The LeadershipCares Foundation
10181 Nightingale Street
Gaithersburg MD 20882

Ron Yudd (301) 540-5791

MentorCares Teen Leaders at Northwestern High School Celebrate Their Success

May 5th 2006. Caring student leaders at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland celebrated their experiences and success in the MentorCares program on Friday April 28th, 2006.   

The annual MentorCares 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 LeadershipCares and Northwestern High School. 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:

• Participation in the annual LeadershipCares Conference held in October.
• Working with each other in mentoring teams throughout the school year.
• Annual LiteracyCares Award of Excellence Dinner-held in Washington D.C.
• Working to plan, organize and raise money for their annual hunger relief program.  
• Assembly of food boxes for over 700 families this past November as part of the ThanksgivingCares Program     

Inspiring keynote speakers included:

• Ms. Janice Clements from the United States Department of State spoke about soaring like an Eagle with their new leadership skills and gave the entire audience a valuable and motivating quote to take away from the breakfast. She encouraged the young people to remember that “only as far as you seek you can go” 

• 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. He inspired everyone with his stories of playing baseball and traveling with his team. He received a standing ovation at the end of his presentation. The students then presented Mr. Tillman with tickets to an upcoming Washington Nationals game at RFK stadium. He promptly invited several of the students to go to the game with him!

• Mr. Tyrell Damato-Founder-Stop the Violence, Inc.-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.  Mr. Damato defined leadership as “action”. MentorCares students presented Mr. Damato with a check from LeadershipCares to support his stop the violence activities! 

This special event was planned and orchestrated by MentorCares students. The team that included Ms. Candace Ali, Ms. Dekebra Arrington, Ms. Kaneshia Hall and Mr. Jose Centeno worked together as a part of a leadership learning exercise organizing and executing the event! Their work included writing the program, introducing the speakers, acting as master of ceremonies, presenting awards and producing a slide show of the group’s activities during the school year. 

A team from Leadership Montgomery that had adopted the MentorCares program as their 2006 Leadership Project presented the group with a check for $1,200 dollars to support the work of the MentorCares students. The team of leaders from Montgomery County had presented workshops to the students throughout the school year and also worked on the breakfast committee planning the special breakfast event. The leaders from Montgomery County included:

• Ms. Linda Burke of Henderson Burke Associates,
• Ms. Paulette Stevens from Montgomery Hospice
• Ms. Diane Butts from Voice of America
• Mr. Thomas Tucker from Washington Gas
• Mr. Steve Simon from Montgomery College
• Mr. Darryl Lesesne from  Sandy Spring Bank

Ms. Tracy Walls the Dean of the School of Public Service was honored with the 2006 LeadershipCares Caring Leader Award in a special presentation by the MentorCares students.

Underclassmen received a certificate for their participation in the program and the seniors that have been in the program received a LeadershipCares plaque.

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. Beverly Parker-The Growth Coach, Yvette Smith of Eduserc Inc., Mr. Jim Litchko of Litchko and Associates, Dr. John Courtney from the Clinical Research Forum, Ms. Wendy McConnell and Mr. Judd Berger from the Prince Georges County Gazette, Ms. Deborah Evans and Mr. Kwesi Williams from Emmanuel Covenant Church and Ms Sandra Ellis from Montgomery College.     

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

A caring adult is assigned to each pair of young people to assist, guide and nurture the relationship. The adult works with the pair to teach and coach them on the 12 leadership skills and the 12 life skills. Adults receive mentor training that can also be used to help them become more effective supervisors and managers in their workplace. The adults offer guidance in career exploration, career development and "hands on" leadership skills as they work with the young people planning and organizing the annual events.

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

Caring Adult:

• 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

For more information on MentorCares and the Leadership Cares Foundation please contact Ron Yudd at 301-540-5791.