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Why I Mentor

Oklahomans in every corner of the state are volunteering time each week to make a difference in a child's life. The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has asked some of these mentors to share their experiences.

Wendi Schuur, manager of public relations for Devon Energy, is a member of the Junior League of Oklahoma City and serves on the board of directors of the OU School of Journalism and Leadership Oklahoma City’s Youth Leadership Exchange. Schuur is an alumnus of Leadership Oklahoma City and volunteers for a number of non-profit organizations.

Why is mentoring important to you?
Mentoring is important to me because you really have the opportunity to make a difference in a child’s life. You often are able to expose your student to ideas, concepts and opportunities they didn’t know existed.

How or why did you become involved?
I became a tutor more than ten years ago while employed with Kerr-McGee. When I began working at Devon, I expressed an interest in forming a tutoring program with a local elementary school and gained strong endorsement from senior management. I initiated the partnership with Mark Twain Elementary School and Devon three years ago and the relationship exceeded my initial expectations. It’s a special program that our employees love being a part of.

How have you personally benefited from mentoring?
For me, personally, tutoring gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction. Seeing the academic progress of my student over the past three years is very gratifying. It’s been exciting to watch Paloma grow up and gain self confidence in her ability to do math and read. We call each other friends and look forward to seeing each other during our tutoring sessions.

Give an example of an activity you have shared with your mentee.
Since I coordinate Devon’s tutoring program, I spend a good amount of time at the school. Paloma’s eyes always light up when she sees me at school functions and activities. I’ve had the opportunity to meet her family at school functions and spend some time with them. A year or so ago the Downtown Magazine did a feature story on me and my involvement in the Junior League. The story also talked about other community initiatives I was involved in and highlighted my tutoring at Mark Twain. The magazine ran a photo of Paloma and me with the story. When I showed Paloma the story and photo she was so excited and couldn’t wait to show her family!