April Newsletter

Our April Newsletter is now available.  Highlights include:

News : Spring2Action
March Highlights : BRYCE Project: Career Connection Event
Upcoming Events : Casa Chirilagua Open House

Check out the whole newsletter here.  

Virginia Mentoring Awards

Mayor of Richmond, Levar M. Stoney, giving the main address
at the Virginia Mentoring Awards luncheon.

AMP had the honor of attending the Virginia Mentoring Awards at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond last Thursday, hosted by the Virginia Mentoring Partnership.

The day began with executive director of VMP, Elizabeth Bass, welcoming and thanking everyone for all that they do.  She then introduced the main speaker, Levar M. Stoney, who is the current mayor of Richmond and youngest mayor ever elected in the city.  Mayor Stoney spoke about how growing up with strong adult role models got him to where he is today, and how important it is for youth to have mentors to guide them away from poor choices and towards their full potential.

After a luncheon, awards were given out to two best mentors and two best mentoring programs.  Visit the VMP website to learn more about the winners.

Following the awards, VMP Director of Program Services Rose Marie Wiegandt updated everyone on the 2016 survey and assessment put out by VMP and MENTOR.  Next, there was a conference on data collection and match quality assessment featuring John Harris of Applied Research Consulting (ARC).

Attendees ended the day with a renewed sense of pride and purpose in our work with youth.  AMP is honored to be a part of a state-wide network of dedicated mentors and mentoring programs.

Casa Chirilagua visits City Hall

Andres and his mentor at City Council

Alexandria is often called a big city with a small town feel, and nothing exemplifies that designation more than the relationship between the City Government and community members.  A few weeks ago, Andres* from Casa Chirilagua and his mentor put on their best suits and visited the City Council meeting in order to talk about mentoring.  After getting up to speak, Andres gave a gift to Mayor Allison Silberberg: a handmade purse from Guatemala.  

In thanks to Andres and Casa Chirilagua, Mayor Silberberg invited a group to visit her offices at City Hall.  Andres was accompanied by his mentor, his mother, two fellow Casa Chiri kids, and two Casa Chirilagua staff: Mentoring Director Adriana Schellhaas and Elementary Programs Director Marissa Salgador. 

Read more about Andres and his speech at the City Council meeting on the Casa Chirilagua Blog, and read up on the Casa Chirilagua visit to the Mayor's office in the Alexandria Gazette.  

*Name changed for privacy reasons. 

Casa Chirilagua staff and mentees, accompanied by Andres' family and mentor, meet with Mayor Silberberg after getting a tour around City Hall.

Leah of RARE

From Bill Corbett of RARE:

The Concerned Citizens Network of Alexandria (CCNA) created the "Reach and Rise for Excellence" (RARE) after-school mentoring and tutoring program for Hammond Middle School students. The STEM focused program meets four days a week to help students with math, language arts, leadership and life skills which include introduction to entrepreneurship, computer coding, parent engagement and more. Leah Swanson is the RARE Mentor of the Month.

Leah is in her second year as a math tutor for RARE students, helping them do online math drills as a blended approach to improve their skills.

“Most of the math I do with the students is introductory algebra. We figure out integers, how number lines work, and positive and negative numbers. Some of the students are doing the math of triangles in geometry, too.

“I've been volunteering to work with kids since I was in high school. When I'm with RARE students, I enjoy talking with them about things they enjoy in life outside of math and outside of school. I think it's important that the kids have adults they can talk to who can relate to them who aren't authority figures, just people with some experience to offer.

“It's been interesting to see all the different ways students learn, and how they explain it all. Having them explain a problem, and how to solve it, has shown me there are a lot of ways to do math and think about it. Especially with kids for whom math is not a strong suit, when you talk to them and share enough that they can explain the problem back to you, it's very rewarding. It makes them very proud of themselves.”

One of Leah's students says, “Miss Leah is good at listening to whatever we want to talk about. And she asks us a lot of questions that make us think.”

This article was previously published in the Alexandria Gazette,  http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2017/jan/20/mentor-month-alexandria/

March Newsletter

Our March Newsletter is now available!  Highlights include:

• News : Nominees for Salute to Women Awards
• February Highlights : Community Lodgings Open House
• Upcoming Events : Virginia Mentoring Awards

Check out the whole newsletter here.  

National Mentoring Month Story Contest Winner

To celebrate National Mentoring Month, the Alexandria Mentoring Partnership sponsored a Story Contest, open to all Alexandria youth ages 5 to 18.  The winner receives a $25 gift card.  Contestants were given the choice to present their story in whatever medium they chose, such as an art piece.  

The winner is 13 year old Jaylan.  Read her story below!

My mentor has been working with me for four years. She has seen me evolve from age nine to 13. She is the first mentor I have had. I get excited when it's the day for our session. 

I used to hate reading. Now I really like it because it's become much easier for me due to working with my mentor. During my free time, I read much more often than I used to. Sometimes at school during home room when other kids go on their computers to play games, I like to read a book instead. 

My mentor compliments me when I tackle a new word by sounding it out, or make text connections with my own experience; that makes me happy. She brings me little gifts from other countries she travels to so I know she was thinking about me when she was away, which makes me feel good. 

I work hard during sessions, but we also laugh a lot. We have fun reward days where we go to museums or out for lunch or to the movies. My favorite place for lunch together is a local pizza place in her neighborhood. Sometimes we go to events at Wright to Read, which are tons of fun. 

My mentor and I have a lot of things in common. We both like crazy-nuts, a food we invented by mixing craisins and peanuts. We both like French art, such as paintings by Marie Laurencin, Claude Monet, and Paul Gaugin. We both have types of arthritis; we connect on how it feels to sometimes have pain. 

On the drive to and from the session, I talk with her about what's going on in my life. And between sessions, we text each other with news, such as when I got my long hair cut short. 

She's the mentor I want to stay with forever. I want to thank her a million times because I am so grateful.