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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.
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March - April
2018 - Issue 168
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As This School Year
Comes to Close
Planning for Next
Should Be in Place.
Apply
what works.
Learn from what
did not work.
Borrow ideas
from others.
Annual Process
of Program
Improvement.
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.
If you
don't
save
this
email,
you can
always
visit
the
eNews
archive
and read
current
and past
newsletters.
Encourage
friends,
family,
co-workers
to sign
up to
receive
this
newsletter. Click
here.
(If you
subscribe,
don't
forget
to
respond
to the
confirmation
email)
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It's March.
Tutor/Mentor
Programs are
Focusing on Year-End
Activities & Summer
Programs.
It's also
time to be
thinking of the
start of the
next school year
I started leading a
volunteer-based
tutor/mentor program in
Chicago in 1975. Every
year about this time I
was beginning to recruit
volunteers and start
thinking of what the
program would look like
as we started the next
school year in August
and September.
I used the graphic above
to emphasize that if you
plan ahead and repeat
what works from
year-to-year, and get
others involved, you
can grow the resources
needed to support your
own youth program, as
well as others reaching
k-12 youth in other
parts of your
community.
This is a cycle that
repeats for everyone.
It's one that I've
focused on in eMail
newsletters every year.
Take a look:
March 2015 -
click here
Look at
print newsletter
archives and see how
these ideas were shared
in the 1990s.
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If You
Agree That
Connecting Young
People with
Extra Adults and
Learning
Opportunities is
a good idea....
Then
making
organized
programs
available to
youth in
high poverty
areas where
such
opportunities
are needed
should be a
strategy you
focus on.
We all
want the
same
positive
outcomes
for
kids.
However,
making
more
non-school
learning
and
mentoring
programs
available
in every
high
poverty
area of
the
Chicago
region
and
other
cities
requires
work
shown at
the
bottom
of this
pyramid.
We want the same
results but are we
drawing from an
extensive knowledge
base and involving
students,
volunteers, parents
and donors in the
learning that leads
to innovation and
strategies that help
programs sustain
on-going efforts and
improve from
year-to-year?
Think about how
programs are funded.
Grant competitions:
too few winners.
click here
Want to get started?
Read "Steps to Start
and Sustain a
Tutor/Mentor
Program".
click here
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What Does a
Non-School
Tutor/Mentor Program
Look Like? How Do
You Show Program
Design?
Non-school,
volunteer-based
programs have
many different
designs, which
makes it
difficult for a
clear message
that educates
donors to
support programs
in every high
poverty
neighborhood.
I worked for the
Montgomery Ward
corporation from
1973-1990 and we
had 400 stores
located in 40
states. Each
store had more
than 60
different
merchandise
categories, each
with a wide
selection of
items, appealing
to many
different
consumers.
I think of
non-school
programs as a
form of "retail
store for hope
and opportunity"
with many forms
of learning and
mentoring
intended to
attract youth
and adult
participants.
Many people keep
asking me, "What
kinds of
tutoring or
mentoring do you
do?" I keep
trying to
explain, we're
trying to create
a support system
that expands the
range of career
opportunities
kids might
aspire to, and
provides the
support each
youth needs over
many years to
pursue those
opportunities.
See article.
I created this
graphic in the
1990s to
visualize a
program design
that involved
volunteers from
different
business
background,
offers a safe
place to meet
during
non-school
hours, and
supports youth
for multiple
years. I called
this Total
Quality
Mentoring (TQM),
implying that
it's more than
just "tutoring"
or "mentoring".
The
graphic
at
the
top
of
this
section
shows
a
wide
range
of
mentoring
and
learning
opportunities.
So
does
this
TQM
graphic.
I
created
this
PDF
presentation
to
further
explain
this
idea.
I
point
to
web
sites
of
more
than
200
Chicago
non-school
programs
in
this
section
of
the
Tutor/Mentor
Connection
web
site.
In
other
sections
of
the
library
I
point
to
youth
programs
in
other
cities,
or
who
don't
have
a
volunteer
tutor/mentor
strategy.
I
encourage
volunteers,
board
members
and
staff
to
spend
time
looking
at
what
other
programs
are
doing,
with
the
goal
of
borrowing
ideas
that
might
work
in
your
own
programs.
Unfortunately,
very few
youth
programs
actually
use
visualizations
to show
program
design,
or
include
a set of
links
pointing
to other
organizations
who they
feel are
ideal
models
to
duplicate.
Volunteers
could
help
programs
do this
more
often.
These
articles
are part
of a
knowledge
base
that is
available
to
anyone
working
to help
youth.
Read:
*
Creating
opportunity
for
urban
youth:
Resources
-
click
here
*
Helping
urban
youth
move
through
school.
What do
we need
to know?
-
click
here
Like what you are
reading? Share with
others. This is a
FREE newsletter.
However,
contributions are
needed to help me
continue to make
this available.
click here
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How do
challenges of
the local
tutor/mentor
program
ecosystem relate
to United
Nations
Sustainable
Global
Development
Goals?
We face same
challenges of
bringing people
together,
raising money,
recruiting
volunteers,
etc.
In a
recent blog
article
I included
the image
shown above.
It was taken
from
this page,
which
describes
challenges
of meeting
the 2030
goals set by
the United
Nations.
Involve your
network.
Grow your
Network.
I
created
this
graphic
in the
1990s to
illustrate
the role
volunteers,
donors,
friends,
students,
etc.
could
take on
a
regular
basis to
draw
people
they
know to
web
libraries
and
information
about
youth
serving
programs
in
Chicago
or other
cities.
We're all in
same boat.
Few
youth
organizations
have
marketing
and public
relations
staffs, thus
struggle to
tell their
story, gain
attention
and attract
consistent
financial
support.
The image at the
right was
created by an
intern working
with the
Tutor/Mentor
Institute,
LLC in Chicago.
It is
communicating
the same idea as
the image I
created in the
1990s.
This
video
was
also created by
an Intern.
It shows work
other Interns
did in previous
years to help
communicate
Tutor/Mentor
Connection
ideas.
What's the
point?
Youth in area
middle schools, high
schools, colleges,
faith groups and
non-school programs
could be creating
stories and
presentations that
focus attention on
their own section of
the city, or their
own youth
organization. They
could be doing this
as part of their
own service and
learning, and as
part of an on-going
strategy intended to
bring more people
together to help
build and sustain
needed non-school
programs in
different places.
You can view more
work by interns
who've worked with
me in the past.
Click here.
Other resources
to look at
* Non Profit/NGO uses of
social media -
click here
* Bringing youth
tutor/mentor and
workforce development
ecosystems together on
the Internet -
click here
* Dig Deeper into
Tutor/Mentor Connection
articles and ideas -
click here
When you look at my
blog articles, think
of how I have
written similar
stories every wee
for more than 10
years. If many
others do the same
we might be able to
capture more public
and donor attention
to support the work
non-school tutor,
mentor and learning
programs do.
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I used this
4-Part Strategy to
build two successful
tutor/mentor
programs in Chicago.
Anyone can use it.
This is an
information
based problem
solving
strategy. It
starts with
collecting
information
about the
problem you are
interested in
solving,
including
information
about others who
are also trying
to solve the
same problem.
View
this blog
article to
understand the
4-part strategy.
How are you
applying the
strategy in your
own organization
or network?
Additional
resources to help
Chicago area
organizations and
supporters connect,
learn and work
collectively to help
build support
systems for youth:
* Writing our Civic
Futures: on-line
conversations about
civic engagement and
learning.
click here
* ILGiveBig
Spring Giving
Day - May 3,
2018. Details
* To&Through
Project website.
Find information
showing progress
of CPS freshmen
to and through
4-year college.
Find ways to
help. click
here
* MENTOR
Illinois
resources for
mentors page - click
here
* Indiana
Afterschool
Network
Out-of-School-Time
Conference,
April 9, 2018 - details
* Chicago
Organizations in
Intermediary Roles -
click here
* Tutor/Mentor Blog
article with
frequently used
links -
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.
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Who Should be
Reading this
Newsletter?
Think of "It
takes a village to
raise a child"
message.
The graphic above
says "almost anyone
can help" and lists
different categories
of people in a
neighborhood or city
who could be reading
this newsletter and
helping tutor/mentor
programs grow in one
or many places.
I created
this concept map
(and a second that
is linked to it) to
visualize the range
of talent, skills
and organizations
you might need
involved. If you're
using something like
this as a worksheet,
to help you in your
network building,
please share what
you do via a blog,
your web site and
social media.
I'm sure there are
many people in the
support network of
every youth
tutor/mentor
programs and school
in Chicago who could
be using the ideas
shared in this
monthly newsletter.
Forward this to them
and ask them to
subscribe.
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