July Match of the Month: Robyn Stattel and Amanda

For the month of July, we are so pleased to honor Robyn Stattel and her mentee, Amanda, for match of the month. On July 2nd, this pair will celebrate their first anniversary of being matched!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Having had experience working in schools with young people in the past, Robyn knew she enjoyed assisting this population. She also knew how stressful it can be. She deciding mentoring would be the perfect way for her to be involved with youth without the demand of a full-time position in the field. “With mentoring, it’s all the good without the bad of being in a school situation (like punishment),” Robyn stated during the matching process. On her application, Robyn wrote that she remembers being a teenager and that with her care and patience she could assist another young girl with this difficult stage of life.
Amanda was referred to mentoring by her counselor who felt that she could benefit from a positive role model as well as from having the opportunity to get assistance with career planning. Amanda stated that she had a mentor as a youngster and that it was a “great experience”—she definitely looked forward to having a mentor again.
Since being matched, Robyn and Amanda have spent a lot of time together walking, talking and going out for pizza. On one of their early outings, Robyn’s car broke down and the pair was forced to walk quite a distance in order to get help. Robyn wrote, “…we put one of my dogs on a leash and we traded off carrying my other dog back into Burlington! She was great…”
Amanda is pretty quiet when asked about her mentor, but she gets a little grin on her face and says simply, “she’s awesome.”
CONGRATULATIONS again on being matched for one year!

www.kingdomcounty/calendar/

The Voices Project

A great activity for you and your teenage mentee!

Shout it Out is an original musical based on the lives of Vermont teens. The feature film is an adaptation of the groundbreaking original stage musical The Voices Project that toured to thirteen towns across Vermont in 2005 and was based on writings by Vermont teenagers with original music by teens. The stories and characters were developed during an intensive, yearlong statewide research phase in which more than 1000 teens participated.Shout it Out tells the story of a group of teenagers making their way through high school. The film follows them through some of the more tumultuous moments of teenagehood: academic pressure; friction with peers, teachers, and parents; trying to fit in, trying to find one’s self, fear of the future; nostalgia for the past; friendship; and first love.
Shout it Out is a raw, real, revealing, compassionate, powerful, funny and ultimately affirmative look at the transformative powers of young people The songs are dynamic and range from love songs to rap and hip-hop.

Shout it Out is about listening to the voices of youth, respecting and honoring their struggles and aspirations and hearing their voices loud and clear!

Mature Themes.

Match of the Month for June

Marybeth Redmond and Madina

For the month of June, we are so pleased to honor Marybeth Redmond and her mentee, Madina, for match of the month. On June 7th, this pair will celebrate their first anniversary of being matched!

Congratulations!

Several years ago, Marybeth and her husband, Mark (yes, Spectrum’s own Executive Director!), hosted a Somali Bantu refugee family who had just arrived here in the United States. For several weeks, the Redmonds provided a home for the family and showed them a whole new way of living here in the United States. In a short time, the family moved into a home of their own and began a new life here in America. It wasn’t difficult for Marybeth with her warm nature to forge a relationship with all of the children in this family, but with the oldest, there was a special bond. Being the oldest child in her own family, she was aware of the unique position this can put a young girl in. Madina also faced additional challenges as she helped her mother and younger siblings acclimate to a new culture. Marybeth saw the potential to provide her with a stable, supportive, inspiring example of adulthood.
Together, Madina and Marybeth enjoy fun, outdoor activities. They’ve been able to visit many local attractions like the corn maze at Mazza’s, Church Street , and the Champlain Valley Fair (Madina’s personal favorite). They’ve also been bowling together and seen a few shows in the area. Marybeth states Madina “has a positive attitude and a deep desire to learn and understand other people.” Madina loves to remember going to the fair with Marybeth and looks forward to doing so again this year. According to her “that was the best day ever!”

CONGRATULATIONS again on being matched for one year!

Here's What's Happening

Just a quick note to let you know some of what is going on.

• Our next new mentor training is scheduled for Monday, June 9th and I've invited 15 people to it. I doubt that I will be training that many folks, but we definitely have a steady stream of mentor applicants. This is a little unusual as we come into the summer months--a notoriously slow time in the world of volunteer management.
• Plans are well underway for the BBQ scheduled for July 11th. We hope that everyone enjoys all of the changes that we're planning for it. :)
• I will be out of the office June 11, 12 and 13 as my family transitions from school to summer vacation. After that, my in-office schedule will be varied from week to week as I'll be at the mercy of summer camp start and end times. As a rule, I'll be in the office at least from 9:15 until 3:45 but many weeks will have me in the office longer hours than this.
• The mentoring program is now fully on board with using a new data keeping system and will be measuring program success a bit differently as a result. I thank all mentors and kids who have so quickly filled out the annual evaluation as required by a particular grant we receive. Spectrum will be adding a new online evaluation for both mentors and mentees and we plan to execute this bi-annually in October and April.

Thanks For Forwarding Our Email

By now, you should have all received Spectrum Mentoring Program's email asking you to forward on to one (or more!) friend the message of mentoring. If each mentor in our program (currently 37!) gets just one of their friends to become a mentor with us, we could double our program size just like that. Not to mention completely eliminate our waiting list of young people who are eager to be matched with someone!

I really appreciate your being willing to pass this email along!

Match of the Month for May

Mary Mesirow and Olivia

For the month of May, we are so pleased to honor Mary Mesirow and her mentee, Olivia, for match of the month. On May 12th, this pair will celebrate their third anniversary of being matched!
Congratulations on 3 Years!

A number of years ago, in her capacity as an educator at Champlain Valley Union High School, Mary began working with Olivia. Olivia had moved a lot up until this time and didn’t have too many adults in her life whom she could count on since she really never had a chance to settle into a place for very long. Mary recognized both this and a great potential in Olivia. When Olivia again moved on from CVU, Mary didn’t want to lose the connection she had established with Olivia and sought out a way that she could continue to be a positive, enduring influence in Olivia’s life. A friend of Mary’s recommended she get involved with Spectrum’s Mentoring Program and have this program serve as a support for this already well-established match.
After talking with Olivia about it, Mary pursued becoming a part of our program. She went through the required screening and training in order to become an official match with the program—that was three years ago.
Now, Olivia and Mary live about 70 miles away from each other. Even with this great distance separating them not to mention the enumerable frost heaves and potholes along the way, this pair continues to get together regularly. Typically they’ll meet up in Burlington and either catch a movie or get a bite to eat. This geographic distance between them is challenging, but a big part of their relationship is riding together and having the chance to talk. It’s also a great testament to the strength of their relationship that they continue to meet even with half a state between them.
CONGRATULATIONS again on being matched for three years!