Ep 9 | Free Mentoring for Students

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We started making get well cards for his mom. And um, as a result of that relationship, I discovered this kid could draw. I'm like, what the heck? You're amazing, you know, and we had not been able to discover that before about this child. And so we opened up some avenues for him, uh, got him involved in some art classes, got him involved in some extra extracurricular things that he had not been able to be involved in before. And so those are the kinds of things that a mentoring relationship can lead to.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambi County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but overwhelmed parents often ask themselves, so when is the village arriving? Will they just find me? My next guest is helping pair mentors with mentees for the benefit of everyone. She's the coordinator of the community involvement for Scambia County School District. And today she's going to share how a built-in mentorship program is helping support kids and parents alike and why mentorship matters. Tate High graduate, mom of three, mentor matchmaker, Wanda Kotick. Thanks for being here. Of course. Thank you for having me. You seem really calm for a mom of three. Oh, well, they're grown now. Oh, okay. So you faked it for a while and now it's smooth sailing and automatic from here on out.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Well, no, but they're grown now. Okay.

unknown 1:46

Got it.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

So tell me how does uh the program work? How what is the ins and outs of how it operates?

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Well, it's really interesting because there are many aspects of the mentoring program. Uh it is a program that pairs community members, um parents, volunteers, with our students. And um there is a commitment on the part of the mentor where somebody wants to make a positive difference in the life of a child from kindergarten through graduation. Uh, they can pair with the district and pair with our office. And uh we work with guidance counselors and we pair kids with a person, an adult, one-on-one. And uh that pairing it requires a commitment on the part of the adult, one hour per week for the duration of the school year. Um, but there are many different ways to get a child involved, to get a parent involved, to get a mentor involved, and that's what our office helps facilitate. And what students would be eligible to receive a mentor? Any student is eligible for a mentor, and um, that's the message that we hope to just get out to the public is that and to our parents is that any kid is eligible. Uh parents can make a request for their child to have a mentor, and they do that through their school or through their school's guidance department. Uh sometimes a recommendation comes from a teacher who might see that a kid is struggling. Uh, maybe a kid who's struggling academically or missing school, or you know, they a guidance counselor can get to the root of the issue with a child and um and may come to our office and say, you know, I have a kid that I think would benefit from a mentor, a mentoring relationship. Uh sometimes it's a parent that comes to us and says, you know, I would like for my child to have a mentoring relationship with someone outside of me or dad or whatever the case may be. Um, you know, because sometimes they'll listen better to someone other than mom and dad. Sometimes I isn't that an always? Uh but usually it isn't always. And uh so we can do pairings that way. We can do pairings from um an administrator may notice a kid who they feel would benefit from a mentor. So there are many, many different ways that we can first identify a child who would benefit from a mentor and then start the process of pairing that child with a mentor. And it's all ages? Yes, yes, from kindergarten to graduation.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Excuse me, from kindergarten. That is really cool. Yes. Okay, so anybody's eligible, literally all age ages. And is it in every school district in Escambie County?

SPEAKER_00 4:19

It's in every school, yes. Every school. In every school in our district, yes, we have a mentoring program. And um every school in our district has a mentor coordinator at their school, and that's the person uh usually it's an assistant principal or someone in the guidance department and um who's experienced with um pairing children. And so those folks will contact my office and then we help pair them with kid.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

So why does, in your opinion, mentorship matter? How does it become, for example, the antidote to overwhelm? You know, I I feel like overwhelm is the the the mood of 2022, right? So does mentorship help with that, in your opinion?

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Yes, absolutely. Um and I can use my personal experience uh because I mentor a kid and currently I mentor a high school uh young lady, but uh my prior kid that I mentored was in middle school. I started with him in middle school, and uh he was a kid that was identified as somebody who could benefit from a mentor because his mom was ill. And in his particular case, she was in the hospital more than she was out for this period of time uh during our mentoring relationship. And his teacher noticed that wasn't paying attention, you know, tired when he came to school, just not alert. But I didn't didn't know all of the reasons until we started to develop our relationship. And um he was struggling somewhat academically, and um and I and it's important for me to say that we don't expect our mentors to be tutors, that's not what it's about, it's just about uh being a positive influence in this child's life. And so when this child came to me and I learned more about him, discovered that his mom was ill, rather than do work, because he he was he was already doing work, rather than doing work, we started making get well cards for his mom. And um as a result of that relationship, I discovered this kid could draw. I'm like, what the heck? You're amazing, you know, and we had not been able to discover that before about this child. And so we opened up some avenues for him, uh, got him involved in some art classes, got him involved in some extra extracurricular things that he had not been able to be involved in before. And so those are the kinds of things that a mentoring relationship can lead to.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Wow, that's really incredible. Yeah, it was cool. There's so many things I pick out of that story because you're talking about reducing distraction in school because um you are able to help the kid uh address the emotional distraction of um you know his mom being sick. You're pulling out talents that maybe he didn't really recognize that were significant because he's just naturally great at them and then building that relationship. How long do the mentor relationships normally last?

SPEAKER_00 7:11

It can be any period of time. No, we we would love to start with a kid in kindergarten and follow them through graduation, and we do have some mentors that have done that, which is amazing. Uh, but particularly from kindergarten to fifth, if you have a mentor who prefers elementary age children and uh then sixth through eighth, I like to take our sixth grade mentors and follow them all the way through graduation. It just depends on each individual situation. And um, you may have a kid who comes in the fifth grade and then moves to a different um part of the county. And so we try to have our mentors follow that kid, but if it doesn't work, we can repair. There are many things that we can do, and um we always have somebody, you know, that is on alert and on ready to step in. If we have a situation where a kid moves and their mentor can't follow them, then I can follow or somebody can follow. And what about virtual kids, virtual school kids? Um that is a different uh ballpark because we do not offer virtual mentoring at this point. Oh, right. Okay. So even so it would need to be in public school, in person. In person, and that that is the design, that's the intent, is that it be in person and um for the obvious reasons because we want to make that personal relationship, personal connection with these kids. And so at this time we don't offer virtual mentoring. Are there any events uh surrounding the the program? Uh for our mentors, yes. We recognize and celebrate our mentors, and we do that on a local level. We also do it on the state level uh because we want them to know how much we appreciate their just participation in our program. Um I'll say we don't have enough. We you know we have 40,000 kids in a scammy county school district. I wish we had 40,000 mentors, uh, but we welcome mentors and and need as many as we can get, absolutely. How many mentees does a mentor usually have? One. One. We like to pair one-on-one. They are allowed to have as many as they can handle, but it does require one hour per week per kid. So that hour is dedicated to that one student. And how are mentors selected and screened? They come to us in many different ways. They come to us uh just through the community. If someone reaches out and says, I want to be involved, then uh most often they end up at my desk. And uh so we take them through the program, explain what the expectations are. Our mentors are screened, they're background checked, fingerprinted, um, because safety for our mentors and our students is of utmost concern. And um, so there are procedures that we do follow to bring a mentor on board. We have businesses that have many mentors. Uh, Navy Federal, for example, is an excellent partner with us in their mentoring program. Uh, Ascend Performance Materials, they are another excellent partner. Um just many industries that decide to get involved and they do it in such a way that they can become mentors with our kids. And so there are many different ways that we bring mentors in.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

What's the system for letting corporations know that this mentorship program uh exists?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Well, we do that through our business partnerships, and uh my office helps facilitate business partnerships. And um if they reach out, I will go out and speak to a group and um can train a group. We offer mentor training uh to let them know what it's about right then and there. We can sign folks up to become mentors, and uh, then we just set them on the path, and and then it takes a little bit of time to pair them with a kid because that happens at the school level, and um parental permission is required because we want parents to know what's going on, and um and then the relationship is set and ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

That's so awesome. Wow. So your kids have all been mentors. What's the benefit uh for the mentors in this program?

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Oh gosh, just uh just in my own situation, just invaluable the relationships that you build with these kids. Uh my middle son in particular, he was a mentor when he was at college, and he mentored two little boys um at Suter Elementary School, and one in particular that I I know that he mentored was a first grader, and um they discovered they both had a love for cars. And um, so this was another situation where a kid maybe needed some homework help, but that's not what it was about for him. Um, he was in a situation where he uh this child did not have a dad in his home, but he would tell my son that when he would have the opportunity to speak to his dad, they would talk about cars. And uh so my son took Hot Wheels and they would play with Hot Wheels while they would discuss, you know, what was going on in life. And uh so it's those sort of things. And that impacted my son's life, and he still talks about it till today, you know, uh that kid and how that kid impacted him and uh just the influence he was able to have in that kid's life. And he hopes the kid remembers him, of course.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Yeah, you would hope so. What do you feel like is um the impact of the mentorship program on children's education? How does it benefit how they learn?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Well, I think that if they want to come to school and um and they know that there is someone there who cares, and these kids look forward to their mentoring sessions. Uh they'll watch the clock, teachers tell us, you know, uh if a mentor is a minute late, and we don't want them to be, but if they are, the kid is watching the clock and wanting to know where his or her mentor is at. And um so it's is something to look forward to. They know that somebody holds them special, holds a special place in their life in their heart, because when our mentors come in, we ask them to share their life's experiences. We want them to impress upon uh these children that there are bigger and better things out there. And um there's a big world out there. There are things for them to see, there are things for them to learn about, there are ways for them to grow. Um, if we have a kid who maybe is having some behavioral issues, then that adult who is experienced, um, they're not disciplinarians, but they can certainly impress upon that child the importance of behaving, you know, and um learning and growing, and that's what it's about.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

How long have you been involved in this program?

SPEAKER_00 13:21

And the mentor I've been a mentor for seven years. I've been a district volunteer for 24. And um our volunteers, our volunteer program is a little different than our mentor program, but they do work hand in hand. So why is it special to you personally? J just for those same reasons, just because of the growth you see in these children, um, the excitement you see in these kids, and they're not embarrassed to tell folks that they have a mentor. They um they tell their classmates, you need to get a mentor.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Do they really? Oh my gosh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

And so, and so when they do that, we scramble sometime. Oh. And um just because it is supposed to be fun, it is supposed to be rewarding for the mentor and the kid. And um, that's our goal. So if someone's interested in becoming a mentor, what's their next step? Uh they can reach out to their school if it's a parent who wants to mentor, because we do have parents that mentor as well. If it's a parent who wants to mentor, they can reach out to their child school or to a school in their neighborhood. If it is someone from a business, they can reach out to their business coordinator or to our office directly, of course, always to our office. And how do they reach your office? They can reach our office through um one of the easiest ways is probably through the district's website under the community involvement tab. And um you can learn about mentoring and volunteering from that page or call us directly. And um What's the phone number? The direct phone number is 850-469-5675. That's my direct line, and they can call me directly and uh we'll get them on track.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

So that's the number for both parents who would like a mentor for their child and people in the community who want to be a mentor. Yes, absolutely. Perfect. And as we wrap up, I would love to hear what you want people to know about Escambia County schools.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Well, I think from my perspective and speaking of mentoring and volunteering, I just want folks to know that we are welcoming, uh, that we welcome the community into our schools. It's important to us to have community support. It's important to us to get the good news out about our schools because there's so many good things that are happening, and um we need folks in the community to help us get that good news out. And so that's what I'd say is just we're welcoming. And um, if you are willing to lend a hand to us, we are willing to have you. That's perfect. Thank you so much for sharing.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County School District. Special thanks to Pine Forest High School for their recording studio facilities and hospitality.