Mentoring at the Movies

It's awards season at the cinema, and while mentoring may not appear in any movie descriptions, it's a common theme in a lot of great movies. 

Where would Luke Skywalker be without mentoring from Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi?  Or the Karate Kid without help from Mr. Miyagi?  A good mentor can help the hero or heroine reach new heights, and make for a compelling story along the way.

You can find the Chronicles of Mentoring's list of the Top 25 Best Mentoring Movies here:
http://chronicle.umbmentoring.org/top-25-mentoring-relationships-represented-in-film/

Mentoring often happens between a coach and player, so it's no surprise that many of the movies are stories of athletes and teams.  Coach Carter, The Mighty Ducks, Rocky, Kung Fu Panda, Remember the Titans, and Million Dollar Baby all tell the story of athletes living up to their potential, only with the help of an unlikely coach.

Other movies to make the list include popular young adult novels adapted for film.  Harry Potter needs Professor Dumbledore to understand how to be a wizard; the Pevensie children need Aslan as they journey through The Chronicles of Narnia; and Katniss Everdeen needs the guidance of Haymitch Abernathy to survive The Hunger Games.  Gandalf mentors more than one hero in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Even superheroes need mentors.  Peter Parker couldn't be Superman without Uncle Ben, and the X-Men wouldn't have the training they needed without Professor X.  While Agent J might not exactly be a superhero, he wouldn't have his alien sleuthing powers in Men in Black without Agent K's mentorship. 

Robin Williams stars in several of the Top 25 movies.  He mentors Will Hunting as Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting, teaches Aladdin as the Genie, and inspires a whole class of students as Professor John Keating in Dead Poet's Society.

Next time you're at the movies, look for mentors, and then consider playing that role in real life.  Volunteer today!

Thanks Iowa State!

Thanks Iowa State!
To celebrate National Mentoring Month, Iowa State donated tickets to the women's basketball game on January 30.  Our matches had a great time cheering on the Cyclones, even if they lost to Oklahoma.  ISU even donated a free "Clone Cone" for each mentee and mentor who attended the game.  What a special treat for special people!  Cy even stopped by to say hello to the group.

Most of our matches only meet during the school day, but occasionally, it's fun to take a field trip. 

Boone News Republican

The Boone News Republican just published this great article about GRIP Mentoring!

You can read the whole article below, but here's a small taste of the article.

"When Terri Reutter of Ogden began mentoring the child she currently is paired with, he couldn’t sit and have a conversation with anyone. He also had very few friends and had poor reading skills. During the past couple of years Reutter has been working with the child, she has seen a tremendous growth in terms of his social skills and school work.
“It gives you such an accomplished feeling to see a child grow,” said Reutter, who considers herself a “mom”tor, not a mentor."

Don't miss out on quotes from some of our other great mentors and even a few pictures!

https://newsrepublican.com/news/local/national-mentoring-month.html

Great support from our elected officials!

The Nevada mayor wasn't the only public official to support GRIP Mentoring this month. 

Ames City Councilman Peter Orazem filled in for Mayor Ann Campbell and declared January to be National Mentoring Month for the city.  He met with a group of mentors and mentees not only from GRIP, but the other certified mentoring program in Ames run by Lutheran Services of Iowa.  They have a mentoring program for children and youth living at their Beloit facility. 

The Story County Board of Supervisors also declared it to be National Mentoring Month.  Supervisors Wayne Clinton, Rick Sanders, and Paul Toot all voted to support GRIP Mentoring and LSI's mentoring program. 

It's great to have the support of our elected officials!

Success Stories...

One of our goals on this blog is to share mentoring success stories- real life examples of the difference mentoring makes for our mentees, mentors, and society. 

This success story might not have the long-term benefits of most of our stories, but it's a lot of fun nonetheless!

January 10, 2015- ISU donates women's basketball tickets for our GRIP Mentoring pairs to attend the game. Cyclones win over undefeated Texas.

February 28, 2015- Bankers Trust invites the Iowa Mentoring Partnership and GRIP Mentoring to join them at the women's game and hand out information on mentoring. Cyclones defeat #3 ranked Baylor.

January 18, 2016- Bankers Trust invites YSS and GRIP Mentoring to join them at the men's game and raise awareness about mentoring. Cyclone victory over #1 ranked Oklahoma.

Is anyone else sensing a pattern? Go Cyclones!

National Mentoring Month

 

Nevada Mayor Lynn Lathrop signed a proclamation on December 30 declaring January to be National Mentoring Month in Nevada. He is pictured with Emily Kruse (school counselor at Central Elementary in Nevada), Kalli-Ann Bowers (Youth and Shelter Service’s Nevada Mentoring Facilitator), and Ellen Johnsen (YSS’s Mentoring Coordinator). The Great Relationships in Pairs (GRIP) Mentoring Program is a collaboration between YSS and the Nevada Public Schools and last school year served over 40 students.
Not only did Mayor Lathrop sign the proclamation, he invited GRIP staff to attend an upcoming city council meeting to help share our program with more people.
Thanks for your support Mayor Lathrop!

STATEMENT IN OBSERVANCE OF NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH     IN NEVADA

Whereas, in 2002, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership created National Mentoring Month;

Whereas, the goals of National Mentoring Month are to raise awareness of mentoring, recruit individuals to mentor, and encourage organizations to engage and integrate quality in mentoring into their efforts;

Whereas, a mentor is a caring, consistent presence who devotes time to a young person to help that young person discover personal strength and achieve their potential through a structured and trusting relationship;

Whereas, quality mentoring encourages positive choices, promotes self-esteem, supports academic achievement and introduces young people to new ideas;

Whereas, mentoring programs have shown to be effective in combating school violence and discipline problems, substance abuse, incarceration and truancy;

Whereas, research shows that young people who were at risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college, 81 percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities, more than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team, and 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities;

Whereas, youth development experts agree that mentoring is critical to the social, emotional and cognitive development of youth, helping them navigate the path to adulthood more successfully;

Whereas, mentors help young people set career goals and use their personal contacts to help young people meet industry professionals and find jobs;

Whereas, all of the above listed benefits serve to link youth to economic opportunity while also strengthening the fiber of our communities

Whereas, despite these benefits, one in three youth will reach age 19 without a mentor – constituting a “mentoring gap” that demonstrates a need for collaboration and resources;

 

Now, Therefore, I, Mayor Lynn Lathrop

do hereby declare January 2016

NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH in Nevada

and call upon public officials, business and community leaders, and educators, and encourage all Nevada citizens to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies, activities and programs in order to:

1. recognize the men and women who serve as staff and volunteers at quality mentoring programs and who help our young people find inner strength and reach their full potential;

2. acknowledge that mentoring is beneficial because it encourages educational achievement, reduces juvenile delinquency, improves life outcomes, and strengthens communities;

3. promote the creation and expansion of quality mentoring programs across the country to equip young people with the tools needed to lead healthy and productive lives; and

4. support initiatives to close the “mentoring gap” and match the five students currently waiting for a mentor at the Nevada Public Schools.

It's National Mentoring Month, and one of the local papers is highlighting the need for mentors in our area.  Check out this article in the Ames Tribune!

http://amestrib.com/news/male-mentors-needed-youth-story-boone-counties

Here's a sneak peak:
Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) and Youth and Shelter Services (YSS) are asking Story and Boone county adults to meet a critical mentoring shortage for area children and teens.“Both LSI and YSS have a high need for male mentors for the children and youth in our respective programs,” said Lisa Scott, LSI volunteer coordinator. “Many of the boys in our programs haven’t had an example of a healthy male role model in their lives. A positive caring relationship with a supportive role model is so important for youth as they transition to young adulthood.”

“In today’s mobile society, mentoring helps create relationships across generations and other divides which leads not only to improved outcomes for students, but also a stronger community,” Ellen Johnsen, YSS's mentoring coordinator said.

In 2015, LSI and YSS mentors provided 7,001 hours of service to youth in Ames through their respective programs.