Spring Cleaning of Chicago Area Program Links

With Spring just around the corner (according to the calendar, not necessarily the weather forecast), I have been doing some cleaning of the Chicago-Area Program Links on the Tutor/Mentor Connection website.

While the Program Locator enables visitors to search for tutoring and mentoring programs based on a variety of criteria such as zip code and age group, the Chicago-Area Program Links provides a list of website links for tutoring and mentoring programs according to their region in Chicago. This allow prospective students and volunteers to find programs in their areas. Likewise, it provides an inventory of programs that the leaders of organizations themselves can use to build awareness of programs operating in the same region.

I went through all the links during the Fall to make sure programs are still operating. I revisited every website in the past week to ensure that all links are still correct and to touch base with many of the programs.

Of the 214 programs currently listed in this links directory, the regional breakdown is as follows:


The distribution of programs doesn't necessarily align with the distribution of need. This map that Mike Trakan created (click here to see enlarged view) shows the locations of programs in relation to poverty and poorly-performing schools.

It isn't rocket science to surmise that where there are more poorly performing schools, more tutoring and mentoring programs are needed to give kids academic skills, guidance, and motivation to graduate from high school and prepare for their next steps such as college, vocational schools, or careers. For those growing up in poverty neighborhoods and with failing schools, building relationships with a mentor can give students the support they need to realize their own potential.

Each one of the dots on the map represents a story, a program, a unique vision, a group of youth, a group of volunteers, and a staff.

When I look at Mike's maps, I try not to just see "dots" where programs are located. I try to picture in my head the tutoring sessions and programs occurring on a weekly basis at that center. By putting a "human face" on these locations, I realize more fully the impact of these programs and their vital roles within each community. For a sneak-peak into a tutoring session at one of these locations (Cabrini Connections), see the latest Cabrini Madness video below.

Wednesday Night Lights from Cabrini Connections on Vimeo.

What would it take to keep these programs operating while also expanding the number of programs to reach all neighborhoods with failing schools?

PEAK Site Visit

Today I had the opportunity to visit an impressive program located at Holy Trinity High School called The Partnership to Educate & Advance Kids (PEAK). PEAK’s mission is to provide opportunities for at-risk youth to achieve academic and personal success through quality, values based education and the guidance of caring adult mentors.

PEAK provides scholarships that enable students to attend the highly regarded Holy Trinity High School who would not otherwise be able to attend. These scholarships are made possible through “sponsors”—individuals, families, or churches—who commit to paying four years of tuition for a particular student provided that the student fulfills program expectations. Of approximately 400 students at Holy Trinity, 50 are PEAK students.

The PEAK program focuses on serving students who are low-income and/or academically average or below average. While there are a variety of scholarship opportunities for students who excel in their studies, academically average and below average students are often an under-served population when it comes to scholarships. As Tyrina Newkirk, PEAK Program Coordinator, told me when I met with her today, the program believes that struggling students can be successful and graduate given smaller classes, adult mentors, and tutoring.

Beyond just providing financial support enabling students to attend the private high school, PEAK provides each student with a mentor. Each mentor commits to being a role model and significant part of the student’s life for the duration of his or her high school career. Mentors spend at least four hours a month with their students through a variety of activities based around shared interests of the mentors and mentees. Tyrina listed a range of activities the pairs do together—getting manicures, going to museums or libraries, fishing, even visiting a haunted house (several pairs are going this weekend for Halloween!).

Mentors are also in close communication with how their students are doing inside the classroom. Each week, students must fill out evaluation forms that list their progress in each class. Mentors receive a copy of these reports as a way to check in with students and support them academically.

In addition to support through mentors, PEAK students also have after-school tutoring sessions each day (which they can opt out of if their grades are high enough). These sessions provide homework help while also training students to build study-time into their daily routines.

I was impressed with how PEAK recognizes that helping a student through school requires a variety of components: financial support for programs, quality education, adult role models, academic support, parental involvement, and student commitment. I don’t know if all of these components always receive equal attention in the ways that people discuss the drop-out crisis in America. I encourage you to read Dan Bassill's blog article and then chime in your opinion on this forum on the T/MC NING page.

It was great to learn more about PEAK today and about what the program does to help youth both succeed and thrive in high school.

Happy First Day of School!

For thousands of kids around the country, the day after Labor Day means the same thing: Ready or not...the First Day of School.

I always loved the first day of school. But then again, I had great teachers, my school felt safe, and my parents were able to afford fresh school supplies as I started each September. I had opportunities both inside and outside the classroom that jump-started me on a pathway toward completing high school and then college.

As CC, T/MC President, Dan Bassill, discusses in his recent blog article, improving access to opportunities for youth living in high-poverty neighborhoods takes more than improving schools themselves. Non-school tutoring/mentoring programs play a vital role in giving students networks of adult role models, enrichment activities, and quality academic opportunities catered to their individual needs.

Thus, paralleling the beginning of the school year, tutoring and mentoring programs all over the city of Chicago are starting. This week, Cabrini Connections holds orientations for both volunteers and students to prepare them for this year’s sessions. Similarly, hundreds of programs throughout the city are holding their own orientations, planning tutor/mentor training sessions, matching students and mentors, and preparing their 2010-2011 year of programming.

While schools operate in “districts” that have centralized governance, tutoring and mentoring programs work fairly independently of one another. Although these programs tend to operate along similar annual calendars, tutoring and mentoring program leaders generally plan everything on their own.

When Dan Bassill founded Tutor/Mentor Connection, he realized how much more efficiently and effectively tutoring and mentoring programs would operate were they to share best practices and collaborate in annual efforts like volunteer recruitment and mentor training. He founded Tutor/Mentor Connection in an effort to facilitate increased interaction and collaboration between programs and ultimately, to improve the availability and quality of tutor/mentor programs throughout the city of Chicago.

In the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to witness some exciting conversations take place between program leaders. Last Monday, we held a meeting in our office attended by many Executive Directors and staff of Chicago-area tutoring/mentoring programs. During this meeting, program leaders discussed issues surrounding their programs—issues as wide-ranging as finding operating dollars, wondering what background checks to use for volunteers, and questioning how to use social networking tools to market their programs. Where some program leaders had questions, others jumped in with answers.

These types of collaborations cannot easily be measured in quantifiable terms, but the benefit of sharing best practices amongst programs is readily apparent when sitting in on conversations like these.

As we prepare for the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference in November, I am excited to watch as leaders work together to the benefit of all programs--and ultimately--to all students involved.

A Century After Ford...

In 1908, Henry Ford transformed the automobile from a flashy toy for the affluent to a commodity that became relatively affordable and widely available to the Average Joe (perhaps too widely available if you ask the modern environmentalist). Ford’s magic ingredient for making this manufacturing process efficient: The Assembly Line.

We all know the story.

Ford’s famously effective strategy for constructing a car-- workers building separate components in order to create a common product--is in many ways analogous to the Tutor/Mentor Connection's mission toward addressing massively complex issues like “urban poverty” or “equal access to opportunities” or “violence in American cities.” Even more so than assembling a car, however, attacking any of these issues as an individual (or even as a single organization) is as impossible as it is daunting.

Far more efficient is dividing up the workload and specializing in different tasks. These past few weeks, I have grown increasingly aware of the range of youth programs throughout Chicago with different specialties and roles. Some tutor/mentor programs focus on working within schools, some focus on the arts, others work with youth in particular neighborhoods, and still other programs mentor youth with incarcerated parents. These are just a sampling of the hundreds of tutor/mentor programs in Chicago. Each program has its strengths, its unique sets of challenges, and its specific contribution toward a goal shared across programs—launching all of Chicago's youth into bright, opportunity-filled futures.

This past month, we have been lucky to have two volunteers from the technology center at DePaul updating our computer lab. Next week, we have two recent college graduates--one with a background in advertising and another with a background in grant writing--beginning to volunteer in roles relevant to their interests. These are just a few examples of the many ways people are plugging into programs with their skill-sets.

The need to specialize is true not only on the macro-level of cities, but also within organizations. Tutor/Mentor Connection certainly has its set of “missing links”--places where we could be running more efficiently and effectively and are constantly looking for people to plug in their specialties by bringing time, talent, ideas, networks, and willing hands.

On the Cabrini Connections website is a list of volunteer opportunities that speaks to a wide range of interests, backgrounds, and time-commitment levels. If you look at this list of volunteer opportunities, it doesn't take long to realize that other programs have similar needs. I encourage you to consider how you might plug your skills and assets into a program in Chicago or another city.

As Henry Ford taught us, a lot can be accomplished when many workers contribute a small part.

What is your specialty?