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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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November-December 2016 -
Issue 153
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Happy Holidays!
May Year-End Gifts and
Gatherings Bring You Joy
and Hope As You Move
into the New Year.
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. Spend a
little time each
week reading the
articles and
following the links.
Use in group
discussions with
people who are
concerned about the
same issues. Create
a blog like this
sharing your own
ideas.
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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Are you
ready for
November 29th #ILGive
day? What about
after that?
During
the final
six weeks of
the year
donors are
looking for
places to
send
contributions.
Are you
ready?
You can find this
graphic in
this Tutor/Mentor blog
article.
To kick off the holiday
giving season non
profits from throughout
Illinois will be raising
money on a single day,
November 29. You can
find
details here.
Since I support
volunteer-based
tutoring, mentoring and
learning programs I did
a search to see what
organizations are
listed. Here are the
links I used in my
search:
These are
alphabetical
listings and there
are many other
categories that you
can search.
I've
been creating
maps and
visualizations
since 1994 to
show where
existing
non-school
tutoring/mentoring
programs are
located in
Chicago and
where more are
needed...and
to show roles
leaders can take
to draw
attention and
support to
programs in
every high
poverty
neighborhood.
This is my most
updated map, created in
January 2016.
It shows locations of
non-school youth serving
programs in the Chicago
region. (
click here ).
You can also use the
Chicago Tutor/Mentor
Program Locator to
search for programs by
zip code. This is
not as updated as the
above map, but attempts
to provide greater
levels of understanding
about who programs serve
and what they do.
Giving Tuesday
is just the beginning of
the year-end giving
season.
As we move through
December every non
profit will be sending
out appeals, by mail and
by email and social
media. Donations will
grow throughout the
month, and many will be
influenced by income tax
reasons, not just
altruism.
In many of my blog
articles I encourage
youth serving
organizations to show
more information on
their web sites, to help
educate donors and
volunteers on why
tutor/mentor programs
are needed in all high
poverty areas, what a
program might look like,
and ways volunteers and
donors can help programs
grow.
If you know of great
resources that you'd
like to share and have
me add to the web
library, just email the
link to me using the
email shown below.
In August 2016 I used
this graphic in
this article
. My
goal was to show that
many people can help
draw volunteers to
different tutor/mentor
programs in their city.
As we move through
December, I encourage
readers, friends, media
and other leaders to
duplicate this.
Find a way on a weekly
basis, not just in
December, to use your
communications tools to
draw volunteers and
donors to the web sites
of different youth
serving organizations in
the Chicago region. If
you're in another city,
do the same, pointing to
programs in your own
city or state.
This is a low cost way
to help create hope and
opportunity for youth
living in high poverty
areas of Chicago and
other parts of the US
and the world.
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Connect with
others. Share ideas,
build support,
overcome
challenges.
Help high
quality, mentor-rich
non-school programs
reach k-16 youth in
all places where
they are needed.
You can find
this graphic in
this Tutor/Mentor
blog article where
I refer to a book
written by Dr.
Robert Putnam,
titled, "Our Kids:
American Dream in
Crisis".
This is a graphic
that I created in
the mid 1990s. At
the far right is a
map of Chicago, with
high poverty areas
highlighted.
To the left of the
map is a circle,
representing a youth
as he/she move from
first grade through
12th grade. It also
represents the
organizations
providing on-going
support.
This also represents
the
web library I've
been building since
1994.
To the left of that
are images
representing people
who spend time
drawing information
from the web
library, then who
invite their friends
and co-workers to
join in learning
circles, to innovate
ways to support k-12
learning programs in
different high
poverty
neighborhoods.
Students can
do this.
Since 2005 college
interns from local
universities and
South Korea, China
and India have spent
time looking at the
maps and graphics
I've created, then
have created new
versions of these.
The graphic at the
right is an
interpretation of
the graphic above.
You can see a
library of work done
by interns at
this page. As we go
through the holiday
season and the
coming year, we
should be looking
for volunteers who
will use their
talent to help
tutor/mentor
programs grow, and
to help each program
better describe what
they do, using their
web site as an
on-going request for
support.
While I use maps as
online program
locator directories,
I also host two
lists on Facebook,
pointing to
Chicago area
programs and
intermediaries.
While I encourage
programs to post
photo stories on a
regular basis, I
also encourage
volunteers and
donors to browse
these lists
regularly, to build
a relationship and a
deeper understanding
of program goals and
challenges.
Recommended
Reading:
* Understanding and
applying social capital
concepts
-
click here
* Refraining
the story about
Black male
achievement -
click here
Nothing
happens until
someone reads these
articles, then
invites others to do
the same.
This is an on-going
process, where many
can take leadership
roles.
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War on Poverty
Enters New Stage:
War on Freedom and
Democracy
The election is
over and nearly
30% of America
is celebrating
and another 30%
are in denial.
More than 40%
did not vote*.
I wrote that article on
November 10. I wrote
another, titled " Stay
Focused. Do What You Can
Every Day" on
November 15.
* see voter turnout
info here
I created this graphic
several years ago ( see
it here) to
illustrate the constant
experimentation that
went into creating a
light bulb, then the
work needed to
distribute
electricity throughout
the world. We're doing
the same experimenting
in trying to raise kids,
and to help economically
disadvantaged kids
overcome obstacles
caused by poverty.
The November election
has given us a radically
different President and
many of us have deep
fears for what this will
do to our democracy, and
to the youth and
families who are served
by most of our
tutoring/mentoring
programs.
Many have been writing
articles about what to
expect, how to organize,
and what to do next. I
hope someone will
aggregate those onto web
sites, organized like
this
Reclaim the American
Dream site. I've
created a
sub section in the
Tutor/Mentor library
where I'll point to such
platforms.
However, recently I read
an article about "i magining
the future",
that I want to share.
One thing that
tutor/mentor programs,
and schools can be
doing, and many have
been doing for many
years, is to give youth
opportunities to develop
their imaginations and
explore new ideas.
Not only do we need to
make such opportunities
available to young
people, we need to draw
adults from many
backgrounds into such
communities. I created
the graphic above ( see
article) to show
that we need to connect
people from both sides
of the political
spectrum, and make
mentor-rich programs
available in all high
poverty neighborhoods of
cities, as well as in
rural areas and
reservations.
I've used this " village"
map often to show the
range of people who need
to be involved in
helping kids move from
birth to work. In my
blog articles,
such as this one, I
point to on-line forums
where people connect to
each other and share
ideas, build
relationships and give
support.
Such coming
together is critically
important in the coming
months and years.
In addition, I created
this section of my web
library with ideas
people can use to
innovate solutions to
problems and bring
people together to look
at those ideas.
I don't have
a magic solution to any
of the problems we face.
I just know that if we
learn from others who
are trying to solve the
same problem we might
imagine new solutions
we've never considered
in the past.
Here are
some other resources to
look at over the
holidays.
* Chicago STEM
Pathways survey - Help
create a deeper
understanding of STEM
based youth programming
in Chicago - If you host
such a program, please
complete
this survey
* Creating media-rich
map stories -
see article
* Chicago
Schools reduce number of
librarians -
see article
* Report on Illinois
Poverty - Racism's Toll
- new report from Social
Impact Research Center -
click here
* Understanding rural
poverty -
blog article
* Strengthening
Chicago Youth -
training and events
calendar -
click here
* Thrive Chicago
events calendar -
click here
* Tutor/Mentor
Institute, LLC 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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Tutor/Mentor Connection,
Tutor/Mentor Institute,
LLC
Merchandise Mart PO Box
3303, Chicago, Il 60654
tutormentor2@earthlink.net
| http://www.tutormentorexchange.net
It only takes a
small group of dedicated
people to change the
world. Thank you to the
few people who keep
sending contributions to
help me keep this
resource available to
you and others.
Click here if you
want to help.
I'll be
celebrating 70th
Birthday on Dec. 19.
A gift from you can help
me continue doing this
work.
Read more.
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