MentorCares
Teen Leaders Celebrate Their Success
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE Contact: LeadershipCares 10181
Nightingale Street Gaithersburg, MD
JUNE
1ST, 2010-Caring
student leaders at
The
annual MentorCares Scholarship and Celebration Breakfast is held to
recognize the work of student leaders that participated in the MentorCares
program. The event is sponsored by LeadershipCares™
Students spoke about what they had accomplished while in the program. During the school year students participated in community outreach programs and attended interactive workshops that focused on leadership and life skills. Workshop topics this past year school included personal finance, combating childhood obesity, hospitality careers and how to create a personal vision.
Students also celebrated their community outreach accomplishments including:
- Their
third year of Saturday morning literacy tutoring sessions at Rosa Parks
Elementary.
- Working
to plan, organize and raise money for their annual hunger relief
program.
- Assembling food boxes for 651 families as part of their 2009 ThanksgivingCares outreach program.
- Their
creation of the Shine the Light of Hope on Haiti Project-to raise
awareness and money and to also collect new flashlights and batteries to
send to Haiti.
Inspiring speakers included:
- Mr. Anthony D. Castillio Sr. President ADC Systems Services www.adcsystemservices.com spoke about what it means to be a mentor and to reach out to others in need. Mr.Castillio inspired all the telling several personal stories about those that helped him on his personal journey and he reminded all the students that each of them can make a difference in the life of another person.
- Mr. Prentice A. Christian Jr.-Principal of Wirt Middle School-inspired the students and audience members by telling them about the tools they will need to be successful in life. He spoke about passion, communication and hard work.
- Ms. Toniane Kersaint-Haitian Community Activist spoke about how the collected flashlights will help the thousands of Haitians living in darkness.
- MentorCares
Student Speakers-spoke
about how grateful they were for all they had learned from Ms. Gertrude
Ledwell the MentorCares Coordinator at Northwestern High School and the
other adults.
The
students received a MentorCares Certificate of Completion for their
participation in the program.
Scholarships
were presented to six MentorCares students. Seniors Nancy Turcios, Anisha
Davis and Elizabeth David each received a scholarship to honor their
outstanding leadership and 4 years of dedication as MentorCares leaders.
Three other students, Christine Gilchrist, Shalon Howard and Brandon
Hairston each received scholarships to recognize their "above and beyond"
efforts as up-and-coming leaders in the MentorCares program.
Mr. Anthony Castillio, Mr. Brad Holsclaw and Ms. Brenda Torrence and Ms. Sharon Chandler from the D.C. Metro Graduate Chapter of the Swing Phi Swing Social Fellowship Inc. provided generous contributions to the scholarship fund.
Everyone
that attended the event was inspired by the stories and work of the young
people. They committed themselves to grow the program and expand
the work of MentorCares.
The
MentorCares program is a partnership with
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 Conference
- 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 LeadershipCares Foundation please contact Ron Yudd at 301-540-5791 or visit www.leadershipcares.org.
