Aug-Sept 2017 Tutor Mentor eNews

Use the ideas and resources shared monthly to help youth in your zip code have opportunities to participate in well-organized, mentor-rich, non-school programs.

August-September 2017 - Issue 161

Back-to-School Recruitment Time for Tutor/Mentor Programs

The ideas shared in this monthly newsletter can be used by youth organization leaders, resource providers, political leaders, universities, volunteers and youth to help mentor-rich programs thrive in all of the neighborhoods where they are most needed.

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. In the sections below I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

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Share your Back-to-School Recruitment Strategies - Creative ways to do this.

At this time of year most tutor/mentor programs are busy recruiting volunteers and students for the coming school year.

Supporting Youth Tutor/Mentor Programs Throughout City - read article

Here's a graphic I created last year by pulling images from Chicago tutor/mentor program web sites and Facebook pages. I then shared this on my blog and social media pages to encourage people to shop and choose one or more programs to support....based on information they provide on their web sites.

Anyone can do this! As many take this role more people will be inspired to look for a place to volunteer, and donate, and help a youth who needs extra help.

Here's a fun way students and volunteers can help draw attention to tutor/mentor programs. I created these graphics using the free http://textanim.com resource. Then I posted them on Twitter in a Tweet to each of the programs. I said "pass it on" and encouraged them to create a similar graphic for another tutor/mentor program in Chicago. You an your students can create all sorts of graphics and animations and post them in an effort to draw attention and volunteers (and donors) to you and every other tutor/mentor program in Chicago....or any other city.

Resources to use to find volunteer and donor opportunities with Tutor and Mentor organizations.

* Chicago Programs list hosted by Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC - click here

* Chicago programs list on Facebook - click here

* Web platforms that can be used to find volunteer opportunities - click here

* Chicago Mayor's Mentoring Challenge - One Good Deed Chicago - click here

Did you watch the solar eclipse? See how I created graphic to encourage volunteer support of tutor/mentor programs. I posted this on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook. You can do the same.

Share your recruitment graphics with me on social media. I'll try to give them a boost.

Once you have recruited a volunteer or students...

You need to provide training and on-going support to keep them involved.

See blog article with map shown above - click here

This is a concept map showing different types of homework and learning support resources that you can find in the Tutor/Mentor web library. Point your students and volunteers to these resources and find ways to motivate them to dig into them, learn to use them, and to share what they are finding with others in your program.

In another section of the web library you can find volunteer training resources and in another section fund raising ideas and resources.

Learning from others is on-going.

The graphic at the right shows the four sections of the Tutor/Mentor web library that I started building even before going on the Internet. It also demonstrates a web tool called Thinglink, that enables you to draw attention to different elements of the graphic with pop-up messages. See at this link.

The resources in the web library are intended to support on-going learning by everyone involved with helping young people move through school and into jobs and careers. Finding ways to draw attention to this information is an on-going challenge. Engaging youth and volunteers in this effort offers learning opportunities and extra engagement opportunities.

Navigating the web library I've created over the past 20 years can be challenging. I created this page, with links to many sub sections of the library and articles I point to frequently. This video highlights this list.

Try it with some of the information on your own web site.

These articles also include a Thinglink. Read:

* Mentoring Kids Through School and Into Adult Lives - click here

* State of Racial Justice In Chicago - using Thinglink - click here

Visit this page to see how interns have converted Tutor/Mentor strategy ideas into videos and other visualizations. Youth and volunteers from many places are encouraged to do this. Focus the ideas on your own community if you're not from the Chicago region.

Building long-term support for youth, and the organizations who serve them.

Finding on-going funding and talent who will stay with a program for many years is one of the primary challenges facing many tutor/mentor programs.

I've used a variety of graphics to focus attention on the long-term support kids need to move through school and into adult lives. Visit this Pinterest board and see some of them.

See version of graphic at left in this article, titled "Birth to work requires new thinking on resource flow." click here

In articles like this I focus on the on-going flow of flexible operating dollars, talent and technology that is needed at every youth serving program that has a long-term vision.

Using maps
I've been using maps since 1994 to focus attention on all high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago where birth-to-work youth support systems are needed. I've also used maps to follow up after media stories focus on violence and other indicators that kids and families need extra help. See this map following an August shooting in this story.

See more examples of using maps in stories. click here.

I'm only one person. The Tutor/Mentor Connection was never a large organization. Thus, unless many programs include graphics showing their strategies and program design, and maps showing where they are most needed, too few will see this message and offer their own support.

If you're interested in building maps and graphics into your communications strategy, let's connect. I can mentor you in this process.

Building Support for Tutor and Mentor Organizations

Follow the lines on this concept map. Is this a commitment you and others in your community agree with?

In this month's newsletter I focus on the process programs are going through to recruit volunteers and students and get them started for another full school year of tutoring, mentoring, learning and relationship building.

I also focus on the challenges many programs face in attracting on-going funding and long-term talent to help them do this work.

Thus, I encourage you to look at the strategy map above, see article, and the volunteer support graphic posted at the left. see article

As you recruit volunteers and support them throughout the year many will become advocates for your organization if they have a positive experience. These volunteers could be taking the strategy map to their companies, social groups, faith groups and alumni clubs with the goal that those groups put their name/logo in the blue box and make the commitments needed to help kids in poverty neighborhoods move through school and into jobs and careers.

These graphics and strategies apply in any city, not just Chicago.

Additional resources to help Chicago area organizations and supporters connect, learn and work collectively to help build support systems for youth:

* Giving Tuesday is Nov. 28. Details here. On "Twitter at #ILGive2017

* Strengthening Chicago Youth blog - click here

* Thrive Chicago events calendar - click here

* MENTOR Illinois - current newsletter

* Civil Liberties - resource map (recommend other links). -click here

* Chicago Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here

* Hashtags I follow on Twitter. Use to expand your own network - click here

Dan Bassill (that's me) is available to discuss any of these ideas with you, or others, via Skype, Google Hangouts or in person if you're in Chicago.

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC

Merchandise Mart PO Box 3303, Chicago, Il 60654

tutormentor2@earthlink.net | http://www.tutormentorexchange.net

Read about a Tutor/Mentor Connection "do-over" - click here

Click here if you want to help me do this work.