It has been nearly two weeks since the November 19, 2010 Tutor/Mentor Leadership & Networking Conference, and we have continued to hear positive feedback from conference participants about how much they valued the event.
Yesterday, for instance, I received an email from Toinette Gunn, Executive Director of Partnership to Educate & Advance Kids (PEAK), who led a workshop entitled "Parental Power: Unlocking the Key to Successful Program Outcomes". As she said in her email, "I just wanted to let you know that I’ve had 4-5 people reach out to me since the presentation to ask to meet with me or get more information." As this demonstrates, the conferences helps people who wouldn't normally connect share information and collaborate on goals that cross organizations.
These graphs display results of conference evaluations we asked attendees to submit at the end of the day. Based on the positive responses (100% of those who took the survey reported that they learned new things that they can apply to their own programs!), it seems that the conference continues to be a valuable resource for organizations throughout Chicago and the Midwest.
Of course, these surveys are not able to capture what may happen as a result of the conference. With more people connected to one another and sharing ideas, it is exciting to think of how tutor/mentor programs all over the greater Chicago area might benefit. 
Looking through the list of conference attendees, I have to wonder how many of the programs are running into financial difficulty at the end of this year. I know from Tutor/Mentor Connection and Cabrini Connections just how challenging the recession has been on small non-profits.
My thoughts are with each program as they finish the year and move into 2011. I hope every program is able to continue their important work with Chicago-area youth.
On Saturday, October 9th while thousands of Chicagoans loaded up on carbs in preparation for the Chicago Marathon, volunteers and staff from Cabrini Connections, Chicago Lights Tutoring, and Cabrini Green Tutoring Program had a marathon day filled with great workshops and training sessions at the Fifth Annual Tutor Training Conference.
The conference took place at Fourth Presbyterian Church, home of Chicago Lights. The day was filled with a wide variety of skill-building workshops on topics such as tutoring students in reading, teaching math skills, and helping students in the college admissions process. There were also workshops that discussed the role of mentors during difficult times in a youth’s life and workshops that offered volunteers a view inside today’s schools.
I moderated a panel called “The Changing Faces of Cabrini Green” in which a mother who is a Cabrini Green Community Activist and her son discussed the history and present situation of Cabrini Green along with the realities—positive and negative—of living 
in that community.
The conference was a huge success and we had more volunteers from Cabrini Connections attend than ever before (not bad for a Saturday with 80 degree weather!). EL Da’Sheon Nix and Bradley Troast from Cabrini Connections played a large roll in motivating our volunteers to attend and in planning this conference—congratulations to both of them! (read EL’s blog entry for his account of the conference).
More than just a victory for the three programs involved, however, this training conference is a great example of how tutoring and mentoring programs can benefit through collaboration. Although the three programs that teamed up for the conference operate independently of one another, the leaders of each program realized that not only do all the programs serve a similar demographic by working with students from the Cabrini Green area, but the tutors/mentors from each program also need similar sets of skills and training. Rather than holding three separate volunteer training events (read: extra planning time, more money, and additional staff), the joint conference enabled each program to share the workload and the benefits of a tutor training conference. What's more, volunteers could pick up tips and ideas from representatives of all three programs not just their own.
Tutor/Mentor Connection actively encourages tutor/mentor programs throughout the city to collaborate in shared efforts. Rather than looking at similar organizations as mere competitors, they can be viewed as potential collaborative partners. The Program Locator is one way that T/MC helps programs identify other similar organizations existing in their geographical regions that they might reach out to for collaboration.
In addition, Mike Trakan,the T/MC GIS Mapping Specialist, makes a wide variety of maps relevant to tutoring/mentoring programs in Chicago. Many of these maps show how programs along with businesses and faith communities could work together to help youth in specific neighborhoods in Chicago. I encourage you to support Mike's work at the upcoming map gallery event, "Mapping Solutions" on November 17th at Webster's Wine Bar.
Thanks to all of the volunteers who attended the October 9th Conference--I look forward to seeing the payoff of the event during tutoring and mentoring sessions this year!
Yesterday, CC, T/MC got a mini-makeover.
Two groups of incoming Northwestern freshman visited us through the Freshman Urban Program (FUP). FUP exposes Northwestern freshman to communities, social issues, and organizations throughout Chicago in the weeks before these soon-to-be Wildcats officially start their undergraduate careers.
Yesterday’s groups of students worked on a wide range of projects to spiff up our center prior to Cabrini Connection’s official 2010-11 start-up next week. The “FUPers” painted artwork on several walls, went through the library and got rid of antiquated books (copies of What Is the Internet? from 1994 are probably not particularly high on the reading lists of our tech-savvy students), and cleared out paperwork from old files.
We even had one person look through pages on our websites to repair broken links and update information. He contributed to some of the work I have been focusing on these past several weeks. While our office needs ongoing cleaning and maintenance, so do our websites, resource libraries, and databases. As of the beginning of August, for instance, The Program Locator had well over a hundred missing or broken links—the majority of which have now been repaired.
Checking in with organizations in order to update their information has provided me an opportunity to learn about programs and reach out to their leaders. Some have moved locations or changed personnel. Others have started new centers. Unfortunately, still others have been forced to shut down due to insufficient funding—stark reminders of how important it is for us to build ongoing partnerships and consistent support for tutoring and mentoring programs.
The visit from FUP students was an example of one of many ways universities can play an integral role in forming those types of ongoing partnerships. In fact, part of the Tutor/Mentor Connection’s strategy is to engage university communities and form partnerships with university departments, programs, and professors. As shown in former PIP Fellow Chris Warren’s concept map of resources at Northwestern and as described in Bradley Troast’s recent blog post, universities have a tremendous wealth of resources, organizations, and student groups that could form meaningful partnerships with tutoring and mentoring programs throughout Chicago.
Thank you to the leaders and freshman from FUP for their contributions to both our physical and virtual space. A lot has happened in Chicago since I was an incoming freshman—we have welcomed a new president, we have lost the Olympic bid. I wonder what changes these students will witness to the city in their four years at Northwestern---with a new mayor in store and a gradually recovering economy, Chicago's landscape will undoubtedly shift for its residents, its businesses, and its organizations. I feel optimistic.
These graphs display results of conference evaluations we asked attendees to submit at the end of the day. Based on the positive responses (100% of those who took the survey reported that they learned new things that they can apply to their own programs!), it seems that the conference continues to be a valuable resource for organizations throughout Chicago and the Midwest. 
Of course, these surveys are not able to capture what may happen as a result of the conference. With more people connected to one another and sharing ideas, it is exciting to think of how tutor/mentor programs all over the greater Chicago area might benefit. 
Looking through the list of conference attendees, I have to wonder how many of the programs are running into financial difficulty at the end of this year. I know from Tutor/Mentor Connection and Cabrini Connections just how challenging the recession has been on small non-profits.
