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

Posts Tagged ‘mentors’

Having students create a coat of arms gives them the opportunity to describe qualities about themselves and to learn more about other group members.  Mentors should encourage the participants to use colors and writing styles that represent their personalities.

In space 1, have students draw something that characterizes a talent they posses. If working on a group coat of arms, each person will include their own  symbol in space 1.

In space 2, have students sketch out a something they are really good at.

In space 3, have students draw a symbol of how they like to spend their spare time (an interest).

In space 4, have students write something that reflects their personal motto.

Have pre-made Coat of Arms, color markers or pencils ready before class begins. You can download the handout at www.WinningFuturesBooks.org. Go to the Online Support
page and locate Coat of Arms. Remember to have your user ID and password.

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!

Sometimes in a classroom time is limited.  But introductions should not be compromised due to the lack of time.  A quick and fun for the mentors and mentees to become familiar with all the adult  volunteers and for the mentees to become acquainted with their own mentors is to do “Mentor Speed Meetings”

Before the first class, mentors need to be alerted that they need to bring in interesting, physical items to show their teams. This is a great way to pull mentee(s) into a conversation. Mentors are required to bring in any of the following items to  help them obtain an accurate picture of what their companies do and/or to share who they are as a person.

SUGGESTED SAMPLES:
• Small parts or products your organization makes
• Organizational chart – with the intent of showing the relationship and support structure among various jobs within your organization
• Company brochures, newsletters, employee handbook
• List of entry-level jobs and a list of occupations that require continuing education (college or technical training)
• Awards or recognitions
• Photos
• Items that represent your interests and hobbies

Start the class out by letting students know that all the mentors in the program have different backgrounds and careers and it will be beneficial for students to meet all of the volunteers. Students are starting to build their professional network and  all the mentors in the room will become part of it.

Starting with their team, mentors will have four minutes to introduce themselves to the team and talk about their career.  When the bell rings, mentors are asked to stand up and walk to the next table.

Procedure:
1) Get all of the teams settled down and introduce the activity.
2) Time four minutes and ring a bell or announce that time is up.
3) Once mentors are back at their original table, move to the second part.

Once activity one is finished, mentors are asked to share a little bit about themselves and the company they work for with their team.  This includes what their company does and its inner workings.  And at this time mentors are asked to bring
out a physical object they brought in to represent the company or them personally.

Mentors need to be prepared about what they need to talk about with all of the mentee teams. Give them these tips before their first meeting by email, mail, or phone calls.

• Job title and primary duties
• Education and experience required?
• Salary and benefits?
• Current outlook for new college graduates?
• Interests and skills needed for occupation
•Advantages/disadvantages of working in this field?
• What type of work schedule does this field require?
• Main responsibilities associated with work in your field?

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

The purpose of this activity is for the mentors and mentees to become familiar with all the adult volunteers and for the mentees to become acquainted with their own mentors.

A quick way that this can be done is by asking each mentor/volunteer to stand and share (in 30 seconds or less) the following to the group:
• Your name
• Company
• What the company does
• Title and position
• Fun fact about yourself

The next portion of the class is an individual mentoring activity.  Mentors are asked to share a little bit about themselves and the company they work for with students. Mentors come prepared to talk about the inner workings of the company with a visual item(s) that represent them and the company.

Before the first class, mentors need to be alerted that they need to bring in interesting, physical items to show their teams. This is a great way to pull mentee(s) into a conversation. Mentors are required to bring in any of the following items to help them obtain an accurate picture of what their companies do and/or to share who they are as a person.

SUGGESTED SAMPLES:

• Small parts or products your organization makes
• Organizational chart – with the intent of showing the relationship and support structure among various jobs within your organization
• Company brochures, newsletters, employee handbook
• List of entry-level jobs and a list of occupations that require continuing education (college or technical training)
• Awards or recognitions
• Photos
• Items that represent your interests and hobbies

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!

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