MentorCares Breakfast 2005
The LeadershipCares Foundation10181 Nightingale Street
Gaithersburg, MD 20882
Ron Yudd (301) 540-5791
www.leadershipcares.org
MentorCares Teen Leaders at Northwestern High School Celebrate Their Success
May 2nd 2005. Caring student leaders at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland celebrated their experiences and success in the MentorCares program on Friday April 29th, 2005 at Martin’s Crosswind in Greenbelt Maryland.The breakfast celebration was held to recognize the work of student mentors and their adult coaches that participated in the MentorCares program. The luncheon was sponsored by Northwestern High and LeadershipCares. Lula J. Davis, Executive Director of LeadershipCares welcomed the guests and spoke about what the young people had accomplished while in the program. She talked about the student’s participation in interactive workshops that focused on leadership and life skills. Topics of the workshops included: time management, public speaking, networking, listening skills and business etiquette. Ms. Davis also listed the activities that the students participated in during the school year. These included the:
- Annual LiteracyCares Award of Excellence Dinner-held in Washington D.C.
- The LiteracyCares Director’s Conference-Held at the University of Maryland
- Eduserc College and Career in Baltimore
- Work students did to raise over $2,000 for Hunger Relief
- Assembly of food boxes for over 700 families this past November as part of the ThanksgivingCares Program
Inspiring keynote speakers included:
- Ms. Lisa Wade Raasch-President, Empower Change Communications-who spoke about finding your passion and having the courage to go after it. She used the movie Finding Nemo to teach the young people about the importance of looking for one’s very own Nemo.
- Mr. James "Jim" Tillman Sr.-Member Negro Baseball Hall of Fame-told stories about his experiences playing professional baseball in the D.C. area in the 1930s and 40s. He spoke about the importance of loving what you do and giving all you have to that venture.
- Mr. Tyrell Damato-Founder-Stop the Violence, Inc.-who is a sophomore in high school inspired everyone with his stories of perseverance and his call to get involved in stopping violence. He asked his fellow student leaders to join him in helping all young people have a chance at a happy and productive life.
Ms. Darlene Bruton the Career Academy Advisor at Northwestern High School and Ms. Tracy Walls the Dean of the School of Public Service were honored with a special LeadershipCares presentation at the event for their work in the MentorCares program.
Underclassmen received a certificate for their participation in the program and the seniors that have been in the program for two years received a LeadershipCares plaque. For their summer reading all the MentorCares students received a copy of John Maxwell’s The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.
The young people shared emotional stories about what Ms.Walls, Ms. Bruton and their MentorCares adult coaches meant to them during their time in the program. They spoke about what they learned and many of the students became emotional when they began to recollect how they were helped by their mentors during the school year.
Everyone that attended the event was inspired by the stories and the work of the young people. They committed themselves to grow the program and expand the work of LeadershipCares.Special guests that attended the breakfast included Ms. Janice Clements from the
U.S. Department of State, Ms. Beverly Parker-The Growth Coach, Mr. Ed McSween of American Express, Mr. Dwayne Sims from the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame, Ms. Yvette Smith of Eduserc Inc., Mr. Derk Mattocks from the U.S. Army and Ms. Shashrina Thomas from Keane Federal Systems Inc.
The MentorCares program is a partnership with Northwestern High School to teach young people leadership and life skills by having them get directly involved in workshops and outreach programs in mentoring, literacy and hunger relief.
MentorCares™ Youth to Youth Mentoring
The program trains high school students in effective mentoring, coaching and leadership skills. High school juniors and seniors use these acquired skills when they begin to mentor an incoming 9th grader that is assigned to them by the MentorCares™ coordinator.The goals of the program are:
- To positively affect the life of the 9th graders and set them up for success as they begin their high school careers.
- To provide the juniors and seniors with the appropriate mentoring, leadership and life skills that will be useful throughout their personal and professional lives.
- To provide training to fortify today’s youth and adults with marketable skills to take into the workplace and provide a training ground to nurture self-confidence, personal responsibility and the value of service to others.
- To teach the concept of volunteerism by having the younger students give back as mentors when they reach their junior and/or senior year.
The program is focused on the one-to-one relationship between the mentor and their mentee. The mentor agrees to meet with his/her mentee for a minimum of 2 hours per month. He/she also agrees to attend annual events centered on the four MentorCares™ themes. The interactive and "fun based" annual events are aligned with the following themes:
- Building Leadership Skills
- Building Life Skills
- Exploring Career Opportunities
- Celebrating Volunteerism
Expectations and Commitment:
Young People (9th Grader/Juniors and Seniors):- Attendance at annual One-Day Leadership Camp
- Meet as a team for two hours per month with their adult coach
- Participation in three of the four annual events
- Attendance at official orientation and training session
- Attendance and participation at annual One-Day Leadership Conference
- Meet two hours per month with their assigned pair of young people
- Participation in three of the four annual events
