Celebrate National Mentoring Month, Become a Mentor

January is National Mentoring Month and the Fayette County School System’s Friends Mentoring program is inviting the community to get involved.

Just about all of us have been touched by a special individual who encouraged and guided us and left a lasting impact on our lives. That person might be a parent, teacher, older sibling or perhaps a volunteer who spent time each week offering homework help, a listening ear, or words of encouragement. No matter what their relationship, they are all mentors.

During National Mentoring Month, those who were shaped by the mentors in their lives are invited to pay it forward by becoming a participant in the Friends Mentoring Program. Mentors meet weekly one-on-one with their students at school for one hour. The program focuses on assisting children in developing relationship skills, building positive life skills and improving academic proficiencies.

Thank Your Mentor Day will be celebrated on January 21. On that day, the community is encouraged to reach out and thank those who have made a difference in their lives. Ways to honor a mentor include contacting him or her directly to express appreciation, pass it on by becoming a mentor to a child or making a financial donation to a local mentoring program.
Many mentors with Friends have been involved in the program for years. Volunteers have selflessly given of their time and talents to help students at all school levels flourish and become productive both inside and outside the school setting.

If you are willing to commit one hour per week to helping a child at one of our schools, or if you want to make a donation to the Friends Mentoring Program, contact Jane Gough at the LaFayette Educational Center, 770-460-3990, ext. 255.

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Surrogate Parent Training January 29

Training for persons interested in becoming surrogate parents to students with disabilities in the educational process will be held January 29 in the media center of Rivers Elementary beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The Fayette County Public Schools Exceptional Children’s Department will provide training for those interested in becoming surrogates for students whose parents cannot be identified or located, and the responsibilities are strictly limited to the special education portion of the child’s education. Duties include attending and participating in the child’s annual Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting and providing consent for evaluation or placement.

Foster parents, retired teachers and persons who would like to act as a parent in these special education decisions are encouraged to come to this training. Rosie Gwin, exceptional children’s services coordinator for the school system, will lead the training.

“Acting as a surrogate parent is a wonderful opportunity to serve a child when he or she needs it the most,” says Allison Stevenson, the school system’s parent mentor.

Light refreshments will be served.

The training is free but reservations are required. Contact Allison Stevenson by January 7 at stevenson.allison@mail.fcboe.org or call770-460-3911, ext. 239 to reserve a seat.

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“Reading is Contagious” Kicks Off at Inman Elementary

Fourth grader Kahlah Andrews, 10th grade mentor Ivori Douglas from Our Lady of Mercy High School and fourth grader Eden Negusse dive into books made of cake at the “Reading is Contagious” kickoff celebration.

Something contagious is going around at Inman Elementary, the love of reading.

Funded by a grant from Target and the Coweta-Fayette Bright Ideas Program, 20 teen mentors, who also happen to be chronic readers, from Whitewater and Our Lady of Mercy high schools are sharing their passion with Inman’s After School Program students through a new initiative called “Reading is Contagious.”

Students participating in the program do so at the request of their parents. Parents must agree to match the one-hour per week reading commitment with their child that mentors make. A journal recording time spent, child-created assessments of comprehension, word games, and drawings are exchanged between mentors and parents throughout the year. The journals mark milestones that are awarded, culminating with an end-of-the-year celebration.

“If we can get children excited about reading, we will have done our job; and if their reading scores improve, we won’t be surprised,” says Kahlilah Pagan, site coordinator for Inman’s After School Program.

The school recently held a “Reading is Contagious” kickoff celebration to inform parents and get students excited about the program. Louis Robinson, the school’s principal, calls the program a total team effort that is student focused.

“The students will be inspired by the attention given to them, the mentors and parents will be proud of their accomplishments, and together we will be reaching out to children with compassion through reading,” he says.

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Fayette County Pre-K Teachers Selected for State Mentoring Program

Three of the Fayette County school system’s finest Pre-K teachers have been selected by Georgia to be mentors to first-time teachers in the Georgia Pre-K Lottery program.

Margaret Davis, Crabapple Lane Elementary; Shelly Jones, Peachtree City Elementary; and Dana Popiel, Oak Grove Elementary, were chosen by Bright from the Start, the organization that oversees the state’s Pre-K program, as three of the 50 experienced teachers making up this year’s Mentor Teacher Program. The mentor program is part of the New Teacher Institute that helps new lottery teachers throughout the state learn the skills necessary to teach four-year old children.

The mentor program is open to experienced lottery Pre-K teachers. Applicants are required to submit a professional portfolio showcasing their classroom skills. Fayette County's three mentor teachers have a combined 25 years of experience in working with Pre-K children.

“These Pre-K teachers strive to go above and beyond the duties and responsibilities required of the teachers in the Georgia Pre-K program. They have traveled around the state this year to help many teachers as well as served as best practice sites for our own teachers,” says Clarice Howard, who oversees the school system’s lottery program.

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Friends Mentors Honored at First Annual Breakfast

As mentors signed in at the breakfast, they were handed a small token of appreciation for their volunteerism. Marilyn Hare (L), a reading tutor at Peachtree City Elementary, will start her fourth year with the program in the fall. She is greeted by the school’s counselor and advisory board member, Ruth Cooper.

More than 200 adults and high school students reach out each week to help children who are struggling, academically, socially or both, have a more positive experience in and outside of school.

They are volunteers in the Fayette County School System’s Friends Mentoring Program, and for the first time, their volunteerism was formally honored during a recognition breakfast that is slated to become an annual event.

Over 30 of the school system’s mentors attended the breakfast. Those in attendance ranged from volunteers who just started the program this year all the way up to multiple years of involvement, including the program’s longest serving mentor, Sally Sharkle of Heritage Bank. Sharkle began mentoring in 1994 and works with students at Hood Avenue Primary. She was honored with a special recognition to commemorate her longstanding service to the program.

Mentors are required to go through training and an extensive background check before acceptance into the program. They are asked to commitment to working with a student at school for one hour each week. Volunteers work with students, at all grade levels, who have been identified by their counselors as benefitting from a mentor/student relationship. The school obtains parental permission prior to assigning a mentor to a child.

Mentors spend their time each week helping students with homework, class assignments, or just talking or listening. Sometimes mentors, like Trelawney Bundrage who started the program three years ago at Fayetteville Intermediate, decide with their protégés to continue their relationship from one grade level to the next. Bundrage followed her protégé to Fayette Middle.

“This program has worked so well over the years because it is simple. The commitment is 90 percent just showing up. I want to congratulate all of you on making that commitment,” said Friends Mentor Manager Jane Gough to mentors attending the breakfast.

About a year ago, Gough had the idea of establishing an advisory board to help move the program forward; the recognition breakfast was one of the ideas to come from the board that is made up of business leaders, tutors, counselors and mentors. Other enhancements originated by the board include background and finger print checks for all mentors and an electronic newsletter.

Julius Pryor, a first year mentor at Fayette Middle and advisory board member, summed up what it means to be a mentor.

“We are focused on outcomes and the young people we are working with everyday. We are professionals; we are trained, committed, disciplined, focused and are willing to extend ourselves. We realize we are having an impact and are making a difference in students’ lives. We all get as much out of this as our protégés,” Pryor said as he addressed his fellow mentors at the breakfast.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities through the Friends Mentoring Program, contact Gough at gough.jane@fcboe.org or call 770-460-3990, ext. 255.

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