Academic All-State Mentor Program
Become an All-State Alumni Mentor! Participants must sign up by June 30, 2008 in order to serve as mentors during the 2008-2009 school year. Contact Jennifer Geren at (405) 410-1523 or jgeren@ofe.org to sign up today. |
Academically at-risk children in five Oklahoma communities are reaping the rewards of mentoring through a unique program that pairs them with some of the state’s brightest young scholars. The Academic All-State Mentor Program, coordinated by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence , matches former Academic All-State scholars with students at targeted elementary schools in Norman, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Tulsa, and Weatherford.
The Foundation for Excellence is a nonprofit, charitable organization that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. Through its annual Academic Awards Program, the Foundation honors 100 of the state's top graduating seniors with Academic All-State scholarships. In spring 2002, the Foundation launched the Academic All-State Mentor Program to provide positive academic role models to students in Title I schools, where at least half the children are at or below the poverty level.
“Mentoring programs can provide underachieving students the personal boost that can help them achieve academic success,” said Jennifer Geren, director of the David and Molly Boren Mentoring Initiative. “Through their involvement in such a program, Academic All-State alumni have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to Oklahoma education.”
All-State Mentors spend at least one hour a week volunteering one-to-one with an assigned elementary school student. In some cases, mentors are given worksheets and selected activities to assist their students in areas of specific need, Johnson said. In other schools, mentors are challenged to identify their child's needs and formulate plans to address them.
"While this is difficult for some mentors, it has led to the most creative and individual projects, such as making dioramas to illustrate book themes, investigating rocketry and writing journals," she said.
Mentor Alyson Willis of Woodward and her mentee researched the history of dollhouses on the Internet then created their own dollhouse together. Enid mentor Brandon DeKock shared his love of science with his student, studying volcanoes and submarines. Nicole Sauer of Beaver helped her mentee write and illustrate her own book.
Geren said the program is drawing positive comments from participants, parents and teachers alike. Many of last year's mentors are returning to participate again this school year, and a new slate of All-State Mentors will attend training and be assigned to schools in the spring.
Attorney Lori Fagan, a 1990 Academic All-Stater who volunteers in Oklahoma City, has even inspired one of her co-workers to become a mentor for Oklahoma City Public Schools. She said the best part of being a mMentor is knowing that she's making a difference.
"What I enjoy most is the incredibly good feeling I have every time I mentor," she said. "I feel that I'm making a difference in my student's life, and you cannot feel much better than you do when your student enters the room with a huge smile on her face because you are there to work with her."
For more information on the Academic All-State Mentor Program, contact the Jennifer Geren at (405) 236-0006 or e-mail jgeren@ofe.org.