Helping Youth Tutoring, Mentoring Programs Grow:
Bring your Ideas and Your Network to Next Conference.

Thanks to All who participated in May 8, 2015 conference.

All speakers are volunteers who share their time and expertise to help volunteer-based tutoring, mentoring programs grow throughout the Chicago region. Workshop topics and speakers are subject to change without notice.

Use hashtag #TMConf_Chi to connect on Twitter. 
 

 

8:15am-8:45am

Registration and Continental Breakfast
Plan to arrive with enough time to pass through security screening. Bring a valid photo ID with you.
 

8:45am-9:15am

Welcome:

Daniel F. Bassill, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
 

Kathy Engelken, MPS, Executive Director, Illinois Campus Compact

 

 

9:40am-10:45 am Workshops

Using Technology to Advance Mentoring Program Progress, presented by Mark Cassidy, President, Hoku Scholars

This session will take participants through a case study of Hoku Scholars and how it has used technology in a unique way to ensure that all of its program participants -- students, parents, mentors, and program leadership -- are on the same page with understanding progress on meeting organizational and personal goals.  This will highlight how technology can clarify program expectations for all participants, add accountability to achieving results, provide visibility into what needs to get done, and empower communications/support amongst participants.


Discovering your "Why", presented by Darryl E. Allen, MPM, RMP, The Mentorship Institute, Kettering, Ohio

Transformational Leadership is expressed by those who know their "Why". Living your "Why" and communicating that "Why" to others in an authentic way takes practice and self-assessment. This workshop does not look at what you wan to be (career title). Instead it discusses the importance of who you want to be (character traits).  Your "Why" speaks to a vision and every vision must have three elements: ethos, logos, and pathos. By the end of this workshop you will have constructed your own personal purpose statement that will be the foundation of your vision.

 

Erin's Law: Responding to Disclosures, presented by Melanie Foote-Davis and Brittany Barton of YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

The Erin's Law Training covers information regarding the newly implemented Illinois state law. It is designed for education personnel, clergy, medical professionals, and anyone else working with youth. It includes child sexual abuse facts and state laws, mandated reporting, how to handle a disclosure of sexual abuse, and role plays to practice handling disclosures.
 

10:50am-12:00 noon Workshops 

College Readiness: Starting with the High School Application Process, presented by  Nicole Lind, Community Engaged Scholarship Coordinator, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The high school application process, specifically in Chicago, is as complex as the college application process. This session is designed for leaders and mentors who work with middle school or high school students, or with parents of students at that age. The discussion will provide leaders and mentors with the tools and resources to guide their mentees to a successful high school experience. Participants will learn how to talk to their mentees about the various high school options (public, charter, private), and will learn the information and resources necessary to make the process more manageable for students and their families. While the high school application process can be difficult and confusing for many people, it ultimately gives students a choice in their education and future. Mentors with a strong understanding of the available opportunities can help lead their students to success.
 

A New Vision of Hope for All Young People, presented by Gary Goldman, President, Kidz America

This experiential workshop is intended to give an overview of the KidzAmerica comprehensive and sustainable youth empowerment model demonstrating strategies and outcomes in various communities, including Englewood. It is intended to serve educators, parents, community leaders, youth and volunteers. Attendees will come away with practical strategies of youth empowerment and a renewed vision of a new paradigm of transforming their community.


Developing Programs and Initiatives with Tutor/Mentor Organizations, presented by Daniel Cotter, Chair, Lawyers Lend A Hand to Youth Program

The workshop will consist of two pieces.  One is a program we have worked with a tutor/mentor program to develop to provide mentees with additional programs. The second part will be supporting organization.

 

The program is intended to benefit volunteers, board members and executive directors.  It permits programs to creatively think about projects and initiatives that augment the services provided by the mentoring programs already.

 

What can National Service do for you? Presented by Scott McFarland, Executive Director, Serve Illinois Commission http://www.serve.illinois.gov

This session will introduce participants to National Service (AmeriCorps and Senior Corps). A panel of National Service Members will describe the work they are doing and how that can be translated to new programs.

 


 12:00pm -1:20pm

Box Lunch & Networking -


12:50pm - 1:15pm - #OnTheTable2015 at the Tutor/Mentor Conference, facilitated by Mark Duhon, Executive Director, Highsight
 

On Tuesday, May 12, the Chicago Community Trust is encouraging people from throughout the Chicago region to gather in small groups to discuss issues important to the region.  During the lunch hour at the conference, participants will be encouraged to host table discussions, focusing on questions such as:

* What is your organization's ultimate goal for the young people you serve?

* What are you doing well to help accomplish this goal?

* What can others do to help you (volunteers, donors, etc. from business, faith groups, colleges)?

 
Participant feedback will be collected and posted on Tutor/Mentor blogs and social media, and shared with the larger #OnTheTable discussions.

Visit #onthetable2015 to learn more
   

1:30pm-2:30pm Workshops

 

What's Data Got to Do With You? Presented by Amy Terpstra, Director of Research, and Jennifer Clary, Senior Research Associate, Social IMPACT Research Center 

How do you understand what changes for youth as a result of your programming? How are they and the community different because of your involvement in the lives of youth? Join the Social IMPACT Research Center to explore lessons learned from two recent research efforts involving youth programs. One project, an evaluation of how youth media programs influence participant's media literacy, civic engagement, career development, and other life aspects, demonstrates how keeping tabs on participants both now and after they leave your program and putting forth effort to track them down in the future can yield insights into the longer-term impact of your program. The other project, a social return investment on investment analysis of youth development programs, offers insights into how program data, research on similar programs, and existing data can be combined to illuminate your program's social and economic return. Plus, learn about the many data and research resources IMPACT has developed that you can use in your work to make the case for your program.

 

Lessons Learned from Saturday Sessions, presented by  Fiona Hays and Eric Coleman,  Program Coordinator, Working in the Schools (WITS)

This session will focus on lessons learned from WITS Saturday Program, WITS on the Weekend.  Participants will hear about troubleshooting common issues as well as participate in many hands on activities that could be applicable to many types of programming.   Any tutoring or mentoring program could benefit.

 

Black Lives Matter: Mentoring Street Based and Homeless Youth, presented by Frank Walker, CEO, Pathfinders

We regularly hear about mentoring programs associated with churches or community based organizations, but how can you develop an effective mentoring program for street based and homeless youth. Learn examples that work. This workshop is intended for all who work with or plan to work with youth in the community who may not be what is considered "ideal" mentees, specifically black males who may be hard to reach.

 

Participants will learn evidence based techniques for working with this population. Women who work in predominantly male youth environments will also learn effective techniques and tools for working with black males.

 

Twists on Traditional Fundraising, presented by J.P. Paulus, President, Do-Gooder Consulting

"Twists on Traditional Fundraising" aims to create new techniques on previously used methods, and help participants re-think how raise they raise funds. This session will also include a hands-on exercise which could land a donation commitment by the end of the hour.  BRING a Cell Phone with you.

 

This workshop is intended for beginner and intermediate level volunteers & leaders who are seeking to raise funds for their work.

 


2:35pm-3:45pm Workshops
 

An introduction to the importance of tutoring and mentoring on various levels, with students of all ages, presented by panel of VISTA volunteers with Illinois Campus Compact
A panel of VISTA Volunteers will share their techniques and practice used to develop tutor/mentor programming in their communities and on campus. A conversation with participants about ideas and planning to deepen the Tutor-Mentor needs and involvement in our schools and communities will be included.


 

High School and Community - University Alliances Through Writing,  presented by Elizabeth Coughlin and Carolyn Rudinsky, of the DePaul University Center for Writing-based Learning (UCWbL)

This session is designed for leaders and mentors who work with high school students, young people from the community, and current or prospective college students of any age. The workshop leaders will provide an overview of outreach and community-based activities that we have spearheaded at DePaul's University Center for Writing-based Learning (UCWbL). Those activities include our ongoing work with the Economic Awareness Council's On the Money, a financial fitness magazine produced by and for high school students, our efforts to help high school seniors writing college application essays and scholarship applications, and our Banned Books Week, National Day on Writing, and Poem in Your Pocket Day events. We also will lead a brainstorming session and idea-sharing conversation for developing writing activities in both after-school and community-based settings. We make extensive use of social media and other technology. More specifically, we utilize our writing center's official Facebook and Twitter accounts and our blog, "UCWbLing" as well as platforms such as WCOnline and the Google Drive suite. Throughout the workshop, we will talk about our experiences and strategies for approaching and using new technologies, and how new technologies might be integrated with low-tech and even non-tech strategies for developing and empowering writers.
 

 

One more workshop will be offered in this time frame

 


Join in Happy Hour after the conference, at Cavanaugh's, located in the historic Monadnock Building at 53 W. Jackson Blvd. Free food. Cash bar. 4:00 to 6pm.
 

Before, During and After the Conference: Connect with peers in on-line space
Participants are encouraged to think of the spring and fall tutor/mentor conference as a meeting place where they can bring a group who is interested in creating more tutor/mentor programs in a specific region or in a specific focus area (such as health careers, technology, arts, etc.).  We encourage you to join on-line forums and help plan the conference and other T/MC actions. If you would like to organize a single workshop, or a conference within the conference, please contact us online or connect with Dan Bassill on Skype at "dbassill".