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a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TH6naJjg-bI/AAAAAAAABvA/xHEzy4u4IVM/s1600/May_08_conf.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TH6naJjg-bI/AAAAAAAABvA/xHEzy4u4IVM/s200/May_08_conf.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512027061631383986" //aWith the college football season starting this week, and the NFL starting the following week, most of the work of preparing for the season is in the final stages. It's time to put the team on the field and see who wins.br /br /I encourage you to read the a href="http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/cabrini-connections-coaching-clinic.html"Coaching Clinic/a article that El Da'Sheon Nix, Administrative Coordinator, and Head Coach, of the Cabrini Connections tutor/mentor program, wrote this week. He compares the work he is doing with our volunteers, to the coaching clinics that college, professional and high school coaches attend each year, to learn new ways to make their teams successful. br /br /The graphic on this page shows the organizations who participated in the May 2008 tutor/mentor leadership and networking conference. This is a "coaching clinic" for leaders of tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and other cities. It serves the same purpose as the sports clinics. It's aim is to help every program get better, and every city have a better distribution of programs.br /br /Sports teams have wealthy owners, and wealthy boosters. They have millions of fans to buy tickets and sports merchandise. Tutor/Mentor programs don't have that fan base, nor do they have wealthy investors. Yet, the team they put on the field is critically important to the business owners who invest in sports teams, and to Democracy in America.br /br /We're looking for investors to help us offer the a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org"Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conferences/a. If you value what sports clinics do for your favorite football team, help us offer this type of support to tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and other cities.br /br /If you'd like to follow our progress on mapping the network being created by the Tutor/Mentor Connection, a href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/group/technologyinternswithtutormentorconnection"visit this site/a.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-2187028982614761943?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TH05ki8XNWI/AAAAAAAABu4/3NcosGy5lA4/s1600/sport.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TH05ki8XNWI/AAAAAAAABu4/3NcosGy5lA4/s320/sport.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511624818989413730" //abr /I found an a href="http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20100828/ISSUE03/308289994/bears-israel-idonije-tackles-poverty-education-with-personal"article in Crain's Chicago Business/a about how Chicago Bear's player Israel Idonije has set up a charity to help inner city kids. This is great. I hope every professional athlete does this.br /br /However, I'd like to encourage athletes and celebrities to think strategically about their role. This map is one that was created more than 15 years ago, when professional athlete signed the map to indicate support for an "adopt a neighborhood" concept" that we have been proposing. br /br /The idea is that athletes adopt poverty neighborhoods each year, so that during the season, they can talk about their neighborhood, and the non profits in those neighborhoods working with kids, whenever they have a media interview, or when they write a blog article, or twitter.br /br /Here's an a href="http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20100828/ISSUE03/308289994/bears-israel-idonije-tackles-poverty-education-with-personal"illustrated essay/a that outlines this idea.br /br /If members of the Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, Fire, Cubs and White Sox each adopted neighborhoods, there would be a daily flow of attention and resources, to the tutor/mentor programs in each neighborhood, instead of just to a few high profile programs in a few places.br /br /Just like great sports teams have great funding, well paid coaches and players, and great facilities, tutor/mentor programs require the same resources to connect with kids and influence the aspirations, habits and career directions of these kids.br /br /It won't happen in enough places unless more people are strategic about how they get involved.br /br /These are other blog a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/search?q=sports"articles that show how sports/a can influence the lives of inner city kids.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-8023098540772586697?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

As school is starting, a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net"Cabrini Connections/a is seeking volunteers and donors to support its one-on-one tutoring/mentoring, and group learning, that takes place at 800 W. Huron, Chicago, Ill.br /br /Below is an example of what takes place at Cabrini Connections each week. span style="font-weight:bold;"Reel Talent Productions/span, is the film production company formed by the members of the Cabrini Connections a href="http://cabrinifilms.blogspot.com/"Video and Filmmakers Club/a. This video is one of two two music videos the group made this summer, over the course of 8 Mondays. These videos were entirely conceptualized, shot and edited by the teenage students.br /br /iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14403403" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"/iframepa href="http://vimeo.com/14403403"Lip Gloss - Music Video/a from a href="http://vimeo.com/cabrinitmc"Cabrini Connections/a on a href="http://vimeo.com"Vimeo/a./pbr /br /While Chicago movers and shakers have been competing in the Federal Race to the Top program, Cabrini Connections and similar non-school tutoring and/or mentoring programs in Chicago have been going about the business of connecting youth to volunteers and extra learning. br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TH0t7I6qjzI/AAAAAAAABuw/EVZXWTGhBHQ/s1600/WestTown.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TH0t7I6qjzI/AAAAAAAABuw/EVZXWTGhBHQ/s200/WestTown.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511612013000429362" //abr /Now as we start the new school year, every program is looking for volunteers. And, they are looking for donors and benefactors. This map shows the West Town area, where Cabrini Connections operates. You can create a map like this, for any zip code in Chicago, by entering search information in the a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/Prgloc.aspx"Tutor/Mentor Program Locator/abr /br /You can look at the availability and distribution of non-school tutoring and/or mentoring programs in the entire Chicago region, by using the a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/InteractiveMap.aspx"Interactive Maps/a on the Program Locator.br /br /These maps and this directory are provided by the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection/a part of the Cabrini Connections, T/MC organization. We're a small non profit, and without the help of more than 100 volunteers and a variety of donors, we would not be able to offer the Program Locator to Chicago. br /br /If you can help us provide these services send your donation to Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection, 800 W. Huron, Chicago, Il. 60642. If you'd like to support us through the fund raising events we organize, visita href="http://cabrinitmcfundraising.blogspot.com" this link/a to learn more.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-1904553309728801189?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

In September you can see the movie a href="http://www.waitingforsuperman.com"Waiting for Superman/a, and hopefully get more engaged with fixing the public education system.br /br /There are links on the Superman sites to forums where you can share ideas with others. Too few, as far as I'm concerned.br /br /Here's a site and discussion that I'd recommend you add to your reading list. This one is titled "a href="http://firesidelearning.ning.com/forum/topics/its-not-just-public-education"It's not Just Public Education, It's the Whole System/a".br /br /I have the same fear for my own son, as this writer has. I have an even greater fear for the k-12 kids living in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago who don't have the community supports and education facilities as I do where I live.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-7900262903019299468?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/THa7vMWSv3I/AAAAAAAABuY/B1Q2l2FEXpE/s1600/networkrole.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/THa7vMWSv3I/AAAAAAAABuY/B1Q2l2FEXpE/s320/networkrole.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509797613577355122" //aIf you want to help improve schools, reduce violence, close the gaps between rich and poor, one step you can always take is that of a "network builder".br /br /This graphic illustrates how you can point to a Tutor/Mentor Connection blog article, or a page on our web site, or a a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net"map showing locations /aof other tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region. You can do this once a day, or once a week. br /br /You can do this by posting an update on Facebook, or linked in, or by delivering a sermon from your church or synagogue. You can do this by posting a notice on a company web site, or putting a message in a print advertising message.br /br /If enough people do this every day we can build an army of every-day support, that reaches tutor/mentor programs in most of the high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago.br /br /Don't wait for someone else to take this role. It's one that any one of us can take every day.br /br /Visit a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/definition-of-issues/ideasanimation"this page on the Tutor/Mentor Institute/a web site and play the animated presentations that give you more ideas of ways you can become a leader in this movement.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-5577854154780616773?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Karina Walker of the T/MC attended a workshop hosted by Community Media Workshop and a href="http://tmcpip.blogspot.com/2010/08/storytelling-101-community-media.html"posted this article/a with tips that non profits can follow to get stories told by media.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-1938817220876331737?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

In today's emChicago Tribune/em, three pages were devoted to telling the stories of a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-july-shootings-20100821,0,830240.story"303 shootings in Chicago /aduring July 2010. These are tragic stories and are certain to capture reader attention. br /br /While the emTribune/em team of writers, editors, web site designers, etc. were assembling the Sunday Paper, I was in Indianapolis sharing some of my ideas for creating community collaborations and non-school tutor/mentor programs, that might help prevent such violens. Here'sa href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/april2010tmc_a.pdf" the presentation/a that I delivered.br /br /However, while I was in Indiana, the Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection team was putting together their own stories. El Nix wrote about a href="http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/big-score.html""The Big Score"/a in one of his comparisons of a tutor/mentor program to a college or professional football team. Karina Walker a href="http://tmcpip.blogspot.com/2010/08/century-after-ford.html"compared the T/MC to Henry Ford's/a assembly line. Bradley Troast talked ofa href="http://cabrinipip.blogspot.com/2010/08/university-partnerships.html" how universities can partner/a with tutor/mentor programs.br /br /At the same time, Mike Trakan kept spreading the word about the August 29 a href="http://www.tutormentorjam.org"Tutor/Mentor Jam Concert/a in Chicago.br /br /We don't have the distribution of the Tribune, but our stories focus on actions and ideas that can help Chicago be a better place to live. I hope you'll read these and pass them on to friends.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-970278894576868691?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

This Saturday Aug 21, I'll be the keynote speaker at a a href="http://www.tutormentorsummitindy.com/"Tutor-Mentor Summit /ain Indianapolis.br /br /I first connected with the organizers of this Summit ten years ago, during a Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference, held in Chicago. Nathan Harris and his wife Carrie, have been attending these conference almost every year since thena href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TG10qQ-oXgI/AAAAAAAABt4/TJwXgjZ3wQs/s1600/Carrie_NathanH.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TG10qQ-oXgI/AAAAAAAABt4/TJwXgjZ3wQs/s200/Carrie_NathanH.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507186188804972034" //abr /In 2004 we began meeting in Indianapolis, at IUPUI, with the goal of helping a Tutor/Mentor Connection grow in Indiana. That process has been slow, but one outcome was that IUPUI rebuilt the main a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection /aweb site in 2005 and still hosts it today.br /br /The timing of the Summit is perfect. It not only brings people together to share ideas, but serves as a recruiting fair to help programs in Indianpolis recruit volunteers for the start of the 2010-11 school year.br /br /The on-going idea sharing with IUPUI has helped the Tutor/Mentor Connection do things it could not do with its own limited resources. It's helping Indianapolis duplicate what we're doing in Chicago, without "reinventing the wheel". br /br /Our hope is that businesses, universities, hospitals, faith groups, foundations, and non profits, will join together in these events, and in on-line forums, so we're all doing as much as we can each day to change the future for kids living in poverty.br /br /We'd like to be working with business and non-profit groups, and university teams, in every city, the same way, and for the same purposes as we've been building our relationships in Indianapolis. If we can expand the number of connected cities and organizations, where each member is sharing ideas and resources, based on what we know, and what we have to offer, we can each be more successful of reaching kids with high quality, mentor-rich programs.br /br /Join us if you're close to the Summit this Saturday. Or join us in the a href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com"Tutor/Mentor Portal/a on the internet.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-1668811157725902485?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGr46aZcQeI/AAAAAAAABtY/8YqM1uhAFTw/s1600/Dan_TedGibbs.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGr46aZcQeI/AAAAAAAABtY/8YqM1uhAFTw/s200/Dan_TedGibbs.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506487176815985122" //aWe held our last a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org"Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference/a in May. Now we're looking for space, and sponsors, to do the next one in November. br /br /We've offered this conference every six months since May 1994, to help leaders connect and share ideas, and to build visibility that draws volunteers and donors to all of the tutor/mentor programs who attend the conference, or that are on our a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net"Chicago Program Locator/a. I was honored to receive an award from the a href="http://www2.illinois.gov/serve/Pages/default.aspx"Serve Illinois Commission/a on Volunteering and Service, presented by Ted Gibbs and Fred Rodriguez. I was a commission member from 2001-2009.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGr4dXH4BPI/AAAAAAAABtQ/7D4yq28_WRI/s1600/D.FinchWorkshop.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGr4dXH4BPI/AAAAAAAABtQ/7D4yq28_WRI/s200/D.FinchWorkshop.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506486677720794354" //aOne workshop was presented by Darrell Finch, with the Milwaukee Housing Authority. He sent his presentation last week and it's now on the a href="http://www.tutormentorconference.org/agenda.asp"conference agenda page/a.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGr6XUHEexI/AAAAAAAABtg/I3DXhC5zX94/s1600/Recruitmentpanel_PEAK.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGr6XUHEexI/AAAAAAAABtg/I3DXhC5zX94/s200/Recruitmentpanel_PEAK.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506488772856150802" //aLeaders of many different tutor/mentor programs in Chicago volunteer their own time to present workshops and sit on panels. They are active participants in the networking, not just people whocome for an hour, give their ideas, then leave. Here is a a href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/photo/photo/slideshow?albumId=783429:Album:12346"slide show/a with photos of many others from the May conference. br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGr64btTvoI/AAAAAAAABto/sMSfDuFJaTc/s1600/events,+higher+res.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 92px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGr64btTvoI/AAAAAAAABto/sMSfDuFJaTc/s320/events,+higher+res.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506489341831265922" //abr /br /While the next conference is in November, what we're all focused on right now is getting our programs started for the 2010-11 school year, and recruiting students, volunteers and donors. This graphic illustrates the four key times each year, when T/MC tries to call attention to tutor/mentor programs, and help them attract needed resources at the same time. This a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/flash/eventyear.swf"flash presentation/a outlines this strategy.br /br /If you're reading this, I hope you'll pass it on to people you work with, study with, or socialize with. Encourage them to be a volunteer, or to pick one of the programs on our list and make a donation. Look at the a href="http://www.tutormentorjam.org"Tutor/Mentor Jam Concert/a that we're holding on August 29. Maybe you can attend. Maybe you can help us find donors.br /br /Or maybe, you just invite some people into a conference room, show this, and say "what does this mean to you, or to our organization?" br /br /If you keep doing this throughout the coming year you'll begin to build your own understanding, and find more and more ways where you can help tutor/mentor programs help kids.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-2645178342857396705?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Over the weekend I reviewed all of the links in the Process Improvement section of the Tutor/Mentor Connection library.br /br /I found three to web sites that talk about benchmarking.br /br /In a href="http://www.citizensnetwork.org/uk/what_is_benchmarking.asp"this one/a, they say "Benchmarking is a practical tool for improving performance by learning from best practices and understanding the processes by which they are achieved."br /br /In a href="http://management.about.com/cs/benchmarking/a/Benchmarking.htm"this one/a, they say, "Benchmarking is the process of determining who is the very best, who sets the standard, and what that standard is. In baseball, you could argue that seven consecutive World Series Championships made the New York Yankees the benchmark."br /br /In a href="http://www.prosci.com/benchmarking.htm"this one/a, they say "... benchmarking ...[is] ...'the process of identifying, understanding, and adapting outstanding practices and processes from organizations anywhere in the world to help your organization improve its performance.'"br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGmBaQHGwmI/AAAAAAAABtI/yXcI-kTL1K0/s1600/Benchmarking.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGmBaQHGwmI/AAAAAAAABtI/yXcI-kTL1K0/s320/Benchmarking.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506074307438494306" //abr /br /In much of the evaluation and planning information I read, there is an emphasis on building programs based on "evidence based practice". If non profit tutoring and/or mentoring programs are applying the benchmarking lessons of the three web sites I am pointing to, it seems to me each would be finding ideas to make their programs consistently better.br /br /However, I wonder the businesses, foundations, colleges and others who want the same goal as we do at Cabrini Connections and other tutor/mentor programs, are benchmarking what they do against what competitors do to constantly innovate better ways to help youth move from birth to work.br /br /For anyone to do effective benchmarking, they need to have the time to constantly look at what others are doing. It would help if each city had a a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/FindaProgram/ChicagoAreaProgramLinks/tabid/561/language/en-US/Default.aspx"list of youth organization web sites/a like the Tutor/Mentor Connection offers Chicago. If you don't have a list of programs to benchmark against, it becomes an even bigger challenge to adopt this process. We break our database down by a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/Prgloc.aspx"type of program, and age group served/a, so benchmarking can compare programs focusing on similar populations. We even offer a a href="http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com/forum/topics/783429:Topic:2463"set of questions /aorganizations could use to compare their web sites against those of other tutoring/mentoring programs. br /br /How would faith groups, or accounting firms, or engineering companies compare what their volunteer and philanthropy programs do to support tutor/mentor programs in their communities? Do they have teams of volunteers focused on this? I don't know of any web site that is aggregating links to different businesses, hospitals, faith groups, etc. with a goal of providing information for this type of benchmarking.br /br /We do collect some links to a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/4/rrepp/20/language/en-US/Default.aspx"business/a, a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/2/rrscid/34/rrpid/1/rrepp/20/language/en-US/Default.aspx"hospitals/a, and a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/2/rrscid/36/rrpid/1/rrepp/20/language/en-US/Default.aspx"math/science/a groups, that you could look at and compare your own efforts, to their efforts. br /br /However, this is insufficient. Is anyone collecting this information? How can others who share the same goal of mentoring kids to careers improve on what they are doing if they don't have anything to benchmark against?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-7686114197177196014?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

If you're the Mayor, the Governor, the President, or a student living in a neighborhood with high poverty, there are many things you need to understand in order to build a comprehensive, long-term strategy that changes the negative consequences of the high poverty in different places.br /br /Have you ever created a map showing what you need to know? Look at the Tutor/Mentor Connection map below.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGVwmrOtkjI/AAAAAAAABtA/tbnU2R1AXqs/s1600/Library_research.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGVwmrOtkjI/AAAAAAAABtA/tbnU2R1AXqs/s320/Library_research.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504929929272070706" //aYou can see the actual map a href="http://cmapspublic.ihmc.us/servlet/SBReadResourceServlet?rid=1247940564671_2047240596_145695partName=htmltext"here/a. br /br /This is just one of four major sections of the Tutor/Mentor Connection on-line library. You can find an animated guide showing the entire library a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net//images/flash/resourcesmap.swf"at this link/a.br /br /This is a huge amount of information. And it is constantly changing as we add new links and articles and as the people we link to add new information and links to their own sites. This is a knowledge network, focused on a goal that many people in the world share.br /br /There is no way the President of the United States will spend much time, if any, browsing the sections of this library. Nor will the Mayor, or the CEO and decision maker at most of the businesses, universities and faith groups in the country.br /br /Yet, without understanding these ideas, and knowing how one problem relates to the other, how can we spend limited dollars wisely, and in all of the places where poverty is the root cause of a growing gap between rich an poor?br /br /There are some ways to overcome this problem.br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Faith groups have text that provide the beliefs of their communities./span Each week people gather to read and discuss small parts of these texts, led by people who are facilitators, or who have spent more time reading and understanding the material than others. The information on the T/MC web site could be used by reading and learning groups in churches, temples, and synagogues all over the world.br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Colleges have even more information in their libraries than we do/span (although we point to many colleges in our own library in ways that connect silos to each other.) When a student enters a university, they are not expected to know everything on their first day. Some spend up to 10 years getting advanced degrees in their field of study. If an alumnus of a university provided an endowment, focused on using the Tutor/Mentor Connection as a curriculum, the university could be guiding students through this information over a period of many years. More importantly, the university could keep these students connected to this information, and the university, in the lifetime after the student graduates! Here's a href="http://jhickey50.wordpress.com/"an example/a of how a first year class at DePaul University began looking at this information.br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"High Schools and Colleges have Service Learning Programs/span - Imagine if a high school were to set up a "tutor/mentor connection" with the same structure as the student newspaper, or the student council, and with faculty support. From first year to senior year, theses students could be learning to use the information in the T/MC library, and building reading, writing, communications and collaboration skills as they find ways to share what they are learning with family, friends, alumni, etc. Students who have had this exposure in high school would be much more likely to take up this path in a college program, if it existed.br /br /In my Twitter feed today, I was encouraged to read a span style="font-style:italic;"Business Week/span article titled a href="http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/apr2010/ca20100419_510753.htm"Creating Collaboration takes more than technology/a, written by by a href="http://collaborationblog.typepad.com/collaboration/"Evan Rosen/a. The point was that while business is spending millions of dollars on collaborative technology, and training programs to motivate employees to use it to add value to a business, many people are resisting. Yet, if businesses were encouraging employees to volunteer in social causes that were important to them, and making this collaboration technology available to them, many would learn to use the tools through the work they are passionate about quicker than the work they are paid to do.br /br /Thus, the business community, who has huge workforce challenges, could also be encouraging teams of employees to use the Tutor/Mentor Connection library as a resource for their own learning, reflection and innovation.br /br /There is no entry fee to this library (although we certainly need donations to keep it available to the city of Chicago and the world). Anyone can use it in the ways I've described, or innovate new ways to use it to help them close the gaps between rich and poor.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-193908148966024832?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGHAQlHawCI/AAAAAAAABso/tgAGgSU-BvQ/s1600/volunteer_link.JPG"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGHAQlHawCI/AAAAAAAABso/tgAGgSU-BvQ/s200/volunteer_link.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503891610697121826" //aKarina Walker, our 2010-11 Fellow from Northwestern, used this graphic in a a href="http://tmcpip.blogspot.com/2010/08/program-ambassadors.html"blog article/a she wrote today, showing how volunteers who get involved in tutoring/mentoring begin to show others why, and how, to get involved as they learn more themselves.br /br /I wrote a a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2009/10/transforming-adults-involved-in.html"blog article/a a while back showing how volunteer commitment grows the longer they are involved. Li Li, an intern from the university of Michigan, converted that into a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/flash/vol_leadership.swf"a flash animation/a.br /br /I met with Bill Curry of a href="http://www.breakthrough.org/"Breakthrough Urban Ministries/a today, and we talked about how volunteers in many programs could be consistently sharing their experiences with peers, and helping their companies get involved. This is similar to the Sunday School Teacher who leads a group discussion of the scripture that was part of that week's service.br /br /I showed him a a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/faith_communities_leadership_strategy.pdf"strategy that faith leaders/a in thousands of locations could use, to educate more people about what a tutor/mentor program might do to help kids if there were a more consistent flow of needed resources.br /br /We talked of how programs working together might increase the size of the funding pie available, rather than constantly competing for shrinking resources.br /br /We're holding a a href="http://www.tutormentorjam.org"Tutor/Mentor Jam Concert /aon August 29. This is the 15th year we've organized events in August to draw volunteers to a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/FindaProgram/ChicagoAreaProgramLinks/tabid/561/language/en-US/Default.aspx"all of the tutor/mentor programs in Chicago/a. Our aim is to help volunteers from many businesses and faith groups join different programs, then help those volunteers find information that helps them become effective mentors.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGHB0IH04VI/AAAAAAAABsw/TEGgA_TRHU0/s1600/networking.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 186px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGHB0IH04VI/AAAAAAAABsw/TEGgA_TRHU0/s200/networking.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503893320901124434" //aAs that happens, our goal is to recruit one, or two, to become coaches within their own companies, learning more about tutoring/mentoring over a period of months and years, and constantly sharing this so more people begin to get involved as volunteers, leaders, donors and advocates.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGHDX5w4qcI/AAAAAAAABs4/gjNLLuRvuSU/s1600/Industries.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 148px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGHDX5w4qcI/AAAAAAAABs4/gjNLLuRvuSU/s200/Industries.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503895035033725378" //aIf volunteers from every industry are learning where and how they can use their time, talent and dollars to help tutor/mentor programs connect with inner city kids, then each program will have multiple sources of funding, and a much broader diversity of volunteers to mentor their kids. br /br /All this takes is for one, or two, people to begin learning about the resources on the T/MC web sites, and sharing this via blogs and networking, with their peers. If you join the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Ning/a group we can even coach you in the process.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-8664157642960757942?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

While many strategies to reduce violence focus on policing strategies, we keep encouraging investment in comprehensive, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs that can help expand aspirations and lead young people to careers out of poverty.br /br /Here are two stories of young people who started with us many years ago.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGAV9icqEGI/AAAAAAAABsQ/WLdlqybfXHU/s1600/IYP_Ford.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 122px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGAV9icqEGI/AAAAAAAABsQ/WLdlqybfXHU/s200/IYP_Ford.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503422891609952354" //a Tramane Montel Ford got his first taste of acting in 1995 when he became part of the video group at Cabrini Connections. On August 7th he performed his new show, a href="http://tramainemontellford.com/THE_TRAMAINE_EXPERIENCE.php"The Tramaine Experience: A One Man Show/a, and raised money so we can help other kids have similar experiences. br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGAXpE39-4I/AAAAAAAABsY/JGHYtHvWWzQ/s1600/Conference+Nov+2009+108Isaiah.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 161px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TGAXpE39-4I/AAAAAAAABsY/JGHYtHvWWzQ/s200/Conference+Nov+2009+108Isaiah.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503424739097312130" //aIsaiah Brooms was a Keynote Speaker at the a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/conferecnes-and-online-forums/previous-conferences/173-nov09workshops"November 2009 Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference/a, where he told how his life has taken a positive direction because of the support he received from his mentor, and the tutoring/programs he was part of. Here's the full a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/images/PDF/paper%20airplanes.pdf"transcript of his presentation/a.br /br /We could not tell these stories if an orchestra of volunteers and donors had not provided time, talent and dollars to enable us to continue as an organization for the past 18 years so that we can provide this support, and enable these connections to grow.br /br /Now we're in a deep economic struggle, and we need new donors and benefactors to step forward with the dollars it will take to offer the 2010-11 school year program. Visit this page to learn of a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/donate"donor opportunities/a, and a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/donate-online1"this page/a to send a contribution via PayPal.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-5931203989207352128?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Saturday's span style="font-style:italic;"Chicago Tribune/span editorial page headline was "a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-homicide-20100806,0,2633064.story"13 years old/a" with a photograph of a boy shot 13 times.br / br /In this editorial the span style="font-style:italic;"Tribune/span says the city can reduce the number of homicides with the right policing strategies, with strategies that target repeat gun-offenders, and with creative anti-violence programs like a href="http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/"Cease Fire/a.br /br /We agree.br /br /But why did they not go further to add a call for more and better non-school programs to mentor and tutor, and provide extended learning, and opportunities for youth to build vocational and career skills?br /br /Better policing and programs like Cease Fire are small buckets of water being poured on a raging inferno. This is where the pipeline from birth to work is already gushing failures.br /br /This city, and its suburban neighbors need to be finding ways to support kids from pre-school through college or vocational training and into jobs and careers. br /br /One part of that strategy needs to include volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs where kids can get extra help, and where adults who don't live in poverty, can be lifelines, connecting kids from poverty neighborhoods to opportunities the they might have with extra help. For many volunters, this is a first step for a life time of involvement.br /br /I know. It was my first step more than 37 years ago when I first became a volunteer tutor working with a 4th grade boy living in Cabrini Green. br /br /Each of the programs operating in Chicago will be looking for volunteers as school starts. they will also be looking for operating dollars so they can provide the support needed by youth and volunteers who join these programs. br /br /If the span style="font-style:italic;"Tribune/span, span style="font-style:italic;"SunTimes/span, and other media do as a href="http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2010/08/volunteer-this-year-slide-show-on-cantv.html"Chicago Access TV/a is doing, and use point readers to the Tutor/Mentor Connection's database of a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net"Chicago area programs/a, they can help more volunteers and youth connect, and they can help them stay connected for months, or even years.br /br /Read more about a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/chicagoland-volunteer-recruitment"volunteer recruitment strategies/a and incorporate these in your own actions so we can help build a stronger foundation and prevent fewer young people from becoming victims and lost potential.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-2312040779948851677?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

The Tutor/Mentor Connection and Chicago Access TV have worked together each August since 1995 to encourage volunteers and donors to join tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region. This is the slide show that will play on TV27 during August.br /br /embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AcbeJQI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"/embedbr /br /Visit the a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net"Tutor/Mentor Program Locator/a and view this "a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/tutormentorprogram%20locatorhowto.pdf"how to use program locator/a" guide to find contact information for volunteer-based tutoring and/or mentoring programs in Chicago.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-5539496021341652595?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

The information we share has a long life on the Internet. Here's a page sharing a href="http://lifestyletom.com/path/rao10925687457ros/roin59012337042"information about a 2006 Tutor/Mentor Conference/a. This is on a Lifestyle.com web site.br /br /The good thing about this is that it provides many more entry points for someone in the world finding a path to our web sites. That can lead to greater support for what we do in Chicago, and greater transfer of our ideas to other places.br /br /One negative is that as we have updated web sites over the years, the web links in these older articles will be broken. Wonder how that might be fixed?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-7005631158572246916?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

One of the goals of the Tutor/Mentor Connection is to build awareness for all of the tutor/mentor programs in Chicago, not just our own. Karina Walker is our T/MC Research and Collaboration Coordinator. That means she maintains the quality of information in the Ta href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net"utor/Mentor Program Locator/a, and she visits other programs to learn what they are doing. br /br /She visited the Chicago Lights program last week and a href="http://tmcpip.blogspot.com/2010/07/site-visit-to-chicago-lights-summer-day.html"this/a is what she wrote.br /br /Nicole White was in this role for the two previous years. Here are a href="http://nicolecabrini.blogspot.com/search/label/Other%20tutoring%20and%20mentoring%20programs"articles she wrote /aafter visiting different tutor/mentor programs.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-6910082801381655112?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFWX6ON-MMI/AAAAAAAABrc/6epLxl5_PmA/s1600/Peter_Project1.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 140px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFWX6ON-MMI/AAAAAAAABrc/6epLxl5_PmA/s200/Peter_Project1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500469546407833794" //aEvery year for the past 35 years I've started August by sending letters and advertising out to recruit people to a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/volunteers/be-a-tutormentor"be volunteers/a at the tutor/mentor programs I've led in Chicago. The goal is to build awareness in August, motivate decision-making and sign-ups during the first weeks of September and hold orientations, volunteer-matching and first connections with kids by the last week of September.br /br /If we can do that, kids just starting school in late August or early September, will have mentors and tutors to support them early in the first grading period of each school year.br /br /In 1993 we formed the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection/a with a goal of helping volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs like ours grow in all parts of the city. First we had to build a master database, which we started doing in 1993 and 1994. Then we had to find ways to create a communications campaign, that would reach more potential volunteers, more often, so we could get their attention, and motivate them to be involved.br /br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFWZCrZKZrI/AAAAAAAABrk/69oE1BcBBc0/s1600/pushing_rock_up.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 197px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFWZCrZKZrI/AAAAAAAABrk/69oE1BcBBc0/s200/pushing_rock_up.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500470791189980850" //aIn many ways, this has been like pushing a rock up a mountain. We've never had much money, and Chicago is the third largest city in the country. In order for us to be successful,other people need to help.br /br /And many people have helped. This list shows a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/tmc-awards-and-recognition/176-history"many of those who contributed/a time, talent and dollars in the years since 1994. This link shows a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/tmc-aug2010board.pdf"slides that Chicago Access TV/a has been posting on their Channel 21 station every August and January for nearly 10 years.br /br /On August 29 of this year, we're hosting a a href="http://www.tutormentorjam.org"Tutor/Mentor Jam Concert/a. All of the bands are donating their time and the Darkroom is donating the space. Now we need others to help us promote the event, and help us raise some money.br /br /One way that tutor/mentor programs can help is to "buy a square" on this a href="http://www.tutormentorjam.org/volunteer.htm"VOLUNTEER /apage. For $50 we put your logo and web link in one of the squares. This helps you attract potential volunteers and raises some money that we use to help you.br /br /One way business, faith groups and others can help is to add a a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/recruitment%20advertising09.pdf"BE A VOLUNTEER/a page to your web site, and on that page point to the Tutor/Mentor Jam and the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator. If you can make a financial contribution, that would be even better.br /br /August is only the beginning of a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/t_mc_servicelearning.pdf"what we need to do/a throughout each year. Recruiting a volunteer is just the start. Throughout the year we need to continue to raise visibility, recruit more volunteers, coach those volunteers so they become effective tutors/mentors, and help programs find operating dollars to support this process at each location. br /br /This a href="http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/collaboration-and-capacity-building-articles"collaboration strategy link/a shows events we'll organize. We hope you'll help us by pointing people you know to these links and by encouraging people to give time, talent and dollars to help inner city kids connect with volunteers in tutor/mentor programs throughout the region.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-9063366916194848538?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFMYV4lFJuI/AAAAAAAABrE/3ge5K7CURXc/s1600/SunTimes7_25_10.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 117px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFMYV4lFJuI/AAAAAAAABrE/3ge5K7CURXc/s200/SunTimes7_25_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499766334193739490" //abr /This a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2530358,59hours-chicago-shooting-072410.article"story in the span style="font-style:italic;"Chicago SunTimes/span/a shows that two years following an April 2008 weekend when 40 people were shot, and 7 killed, almost no one has gone to jail as a consequence. br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Now, here's the real reason./span br /br /Not enough people who don't live in these neighborhoods care enough to get personally involved to change the schools, the poverty, the elected leadership, and the funding for programs that might change the culture of hopelessness that contributes to this urban warfare.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFMZEU-XYVI/AAAAAAAABrM/m6ZrStWC-sw/s1600/Mike_savon.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFMZEU-XYVI/AAAAAAAABrM/m6ZrStWC-sw/s200/Mike_savon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499767132089966930" //aI promote volunteer involvement in non-school tutor/mentor programs because it's an entry point for many people who don't live in poverty to begin a life time of service to change the future for those who do. br /br /For a volunteer to be involved, there needs to be a well-organized program to support that involvement.br /br /For a volunteer to stay involved for multiple years, the program where they are involved needs to sustain a high level of support for the student and volunteer. At Cabrini Connections we describe what we're trying to do in our a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net/7-success-steps"Success Steps/a strategy.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFMaPxGLO2I/AAAAAAAABrU/vdMnQ2hikSM/s1600/Englewood7_09.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 152px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TFMaPxGLO2I/AAAAAAAABrU/vdMnQ2hikSM/s200/Englewood7_09.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499768428129106786" //aAs we enter the 2010-11 school year, there are too few volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs operating in Chicago. Use the a href="http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net/InteractiveMap.aspx"Interactive Program Locator/a to build your own understanding of how many tutoring and/or mentoring programs there are in the neighborhoods where the most shootings are taking place. Sort the data on our maps, by age group served, to get a better understanding of how few programs there are for older youth.br /br /Visit a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/FindaProgram/ChicagoAreaProgramLinks/tabid/561/Default.aspx"some of the web sites/a that we include in the Chicago Program Links section to see how they differ in what they do, and how well they show what their purpose is and what they are accomplishing.br /br /Then, try to find a resource that shows who is funding the general operations of tutor/mentor programs in Chicago. What companies, churches, social groups and foundations are providing flexible, year-to-year, operating dollars to more than 10 of these programs each year? What companies point to our database of programs and encourage employees to choose one or more for workplace fund raising donations. br /br /Who is sponsoring events like the August 29 Tutor/Mentor Jam concert to help us attract more volunteers and donors to look at this information?br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"If you can find this information, send us the link so we can share it with others. /spanbr /br /You can't find this information on the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection web site/a because we don't have the money to answer the many questions that need to be answered, and to do the on-going market analysis that would enable all of us in the Chicago region to have a better understanding of what tutor/mentor programs are available, where are they, what are the ideas that can be duplicated, where do we find staff to lead these programs, etc.br /br /We barely have enough money to maintain the web sites and offer the Program Locator as a FREE service to people in Chicago. We are constantly looking for donors to keep our own a href="http://www.cabriniconnections.net"Cabrini Connections/a program in place. br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Yet we've managed to do what we do for past 17 years./span Imagine how much more impact we might have if we had a few more people helping us.br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"They won't stop shooting until a lot more people get involved, in a lot more significant ways./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-3701972282224510195?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

span style="font-weight:bold;"Our public education system is broken, but fixing it is possible./span That’s the message of a href="http://www.waitingforsuperman.com"Waiting for Superman/a, a new documentary that I went to see last Wednesday night in Chicago.br /br /I think a lot of people will become emotionally moved by watching this movie. The film's creators hope that leads more people to get involved in public education issues.br /br /To me, “span style="font-style:italic;"Waiting for Superman/span” was 90 minutes of “preaching to the choir” showing the costs of poverty, the costs of prison vs education, the impact on the American economy caused by our education system falling behind those in other countries. br /br /Its conclusion was “better teachers” are needed. br /br /Its message was, “there are lots of parents who really want to send their kids to good schools, but there are not enough good public schools, and not enough open slots in good charter schools.”br /br /If you visit a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/17/rrepp/20/language/en-US/Default.aspx"this section/a of the Tutor/Mentor Connection library, you can find links to many web sites with more information on poverty, poorly performing school, the drop-out crisis, etc. br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TE86pArDLsI/AAAAAAAABq8/xi-TgFHA2Ds/s1600/DanLeo.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 147px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AFv8j8HY5eE/TE86pArDLsI/AAAAAAAABq8/xi-TgFHA2Ds/s200/DanLeo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498678146272276162" //aspan style="font-weight:bold;"I’ve been reading articles like this for the past 35 years. /spanWhy? Because I became personally involved with an inner city boy as a volunteer in a non-school tutor/mentor program and I stayed involved for the past three decades. The longer I became involved, the more I was exposed to articles about poverty, and the more personally committed I became to helping the kids I was working with. br /br /Because I was leading a program, not just serving as a tutor, I had to step back a level, and think of ways to recruit kids and volunteers at the beginning of the school year, and keep them connected to each other throughout the year. Because I was a volunteer with limited time, I had to innovate ways to motivate other volunteers to share part of the leader load.br /br /Because of my workplace experiences in corporate advertising at the Montgomery Ward Corporation, I began to understand how mass communications could be used to support groups of 200 or more volunteers. I began to understand how computers could be used to build attendance sheets and to analyze participation patterns. I also began to see how media coverage of poverty might draw a lot of attention for a short time, but it did not provide the type of consistent support that retail stores need to build a customer base, and that non profits need to build a volunteer and donor support system.br /br /I would not have been at span style="font-style:italic;"Waiting for Superman/span if I had not been part of a non-school tutor/mentor program and if I had not been using the internet to connect people involved with tutoring/mentoring in Chicago with similar programs in other cities, and if I were not building a library of information that people could use to become better informed of ways they could become involved to help kids from poverty move through school and into jobs.br /br /After I saw the movie, I visited the Waiting for Superman web site at a href="http://www.waitingforsuperman.com "http://www.waitingforsuperman.com /a. I encourage you to do the same, and then take a group of friends to see the movie. br /br /The web site is intended to act as an intermediary, drawing people to a GET INVOLVED page, and pointing them to other web sites where they could learn more about the problem and become part of the solution. It divides into two sections:br /br /a href="http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/action-path/help-school"Take Action: Help a School /a br /br /In this section the message is “act locally”…meaning support your local school. This is good advise, but it won’t do much to change the performance of inner city schools located in high poverty neighborhoods unless more people from beyond poverty are giving time, talent and dollars every day to help people who do live in poverty neighborhoods. br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"This is one of the shortfalls of the movie that I saw./span Most of the young people portrayed in the film were minority kids living in inner city neighborhoods of big cities like LA, Houston and New York City. The kids featured in the movie attend public schools in poverty areas, and have a parent, or guardian, who would pay for better education if they had the money. br /br /They might also do more to show kids the importance of college, if they had a college degree themselves. But that’s what poverty is all about. It’s people who don’t have high paying jobs, college degrees, etc. How can they be providing the dollars to help teachers? How can they find the time to be mentors? How can they model jobs and college if they have not finished school themselves?br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"The solutions proposed in this section don’t show how people who don’t live in high poverty might be personally involved in helping youth and families who do. /span The actions proposed don’t take in consideration the geography of poverty and poor schools and don’t provide a road map for Superman to go from neighborhoods of affluence to neighborhoods of poverty. br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"This section does include a “be a mentor” link/span that points to the web site of the National Mentoring Partnership. However, it does not say “be a donor” so more mentoring programs might have the staff and infrastructure to add more volunteers, and provide high quality mentoring to those they already have. This is a missed opportunity in my estimation.br /br /a href="http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/action-path/fix-system"br /Fix the System/a – br /br /This is the second section in the Take Action section. There are links in this section that focus on education standards, the Dept. of Education Rspan style="font-style:italic;"ace to the Top /spancompetition and getting involved with a local school board. br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"There is also a link to a Dept. of Education a href="https://innovation.ed.gov/my-portal/"Innovation Portal/a,/span where anyone can submit ideas and connect with others who have submitted ideas. This has potential. I introduced the Tutor/Mentor Connection and posted a request for help in funding our maps and technology. I’ll let you know if I get any responses. br /br /There’s also a section titled “Join a discussion” which points to the a href="http://www.edutopia.org/groups "Edutopia community forum/a where people can join in discussion with others on education issues. I also joined this forum and introduced myself. I did not see any section that was focused on helping non-school organizations be available around poorly performing schools, so I emailed Edutopia to suggest they add such a section. br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"In total, I think Waiting for Superman has a lot of potential for increasing the number of people motivated to "fix the public education system", but the web site is missing some major opportunities./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Understand the issues and opportunities – /spanbr /I think there are a broader range of web sites where you can learn more about the problems of our education system, and the poverty causing some schools to perform less well than others, and potential solutions. A starting point in your learning would be the Tutor/Mentor Connection library, where we point to more than 1600 resources such as these in our a href="http://tinyurl.com/TMLibrary-research"Research and Resources/a category. br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Volunteer involvement, expanding the number of people who personally care./spanbr /I think the movie, and the forums, are efforts to engage people who care in discussions and actions that lead to solutions. However, these don’t provide enough entry points to get adults who don’t live in poverty personally connected with youth and families. In a recent study titledspan style="font-weight:bold;" "a href="http://www.civicenterprises.net/pdfs/bbbs.pdf"Untapped Potential/a: Filling the Promise of Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Bigs and Littles they Represent,/span the authors point out how there were more than 240,000 active BBBS volunteers in 2009, and that many of them have become more concerned about the challenges facing the kids they mentor, because of their involvement as a mentor. br /br /Thus, strategies that encourage more volunteering in well organized volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs would be ways to increase the number of people watching movies like span style="font-style:italic;"Waiting for Superman/span, and spending time to “fix the system”. br /br /However, for that to happen a more consistent flow of operating dollars needs to be going to every single program so they can recruit and retain leaders who can effectively mentor the mentors so they stay involve, build this level of empathy, then grow to be leaders who reach into their own business, alumni, faith and personal networks to get even more people involved.br /br /This is what the a href="http://www.tutormentorconnection.org"Tutor/Mentor Connection/a focuses on. We're not yet listed as one of the resources on the span style="font-style:italic;"Waiting for Superman/span web site. We're not yet invited to any planning meetings by CEO Ron Huberman of Chicago Public Schools. We’re not on their radar. br /br /However, that can change. If you know about our work, or read this blog, pass on this message to leaders in your own network, the way Sara Caldwell did on a href="http://www.houseofgorey.com/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=3Itemid=2"this web site/a. br /br /We can bring supermen and women to inner city neighborhoods by what we do to encourage people who have the talent and the resources to help this strategy grow in Chicago and other cities.br /br /Thank you to span style="font-weight:bold;"Waiting for Supermanspan style="font-style:italic;"/span/span for helping draw attention to this issue.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12044401-4213470546124329240?l=tutormentor.blogspot.com' alt='' //div