CIS of Randolph County Celebrates Mentoring Month

by Sandi Norman, executive director of CIS of Randolph County

Sec. Crisco addresses mentors and Asheboro citizens

CISRC held its 3rd Mentoring Celebration sponsored by Progress Energy on Tuesday, January 26th at The Exchange in Asheboro, NC.

Approximately 60 people attended. Keith Crisco, North Carolina Secretary of Commerce who resides in Asheboro, was the featured speaker. Also, two mentors spoke for a few minutes about the impact of mentoring not only on the child they mentored, but their own lives.

The theme for the event was Expand Your Universe, Mentor a Child. We used stars as decorations and also as part of our talking points about how our mentors were stars in the life of the students they mentor. We also talked about the need for more volunteers and urged others to get involved.

In addition to volunteers, we had several guests: Rebecca Briles, representing Howard Coble’s office, Mayor David Smith, Superintendent Donald Andrews and Assistant Superintendent Marty Trotter of Randolph County Schools, Public Information Officer Carla Freemyer from Asheboro City Schools, Randolph County Commissioner Chair, Harold Holmes, State Rep. Pat Hurley, representatives from the Randleman and Asheboro/Randolph Chambers as well as CISRC board and staff. Two members of the local press were invited and both attended.

The meal was catered by Savor the Flavor. We had soup, sandwiches, and fruit cobbler – perfect for a cold January day!
We also announced our recent move to Asheboro for our business office. In addition to our program which listed contact info for the main office and all staff, we gave all the volunteers a bookmark and had copies of 150 ways to show kids you care (from the Search Institute.)

We are most appreciative for the mini-grant from Progress Energy which allowed us to host this important event to celebrate mentoring.

Communities In Schools of North Carolina Celebrates “Thank Your Mentor Day”

CIS of High Point mentor pair attended the White House’s event yesterday

Communities In Schools of North Carolina on Thursday announced that today is “Thank Your Mentor Day,” a time to reach out and thank or honor those individuals who encouraged and guided them and had a lasting impact on their lives. This celebration is part of the ninth annual National Mentoring Month, Month, a nationwide initiative to strengthen and recommit support for long-term mentoring.

Yesterday, Communities In Schools of High Point mentee Caleb Collins and his mentor Michael Cook attended the National Mentoring Month celebration at the White House. Communities In Schools of High Point was invited by Addie Richburg, the founder of the Pen or Pencil M.O.V.E.ment program and President of National Alliance of Faith and Justice.

“It only takes one hour a week to help shape a child’s life,” said Linda Harrill, President and CEO of the N.C. Mentoring Partnership and Communities in Schools of N.C. “With our state’s graduation rate barely increasing each year, it is more important than ever for each of us to help our children. Mentoring is a proven and effective tool for making sure our children stay in school and prepare for life.

National Mentoring Month’s campaign goals are to mobilize more community volunteers to mentor a young person and to increase knowledge about how mentoring can greatly enhance a young person’s prospects for leading a healthy and productive life. Research shows that mentoring has beneficial and long-term effects on youth by increasing their chances of high school graduation and college attendance and decreasing the likelihood of substance abuse and other risky behaviors.

To read the news article in The High Point Enterprise, click here.

CIS of Randolph County to Celebrate Mentoring Month with Government and Community Leaders

Sec. Keith Crisco will be keynote speaker; Rep. Pat Hurley and Asheboro Mayor David Smith in attendance

Communities In Schools of Randolph County is hosting a National Mentoring Month Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Tues., Jan. 26, at The Exchange (204 S. Fayetteville St.) in Asheboro. Secretary Keith Crisco, N.C. Department of Commerce, will be the keynote speaker.

The celebration is in recognition of National Mentoring Month, a nationwide initiative to strengthen and recommit support for long-term mentoring. The campaign’s goals are to mobilize more community volunteers to mentor young people and to increase knowledge about how mentoring can greatly enhance a young person’s prospects for leading a healthy and productive life.

More than 50 people will attend, including Rep. Pat Hurley, Mayor David Smith, Randolph County Schools and Asheboro City Schools representatives, Randolph County Board of Commissioners Chairman J. Harold Holmes and mentors from Randolph County.

Bill Gates Mentions Durham Performance Learning Center in Annual Letter

Gates talks about DPLC as an example for innovation in public education

Communities In Schools of Durham today announced that Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discusses the Durham Performance Learning Center’s innovative approach to public education in his annual letter from the Gates Foundation.

In his second annual letter, Gates evaluates the foundation’s efforts and discusses how innovation impacts the foundation’s priorities. Gates writes about his visit to the DPLC with Melinda in September 2009 and how the DPLC uses online learning to teach its students. To read Gates’ section about the DPLC, please click here.

“The Gates Foundation is an outstanding organization – one that recognizes the profound impact that technology can have in helping our children to learn,” said Linda Harrill, president and CEO of Communities In Schools of North Carolina. “I cannot thank Bill and Melinda Gates enough for visiting the DPLC and recognizing the successes of its online learning program.”

“High school is not one size fits all, and the Durham Performance Learning Center provides students with the opportunity to learn and succeed in an alternative, self-paced setting,” said Bud Lavery, executive director of CIS of Durham. “As a result, there have been some amazing transformations happening for these students—the product of a collaborative partnership among CIS, Durham Public Schools and our community partners and corporations. No one organization could do this alone.”

The Performance Learning Center (PLC) opened in partnership with Communities in Schools of Durham in August 2007. The PLC offers its students the opportunity for online learning with internships and job shadowing. Approximately 100 students are enrolled in the school, which also features a flexible schedule, including a year-round component.

National Mentoring Month: Charlotte

David “D.J.” Long says his mentor, Tyler Epp, was the first person he wanted to call when he learned that he was being promoted mid-year to the 10th grade – after having been held back in the 9th grade at Hopewell High School because he did not pass his EOC tests.

“This guy is the best man on the planet,” said a beaming D.J., when asked about his mentor. “Hanging out with Tyler, learning from him, it’s definitely kept me motivated to do better in school,” he said. In fact, just before the interview for this article, D.J. had received a Perfect Attendance Award at the school’s Awards Ceremony.

Tyler Epp, a Davidson College graduate who has lived in Charlotte for the last decade, learned about CIS through CIS board member, John Tate. Eighteen months ago, he began mentoring D.J., and also Straton Hopper, both CIS students at Hopewell. The bond that he has developed with D.J. and Straton is very evident. The boys say they love to just “hang out” with Tyler, maybe going to get a smoothie or have dinner at their favorite Chinese restaurant. They also enjoy working on cars at Tyler’s business – Tyler is general manager of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame Racing. The shop recently moved to Concord, but the boys still try to get there several times a week, they love it so much.

“Last year I was skipping class a lot,” says Straton. “Tyler has helped me learn how important school is and how you really need it in life.”

Serena McCorkle, CIS Site Coordinator at Hopewell, says that Tyler’s effect on these two has been “nothing short of phenomenal.” “Tyler is so humble, but he has been extremely inspirational for these young men and has gone beyond the call of duty,” said McCorkle. “Their commitment and interest in school has increased a thousand-fold since he began mentoring them.”

As for Tyler, he says he wanted to help in whatever way he could because he himself has been blessed to always have people in his life who cared about him and his development in and out of the classroom.

“I know how important that type of support is when things get tough, and everyone deserves to have someone in their corner,” said Tyler. “D.J. and Straton have so many more hard choices to make than I did when I was in high school. They face challenges every day that I can’t imagine, and they are so resilient. I love the opportunity to sit down with these guys, share a pizza, race go-karts, go bowling or whatever.”

It’s obvious that Tyler doesn’t consider what he does with these guys anything extraordinary. “I’m just trying to show them that there is a life out there, that they can make it and that just because they’ve stumbled, it doesn’t mean they have to fall down,” said Tyler. “I just hope that they get half as much enjoyment out of our time together as I do.”

National Mentoring Month: CIS of Randolph County

by Sandi Norman, executive director of CIS of Randolph County

Mothers leave notes in their children’s book bags to prompt them to do their best, or perhaps, to remind them of their love. Liberty’s Kim Martin found a different kind of note in a book bag last year.

Kim, a dedicated volunteer, packs weekend food in backpacks for Communities In Schools BackPack Pals program. Children who might otherwise go hungry during the weekends pick up backpacks of kid-friendly, nutritious food from school on Friday afternoon and return the empty backpacks on Monday morning.

In cleaning the backpacks in preparation for re-stocking, Kim found a heartfelt thank you note from the mother of one of the recipients. On another occasion, a parent sent a message to the school on Friday saying, “My child is sick today; may I come by the school and pick up the backpack.” Kim also receives messages from teachers letting her know about youngsters who arrive at school on Monday, crying because they are hungry and asking if there is any way to add them to the backpack list.

Kim does not turn these requests down. She says, “If we meet these children’s basic , fill their bellies, they can concentrate on math and reading. They receive breakfast and lunch at school during the week, and we help them carry through on the weekends. It shows the children that someone cares about them.”

BackPack Pals is only one Communities In Schools program, all of which are targeted toward keeping students in school and helping them graduate on time and prepare for life. Other programs include one-on-one mentoring, health and safety events, career fairs, attendance incentives, school supplies and anti-bullying presentations.

Kim packs backpacks for the BackPack Pal program

CIS Randolph County Volunteer Kim Martin

Fuller PLC helps with Haiti relief efforts

by Dr. Dawn Holt, Fuller Performance Learning Center

Fuller PLC students contributed to Ben Stiller's Haiti relief efforts

Fuller Performance Learning Center students are joining the nationwide help for Haiti relief efforts.

Recently, students had sent a donation to StillerStrong, the initiative started by comedian and actor Ben Stiller to build a school in Haiti.

After “stealing a great idea from other charities” (aka LiveStrong by Lance Armstrong), Ben sent out headbands to those who had donated to his cause. In recognition of the severity of the earthquake in Haiti on January 12th, those donations were given to emergency relief efforts for earthquake victims. Students from Fuller PLC hope that their efforts will help rebuild schools in Cerverine, Haiti and help reestablish a consistent clean water source.

To learn more about the Fuller PLC, visit their Web site.

Mentoring Month: Charlotte

Last year, Bank of America initiated a partnership with CIS and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to encourage their employees to volunteer as mentors for several targeted middle schools and an e-mentoring program for high school students.

Ryan Radecki and Ryan Everett, both Bank of America employees, were mentors last year to two students at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School. They enjoyed it so much that they are back at MLK again this year, working with the same students.

“It truly is a blessing to be able to escape the pressure of the workplace, and find oneself engulfed in another world….the unique world of a middle school student,” Ryan Everett recently told CIS. “Thoughtfully shaping the heart and mind of a young person, and testing his drive.. I try to express the importance of community, and pushing him to excel in academics and in life.”

CIS is most fortunate to have Ryan Everett, Ryan Radecki, and Bank of America’s support to provide mentors for students. If you or your organization is interested in mentoring students or other volunteer opportunities, please e-mail Sherry Waters, CIS Resource & Partners for Success Coordinator, or call her at 704-943-9707.

Dancing with the Sandhill Stars

by Lesley Berkshire Bradley, CIS Moore County

The inaugural Dancing with the Sandhills Stars fundraiser enthralled over 400 attendees and raised over $100,000 for Communities In Schools and Moore Buddies, the two major mentoring programs in Moore County. The event was held at the Pine Needles Resort on January 9, 2010.

After months of hard work, 19 dance couples competed at the event in front of a sold out crowd of 350 guests and an additional 50 volunteers. The dancers were notable local politicians, business owners, athletes and artists including Moore County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Susan Purser, Senator Harris Blake, Southern Pines Mayor Mike Haney, Moore County United Way Executive Director Linda Pearson, STAR 102.5FM radio celebrities Kristen Palmer and Rich Rushford and well-know musician Baxter Clement dancing with his wife Taylor.

Pine Needles Director of Golf Pat McGowan and local community leader Cathy Smith won the championship. Their high-energy dance to Donna Summer’s disco anthem “I Will Survive” sent the crowd cheering for more. Smith and McGowan won by generating the most “votes”. Each vote was sold for $10.

Three additional couples rounded out the top four vote winners. Interior designer Susie Leader and Retired Air Force Colonel Nelson Neil jitterbugged to “Do You Love Me”. Political advocate George Little and his wife Wanda showed the crowd how a Southern Shag dance is really done and Dr. Susan Purser and Senator Harris Blake elegantly waltzed across the stage.

“The real winners tonight are the kids of Moore County,” said Chrisy Connelly, Executive Director of Moore Buddies, “The funds raised this evening will go to help the students who need it the most; those students who can benefit from the support of a caring adult mentor.”

Emcee, noted author and Pinestraw Magazine Managing Editor Jim Dodson, kept the crowd and dancers on their toes with his witty introductions of each dance couple. Color commentary was provided by three “judges”, former Red Sox Manager Grady Little, Sandhills Community College President Dr. John Dempsey and Managing Editor of The Pilot Steve Bouser.

The audience clapped, sang along and voted for each couple while watching a broad variety of dance routines including waltzes, swing, shag, hip hop, jive, disco, modern, jazz, lindy, hustle, two-step and jitterbug. Dancers received complimentary choreography and lessons from Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Pinehurst. No matter where the audience was seated they had a prime view of the dancers from either the large raised stage or from one of two enormous Trinitron screens showing each couple as they performed. “There wasn’t a bad seat in the house,” said Tom Cruce Communities In Schools Board Member.

Dancers’ ages spanned multiple decades with the youngest dancer being only 22 years old and the eldest at 84 years old. Age had no impact on the level of energy each dance couple brought to the event. Leader and Neil even promoted their combined 151 years of dance experience as one of the great reasons to vote for them.

After the winning couple was announced, all 40 dancers danced on the stage to Gloria Gaynor’s “Last Dance”. It was a perfect ending to an extraordinary evening, which some are already calling the best event to ever come to the Sandhills. “The event has raised much needed funds for mentoring programs in Moore County and raised the awareness of the importance of mentoring. It was a grand start to National Mentoring Month,” according to Andi Korte, Executive Director of Communities In Schools of Moore County, “We are so fortunate to have such an active and generous community and one that truly understands why mentoring matters.”

According to event co-chairs, Mimi Beatty, Jackie Garris and Jane Jackson, the next Dancing With The Sandhills Stars will be an even more exciting and successful event. “We have already started our planning for the Second Annual Dancing With The Sandhills Stars,” said Garris.

The list of all dancers included District Attorney Maureen Krueger, Chief John Letteney, Dr. Susan Purser, Senator Harris Blake, Kristen Palmer, Rich Rushforth, Christopher Godfrey, Sherry Wood, Father John and Julie Tampa, Linda Pearson, Southern Pines Mayor Mike Haney, Patrick Coughlin, Patti Zoellner, Baxter and Taylor Clement, George and Wanda Little, Diana Turner-Forte, Stephen Later, Jeff and Severine Hutchins, Jack Nance, Roxanne Loepper, Ellen Pearsall, Charlie Jackson, Susie Leader, Nelson Neil, Dr. Jeff Kilpatrick, Juliet Eden Blanks, Larry and Cathy Hinton, Patrick McGowan, Cathy Smith, Ray Metzger, Karen Backall, Janeen Driscoll, Paul Harkness, Eve Avery and Jim Byrd.

Communities In Schools (CIS) provides in-school one-on-one mentoring for at-risk students in Moore County. Moore Buddies uses mentoring as an intervention tool for youth who are at risk of not reaching their full potential for various reasons. Both organizations share the common goal of helping a child succeed through a relationship with a caring adult. For more information on CIS please call 910-295-1072 or visit their website www.cismoore.org. For more information on Moore Buddies please call 910-400-5236.

To see profiles, photos and videos of all the dancers, visit www.sandhillsstars.com.

Pictures from the event are below:

N.C. Mentoring on ABC

On Sunday, Jan. 10, ABC 11 aired its community affairs program, “Heart of Carolina Perspectives.” Since January is National Mentoring Month, the 30 minute program focused on the benefits of mentoring and on some of N.C.’s mentoring programs. CIS Executive Directors Heather Wallace and Andi Korte (Montgomery and Moore counties, respectively) were interviewed for the first half of the show. Below are some pictures of the taping. The archived footage of the event will be posted as soon as ABC 11 makes it available.

ED Andi Korte is fitted for her mic

EDs Heather Wallace and Andi Korte prepare for their interview.

The show's host, ABC 11 reporter Amber Rupinta, discusses mentoring with Heather and Andi.

The studio