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Thursday, September 23, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Conversation Starter: What qualities do you value?
Ask your mentee "Which teacher, coach, or other school worker is a positive role model for you? What qualities do you value in her or him?"
Keep the ball rolling and talk about what qualities you value and who demonstrates them. Whats next? Set a goal - pick one quality and try to demonstrate it as much as possible before your next mentoring session.
For example "I admire my boss because she smiles at everyone and is really positive." Ask your mentee to try it out for a week! Dont forget to follow up and see what happened.
Activity of the Day
Hand down a hobby by teaching your mentee a skill, such as quilting, model building, or card tricks.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Teammates of Holt County Sets Ambitious Goals
O’NEILL NE – On September 2, The TeamMates Mentoring Program gathered board members for strategic planning and creating a vision statement for the program. The vision for TeamMates of Holt County is to serve 50 youth by 2013 and to have matches meet 24 or more times annually. To realize this vision, the board will be recruiting new mentors, board members and educating the community on the impact of mentoring in the lives of youth.
TeamMates Executive Director, Suzanne Hince was on hand to provide the planning. “We are very excited about the new vision for TeamMates of Holt County. The commitment to youth in the community is evident by the quality of the volunteers associated with the program. We are grateful to the mentors and board members who are willing to give of their time and talents to young people,” said Hince.
In July, Holt County TeamMates received a grant of $2500 from the Norfolk Area United Way for support and expansion of the existing program. This grant helps cover the costs associated with recruiting and training qualified mentors.
Community members interested in mentoring or supporting the program should contact Joshua Davis at402-340-4411 or hcteammates@gmx.com
TeamMates Executive Director, Suzanne Hince was on hand to provide the planning. “We are very excited about the new vision for TeamMates of Holt County. The commitment to youth in the community is evident by the quality of the volunteers associated with the program. We are grateful to the mentors and board members who are willing to give of their time and talents to young people,” said Hince.
In July, Holt County TeamMates received a grant of $2500 from the Norfolk Area United Way for support and expansion of the existing program. This grant helps cover the costs associated with recruiting and training qualified mentors.
Community members interested in mentoring or supporting the program should contact Joshua Davis at402-340-4411 or hcteammates@gmx.com
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Former Miss Columbus aims to help TeamMates Mentoring Program
Article from the Stamford Advocate - Click here to link to the full article.
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Columbus' youth will have more mentors thanks to an effort by Heather Loseke.
The former Miss Columbus embarked on a challenge to businesses this year to increase mentoring in the community. Called the Miss Columbus Business Challenge, it kicked off at the start of the year.
Businesses were encouraged to increase their number of employees who mentor. The organization that showed the greatest increase was rewarded with a visit by Tom Osborne, founder of the TeamMates mentoring program.
The Business Challenge concluded May 15. Winning the challenge was Columbus Family Practice. Osborne recently spent an afternoon luncheon with the group at Wunderlich's.
Loseke said her goal was to get 20 mentors. She spoke to approximately 50 businesses about the benefits of mentoring. In the end, 25 people signed up to mentor and another 14 pledged to volunteer with TeamMates, Big Pals-Little Pals and Youth For Christ.
Ten of the new mentors came from Columbus Family Practice. That accounts for about half of the office employees. Office manager Tracy Goos said she welcomed Loseke into the office to speak to employees about mentoring. She herself signed up for TeamMates.
Goos said she didn't know how many from her office would choose to be mentors. She feels it will be beneficial for all involved.
"I hope it will be a win-win situation for the mentors and the mentees. I hope they will make an impact on the youth. I know what great people they are and how much of an impact they can make," Goos said.
Loseke's platform issue when she was crowned Miss Columbus in 2009 was building strong mentoring relationships. She herself was mentored as a child through Youth For Christ and later volunteered with TeamMates when she was in college.
When approaching businesses about mentoring, Loseke pushed the benefits that employers could experience by allowing employees to mentor. Some of those benefits include better production and attitudes from employees.
Loseke said one of the biggest questions mentors have is if they are really making a difference. A youth might not remember all the encouragement and guidance from a mentor, but they will take one thing with them.
"What they are going to remember is that you are consistently there caring for them. That's that biggest impact you make on their life," Loseke said.
Mentoring, she said, is like a friendship where support and investment in a young person's life is a priority.
"The more mentors we can have in our community, the better place it will be," Loseke said.
The biggest struggle for mentoring organizations is finding people willing to be a mentor.
"The hardest thing is to recruit mentors. Sometimes it is a lot easier to write a check than to give of your time and to give of your personal resources," Osborne said.
TeamMates has 4,300 kids who are being mentored in 116 communities. But Osborne said in most communities, there is at least one-third more kids who would like a mentor than they have mentors.
A mentor really provides three ingredients that can help a young person, Osborne said. That includes unconditional caring, affirmation and providing a vision. Many kids don't have caring adults in their lives on a consistent basis. Mentoring can help fill that void.
Organizations like TeamMates pushes education. Studies have shown it is having a positive effect in that area. Children who are mentored show improvement in several areas, including better school attendance, fewer disciplinary referrals and better grades.
But mentoring reaches beyond the classroom. It can help a child see beyond his or her own problems they are experiencing at home and strive for a better future for themselves.
"The thing about mentoring that is important is that it is really about breaking cycles," Osborne said.
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Columbus' youth will have more mentors thanks to an effort by Heather Loseke.
The former Miss Columbus embarked on a challenge to businesses this year to increase mentoring in the community. Called the Miss Columbus Business Challenge, it kicked off at the start of the year.
Businesses were encouraged to increase their number of employees who mentor. The organization that showed the greatest increase was rewarded with a visit by Tom Osborne, founder of the TeamMates mentoring program.
The Business Challenge concluded May 15. Winning the challenge was Columbus Family Practice. Osborne recently spent an afternoon luncheon with the group at Wunderlich's.
Loseke said her goal was to get 20 mentors. She spoke to approximately 50 businesses about the benefits of mentoring. In the end, 25 people signed up to mentor and another 14 pledged to volunteer with TeamMates, Big Pals-Little Pals and Youth For Christ.
Ten of the new mentors came from Columbus Family Practice. That accounts for about half of the office employees. Office manager Tracy Goos said she welcomed Loseke into the office to speak to employees about mentoring. She herself signed up for TeamMates.
Goos said she didn't know how many from her office would choose to be mentors. She feels it will be beneficial for all involved.
"I hope it will be a win-win situation for the mentors and the mentees. I hope they will make an impact on the youth. I know what great people they are and how much of an impact they can make," Goos said.
Loseke's platform issue when she was crowned Miss Columbus in 2009 was building strong mentoring relationships. She herself was mentored as a child through Youth For Christ and later volunteered with TeamMates when she was in college.
When approaching businesses about mentoring, Loseke pushed the benefits that employers could experience by allowing employees to mentor. Some of those benefits include better production and attitudes from employees.
Loseke said one of the biggest questions mentors have is if they are really making a difference. A youth might not remember all the encouragement and guidance from a mentor, but they will take one thing with them.
"What they are going to remember is that you are consistently there caring for them. That's that biggest impact you make on their life," Loseke said.
Mentoring, she said, is like a friendship where support and investment in a young person's life is a priority.
"The more mentors we can have in our community, the better place it will be," Loseke said.
The biggest struggle for mentoring organizations is finding people willing to be a mentor.
"The hardest thing is to recruit mentors. Sometimes it is a lot easier to write a check than to give of your time and to give of your personal resources," Osborne said.
TeamMates has 4,300 kids who are being mentored in 116 communities. But Osborne said in most communities, there is at least one-third more kids who would like a mentor than they have mentors.
A mentor really provides three ingredients that can help a young person, Osborne said. That includes unconditional caring, affirmation and providing a vision. Many kids don't have caring adults in their lives on a consistent basis. Mentoring can help fill that void.
Organizations like TeamMates pushes education. Studies have shown it is having a positive effect in that area. Children who are mentored show improvement in several areas, including better school attendance, fewer disciplinary referrals and better grades.
But mentoring reaches beyond the classroom. It can help a child see beyond his or her own problems they are experiencing at home and strive for a better future for themselves.
"The thing about mentoring that is important is that it is really about breaking cycles," Osborne said.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Teammates of Holdrege Recieves Award For Outstanding Program
Article posted on the Holdredge Public Schools Webage.
TeamMates of Holdrege was the recipient of the 2009-10 Outstanding TeamMates Program Award for the Western Region at the TeamMates Partnership Meeting in Lincoln on July 27th.
The following tribute was announced (The tribute was on the large framed plaque that Mary Schneider is holding). The Holdrege program has been strong and steady since day one of existence. With a board that is passionate, teamed up with coordinators that are committed, and school and community that is supportive, this program has had the ingredients for success from the beginning! Holdrege TeamMates has done a fabulous job developing a "culture of mentoring" in their community. The board and coordinators work hard providing extra activities and events to give matches the opportunity to spend more time together, which is part of the reason why their matches are strong and of good quality. The other part is the care given to make good matches based on interests. Thank you Holdrege, you are a program to look up to!
Jean Berreckman and Mary Schneider were very excited to receive this award. "It is worth every minute of time that we have put in the program. We currently have 53 student mentees matched up with 53 adult mentors in grades sixth through eighth. We are in need of more adults to volunteer to be mentors to our new group of fifth grade students here at Holdrege Middle School", said Jean Berreckman (co-oordinator of the TeamMates program). "We have a very supportive administration and TeamMates Advisory board that has been instrumental in getting us started," said Mary Schneider (co-oordinator of TeamMates program).
A TeamMates Mentor is someone who provides a young person with support, friendship, and a positive example. TeamMates asks that you make a commitment of meeting with your student mentee for one hour a week in a school setting for a minimum of one year. When you meet with your mentor you may have lunch, talk, you may pick an activity to do such as a board game, go in the gym shoot baskets, make a craft put together a puzzle or a model car or cook etc. What is involved in getting started, three easy steps: #1 Apply - Complete the mentor application #2 Train - Take training to prepare you for the experience #3 Match - Meet your mentee.
***There is an up-coming information/training night on Monday, August 30th from 5:30-6:30 P.M. in the Holdrege Middle School Media Center. You are invited to come find out what the TeamMates Mentoring Program is all about. Mentors are needed for our new fifth grade class!
Bring a friend, or relative - COME JOIN THE TEAM! Call Mary or Jean at995-5421 if you have questions.
Jean Berreckman and Mary Schneider Co-oordinators of the Holdredge TeamMates Mentoring Program
Friday, August 27, 2010
Talent for TeamMates Competition
Lincoln, NE Public School Students – Grades 6 through 12! Represent your school and compete for prizes*!
The Talent for TeamMates Competition will be held Sunday, Oct. 3rd at St. Mark’s Church, 8550 Pioneers Blvd. from 4 to 6 pm.
Music acts from Lincoln Public Schools are invited to participate in the first ever, city-wide talent competition - Talent for TeamMates!
To perform, students must audition. Taping events are scheduled at all LPS middle and high schools starting September 1st. Check www.lincolnteammates.org/newsandevents/events.htm for audition guidelines and the school schedules.
*One high school and one middle school act will win an opportunity to perform at the Lied Center for Performing Arts and a $100 gift certificate to Dietz Music House.
Advanced tickets available through the Lincoln TeamMates office (402) 436-1990; $5 students/youth (w/valid ID) or $10 adults.
At the door: $10 students/youth (w/valid ID) or $15 adults.
All ticket sales from the event go to support the Lincoln TeamMates mentoring program.
For more information: www.lincolnteammates.org or 436-1990
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Teammates Mentoring needs Mentors
KVSH (Valentine, NE) posted an article on their website about TeamMates!
The Valentine Chapter of Teammates Board of Directors met yesterday at the Valentine Middle School. The summary of last year’s successful program showed 24 mentors in the schools.
CLICK HERE to link to the full article
The Valentine Chapter of Teammates Board of Directors met yesterday at the Valentine Middle School. The summary of last year’s successful program showed 24 mentors in the schools.
CLICK HERE to link to the full article
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Twarling named head of mentoring program
The North Platte Telegraph
By Heather Johnson | Wednesday, August 25, 2010 4:11 AM CDT
Just three months after leaving his post as associate superintendent of the North Platte Public Schools, Dan Twarling has made good on his promise to stay involved with youth and the community.
He has been named coordinator of the area chapter of the TeamMates Mentoring Program. His experience includes 37 years in the public education system.
"I couldn't stay away. I'm really excited about this and have some lofty goals," said Twarling. "There are currently 25 mentors, and the goal is to increase that to 100. TeamMates is also going to become more visible in the community. Today's young people are tomorrow's future and anything we can do to help them benefits us all."
CLICK HERE to read the full story ....
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