Winning Futures – Inspiring and preparing youth to succeed through mentoring.

Posts Tagged ‘mentoring stories’

Did you have a mentor in your life?

Why did you decide to become a mentor?

Share your mentoring story!

With the 2011-2012 school year off to a great start at Winning Futures, we welcome new mentors to our program!

Veteran mentors – do you have any mentoring advice that you have found works well for you?  If so, please share!

Winning Futures didn’t just change my life, it saved it. I went from the brink of dropping out to being all year Honor Roll my senior year.  After high school I used the tools and techniques that I was given by the program to not just secure employment, but to thrive in my position. Now I work in New Business Development for an international industrial supplier with strong viable aspirations for the future. I would not have been to get this far in life had it not been for the support of Winning Futures!

 Joe Owens – Winning Futures Alumni

Sometimes our greatest struggles in mentoring can turn into our greatest success stories.

Do you have a story you would like to share?
Why did you sign up to mentor?
What did you gain from mentoring?
Why should someone else mentor?
What was the biggest benefit to your mentee?

Let us know your thoughts on one or all of these questions!

A great way to support students in career exploration is to show an interest!  A resourse used at Winning Futures to help students compare and learn more about their career interests is The Occupational Outlook Handbook website – http://www.bls.gov/oco/.

By providing information on careers, students will be better prepared to set their education goals!

Ways to use the Occupational Outlook Handbook site—

~To find out about a specific occupation or topic, use the Search
box that is on every page…you enter your search term in the box.
~To find out about the many occupations, browse through listings using the Occupation
link that is on the left side of each page.
~For a listing of all occupations in alphabetical order, go to the A-Z Index and select a letter.

My Winning Futures mentor is the definition of support system.  She was always motivating and inspiring not just our mentoring group, but everyone around her.  She has showed us that any future we desire is obtainable through hard work, education, and persistence.  She made me believe in myself.

-2011 Warren Mott High School Graduate

In the Winning Futures classroom, it is proven time and time again how much one hour a week can impact a student.

Do you have a mentoring story you would like to share?

Why did you sign up to mentor?

What did you gain from mentoring?

Why should someone else mentor?

What was the biggest benefit to your mentee?

Let us know your thoughts on one or all of these questions!

Not only did my Winning Futures mentor teach me numerous skills for my future and how to efficiently function in the workplace, he also taught me the most important life lesson; you’re only as happy in life as you allow yourself to be.

-2011 Cousino High School Graduate

As much as I gave to my mentees through mentoring, I received even more.  When you know you have people who look up to you, you hold yourself to a higher standard.  It has always been my belief that a person should lead by example, and the more I encouraged my students to take responsibility for their work, strengthen their relationships with family and friends, and give back to the community, the more I found myself improving those areas in my life as well.  The more I listened to them and their concerns, the better listener I became to everyone else around me.  As I watched them pursuing their goals with more passion each week, the more passionately I pursued my own.

I cannot fully express just how rewarding the experience has been for me.  As a mentor, not only was I able to have a positive influence on three young men and become a role model in their lives, but also (quite unexpectedly) they had a positive influence on my life and became role models for me as well.

Richard Sulaka II - Winning Futures Mentor, Former Winning Futures Student at Cousino High School

“My time with Winning Futures has been very rewarding, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to mentor with this organization.  The structure of the program and the guidance from the staff to support its mentors, made me feel confident that I was truly helping my students improve their lives. This year has truly been a life-changing experience for me, which is why I selected Winning Futures to be supported by the National Cares Mentoring Movement for resources to mentor more students.”

Kimle Mitchell – Winning Futures Mentor