Use Tutor/Mentor Connection
on-line library.
While you can use a search engine
like Google and find information to
help you build and sustain a
volunteer-based tutor/mentor
program, you can also use the T/MC
library.
The library has aggregated and
categorized more than 2000 links to
information leaders, volunteers and
donors can use to build a collective
understanding of where and why
tutor/mentor programs are needed, as
well as ways to support them more
consistently for a longer period of
years.
Many of these links focus on
Chicago. If you're collecting
similar information, focused on a different
city, please share the link to your library
and I'll add it. If you'd like to submit a
link to the library just register, log in,
and use the "Add a New Link" feature to
suggest a link. These are moderated and if
approved, your link will be added to the
site.
Information Categories in
Library
Research
(education, drop out, social capital,
health disparities, etc.)
Blogs by leading thinkers
,
consultants, tutor/mentor programs, etc.
Link to
There are many additional categories
in the library. Spend some time
browsing the sections and bookmark those
you'd like to visit again.
Helping youth on Journey from Birth to Work
requires new thinking.
Read more
.
See ideas on building network to
support youth.
Click here
Illustrated PDF strategy essays
in Tutor/Mentor library.
Click here.
Visualizations of strategy
in Tutor/Mentor
Pinterest library
Mapping for Justice blog,
with examples of how GIS maps can be used. Click
here. |
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Making all kids, "our
kids"
The photo at the right shows
Sara Caldwell, who started
tutoring in the late 1980s, with
Isiah Brooms (r) her mentee at
that time. Recently on Facebook
I saw a post where they were
giving "love" to each other, as
a result of a 25 year
connection.
This spring Robert
Putnam, of Harvard University,
launched a new book,
titled " Our
Kids: The American Dream in
Crisis". He uses social
capital arguments, and a lot of
charts, to show how children of
affluent parents, living in
affluent communities have a
growing number of advantages and
opportunities while children in
poor communities, surrounded by
others like themselves, have
fewer and fewer opportunities to
climb the ladder to success.
He advocates for mentoring as
one strategy to help close the
opportunity gap.
This photo was taken in at a
year-end dinner held in the
early 2000s. It shows youth and
volunteers who, during the
1990s, had been part of a
tutor/mentor program I led. The
returned for that dinner. Many
of them are still connected to
myself, and each other, on
social media...20 years
following the time they joined
the tutor/mentor program! That's
what I mean by long-term
mentoring.
I attended an event on
Tuesday and heard Dr. Putnam
present his ideas. Read
more about this below. If you're
reading this today (Wednesday)
and want to hear Dr. Putnam, he
will be speaking tonight at 6pm
at the Chicago Public Library,
400 S. State Street. Admission
is free, but seating is on a
first-come basis.
The ideas I share in
this monthly newsletter, and on
my web sites, are intended to
support what people and
organizations do to help such
programs grow in cities across
America.
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What Does your Strategy,
and Commitment, Look Like? How
Do you Share this?
When Robert
Putnam writes, "Surround
them (poor kids) with
responsible, caring
adults that will help
them through life." I
envision strategy maps
like this being used to
show commitment of
leaders to making this a
reality.
I've been using concept
maps to share strategy
for many years. I
encourage you to view
this " strategy
map" graphic in this
article, then look at
the other concept maps
posted on this blog
since October 25, 2014.
Then view the two videos
on this site, which
were created by a 2015
intern from South Korea,
to guild people through
information on my web
sites.
As you head
for the end of this
school year,
think of
ways youth could
help lead
discussions, deeper
learning, and
planning, that leads
to more
comprehensive
programs reaching
youth in the coming
school year--and in
future years.
Browse the systems
thinking, planning
and learning
articles,
like this, on
the Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC blog.
These show many
types of concept
mapping tools, and
strategies to engage
many people in
deeper learning. As
you apply these
ideas, share what
you're doing with me
and others using
Twitter,
Facebook and other
social media
platforms.
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Want to close
"Opportunity Gap?" Come to
Tutor/Mentor Leadership and
Networking Conference In Chicago
- May 8, 2015
If you're in the Chicago region,
use the
Tutor/Mentor Leadership and
Networking Conference to
expand your own network of
people and ideas, and to engage
your own community. Workshops
focus on the expertise programs
need to sustain long-term
mentoring efforts, while
networking shares ideas that
programs can borrow from each
other.
Visit
this page to see workshop
presenters that I expect to
participate.
See
articles written by
2014 conference participants.
View
Conference Maps.
These show that representatives
of tutoring, mentoring and
learning programs are
participating, but we're not
attracting participation from
business, media, philanthropy,
government and oth who need to
be engaged directly with program
staff and leaders so they know
what they need to do to help
programs grow.
If you can encourage
these people to attend the
conference, or connect with me
on social media, the ideas I
share can be used to help tutor,
mentor and learning programs
grow in your own community.
Be a Sponsor. Your
contributions of $80 to $1000
help make these conferences
possible. Please help.
Read more.
Questions? Please
contact Dan Bassill at
tutormentor2@earthlink.net
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While it's only March,
Do You have a November/December
Strategy to Attract Donors to
your neighborhood?
Poverty is still
concentrated in many
neighborhoods shown on this
1994 map. It is growing in
Chicago's suburbs.
Visit the
this section of
the Tutor/Mentor Institute,
LLC site to see how maps can
be used to help build a
distribution of resources to
all of the areas with high
poverty, poorly performing
schools, and other
indicators showing need for
volunteer-based tutor,
mentor and learning programs
operating in non-school
hours..
Below you can see a graphic
showing four times a year
when our collective efforts
can help build public
greater awareness and draw
needed resources directly to
the different tutoring
and/or mentoring programs
operating in the Chicago
region.
This
is
an event cycle
that repeats every year. You
can read about this
here
. If you build a year-round
event strategy intended to
grow support for youth
tutoring, mentoring and
learning programs in
different neighborhoods, you
don't need to start from
scratch each year. You
innovate improvements. You
also give yourself a full
year to build next year's
event, which enables busy
volunteers to take a more
meaningful role.
This is a strategy
that is needed in every city
with large pockets of
concentrated poverty. If you
already have a strategy in
place, please connect with
us in Chicago.
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Resources for your Learning
Community:
"Data Tools for Change:
The Child Opportunity Index"
webinar held March 18, co-hosted
by PolicyLink, PERE, and
diversitydatakids.org. .
View webinar at visit
site.
The Toolbox - this site shows
a variety of visualization tools
that can be used to build a
case for support of youth
serving organizations -
see site
Resilient Latino Youth:
In Their Own Words -
New report from National Council
of LaRaz. Includes youth from
Gads Hill Center in Chicago.
see report
Poverty moving to
Chicago Suburbs. View
map showing change from 1980 to
2010.
see article
These and many other
resources can be found in the
web library at
http://tinyurl.com/TMC-Library
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President's Message.
Closing the "Opportunity Gap".
How do we get from "Here to There"?
On Tuesday, March 24, I had the
opportunity to join with other
civic leaders in Chicago to hear
Robert Putnam talk about his new
book "
Our Kids: The American Dream in
Crisis ". He said, "The
destiny of poor kids in America
has broad implications for our
economy, our democracy, and our
values. Everyone should be
concerned."
If you've been reading this
newsletter, or following my
blogs, you know he's preaching
to the choir when he is talking
to me. Thus, my question, is "How
do we close this gap?
How do we get from where we are
in 2015 to where we want to be
in 2030 and beyond?"
I wrote my own follow up to
Tuesday's event and posted it
here. I wrote a
second follow up today. There
were nearly 200 other people in the
auditorium, and thousands more will
read the book. I hope each will take
time to post their own strategy for
solving this problem. If you do,
send me a link and let's compare
notes. Better yet, let's find ways
to work together to increase the
number of people from beyond poverty
who adopt Putnam's goal of making
these kids, "our kids".
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There's a lot of information in this
and every other monthly newsletter
that I send. I hope you'll save it,
and refer to it often in the coming
month. You can also go to my
archives to see this and past
issues.
Thank you for reading. If you'd like
to connect with me, just reach out
via one of the social media links
below. The graphic above illustrates
my goal of collecting and sharing
information that can be used to
support programs working with youth
in Chicago and other cities.
If you can provide financial
support to help me continue this
effort, please
visit this page.
Sincerely,
Daniel Bassill
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
(Photo above is me in 1973 with
my mentee, Leo Hall. We're still
connected 50 years later.)
On Twitter
@tutormentorteam
Join us on
Facebook
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Linkedin Network
Read
strategy articles on Scribd.com |
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