

Contact El Da Sheon Nix or Dan Bassill
Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection
800 W. Huron, First Floor
Chicago, IL 60642
Phone: 312-492-9614
Fax: 312-492-9795

Please read the blogs .............
http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com