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Save the Date for 4-H Mentoring Weekend!
|  Mark your calendars for the 4th annual 4-H Mentoring Weekend! This fun and educational retreat for matches state-wide will take place on July 22nd through 24th at the Kettunen Center in Tustin, MI. Matches from mentoring organizations across the state, including Big Brothers, Big Sisters, 4-H Mentoring Programs, and more are invited to attend!
To view a save the date that you can print and send to matches, click here.
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Register soon for these great professional development opportunities!
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 Targeted Volunteer Recruitment
When: February 23, 2011
9:30 am- 4pm
Where: NorthStar Cooperative,3655 Forest Rd, Lansing, MI
Register today! Targeted Volunteer Recruitment is session number 7215.
Interviewing Skills and Volunteer Screening
When: March 1, 2011
9:30am - 4pm
Where: MSU Extension, 1737 Hillandale Rd, Benton Harbor, MI
When: March 22, 2011
9:30am - 4pm
Where: NorthStar Cooperative, 3655 Forest Rd, East Lansing, MI
In this interactive session, participants will learn the importance volunteer screening and some of the tools available to assist programs in the screening process. Participants will learn and practice techniques for interviewing potential adult volunteers and youth. The session in Benton Harbor is being offered free of charge to staff from mentoring programs in Southwest Michigan by the Volunteer Center of Southwest Michigan, with a nominal charge for those from other areas. The session in East Lansing is $40 per person. Lunch and snacks will be provided for both sessions.
Register today! Interviewing Skills and Volunteer Screening is session number 7236 for the workshop in Benton Harbor and session number 7222 for the workshop in East Lansing.
Webinars
We have a long webinar schedule in February and March due to the expansion of 4-H mentoring nationwide. To register or learn more about these webinars, click here and then click on the session name to read the description.
Beyond Certificates and Plaques: Mentor Recognition Webinar
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 10am
Social Networking: Boundaries and Professionalism
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 2pm
No Need to Reinvent the Wheel: Resources for Mentoring Programs
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 10am
Intro to Social Networking
Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 10am
Advanced Social Networking
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 10am
Tools for Conducting Background Checks
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 10am
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Introducing a New Program: 4-H Tech Wizards
| Wayne and Ottawa County MSU Extension are excited to announce that they have received a grant from the National 4-H Council and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program (OJJDP) to expand mentoring opportunities. The two counties will replicate Oregon's 4-H Tech Wizards, a small group mentoring program that will match professionals who work in science, technology, engineering or mathematic (STEM) fields with youth to explore these areas and potential career opportunities.
Wayne and Ottawa Counties will provide after-school, small group mentoring to 120 high school students state-wide who are court involved, academically at-risk, and/or gang at-risk. Young people will be matched with a STEM professinal and will develop life and workplace skills while building a relationship with a caring adult.
The primary goals for this initiative are to reduce and help prevent juvenile delinquency, youth unemployment, and school failure. Beyond the focus of exposing mentored youth to learning and opportunities within the field of STEM, two critical components of the 4-H Tech Wizards program include an emphasis on building family and community support that will promote college access for youth and providing them with meaningful opportunities to engage in service learning.
Wayne and Ottawa Counties were selected to implement the 4-H Tech Wizards programs becuase of their strong existing 4-H youth mentoring programs and their experience with research-based best practices related to youth mentoring. We hope to expand to additional counties in the future. The counties are partnering with local businesses and companies to engage matches in projects ranging from robotics to web design to media production and more.
If you would like more information about 4-H Tech Wizards in Ottawa County, contact Laura Schleede at 616-994-4580 or nordheim@msu.edu. If you would like more information about 4-H Tech Wizards in Wayne County, contact Edward Scott at 313-833-4787 or escott3@anr.msu.edu.
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Looking for New Training Materials? Become a Pilot Site! | |
We are looking for mentoring programs that are willing to
 pilot activities from the 4-H Mentor Training Curriculum. Pilot sites will choose activities to utilize in mentor training and provide feedback to the curriculum design team. This curriculum includes activities that are appropriate for a variety of populations and program models. We are hoping to engage pilot sites that range in size, population served, geographic location, and program model utilized.
The curriculum is easy to follow and highly interactive. Activities are available in the following modules:
- Building the Mentoring Relationship
- Child and Youth Development
- Communication Skills
- Cultural Competency
- Setting Boundaries
Programs that are active participants in the pilot phase of this project will be recognized in the final product.
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Program Highlight: STOMP 4-H Youth Mentoring
| Article submitted by Kristy Oosterhouse, AmeriCorps Member with STOMP 4-H Youth Mentoring, Eaton County MSU Extension.
 STOMP 4-H Youth Mentoring is a mentoring program that is based out of Eaton County MSU Extension; however, the program now covers both Eaton and Ingham Counties. This community-based mentoring program matches at-risk teenagers ages 13-19 with caring adults. Matches in the program love to spend their time attending events in the area, such as the East Lansing Arts Festival, Eaton County Frontier Days, or spend time together chatting over coffee, going for walks, or playing sports. The program offers a variety of resources for mentors and mentees through its newsletter and keeps matches up to date with local activities/events that are affordable, or better yet free! STOMP also provides monthly activities for matches to attend, such as scrapbooking, a Halloween party, and more!
For more information about STOMP 4-H Youth Mentoring, contact Kristy Oosterhouse at oosterh6@msu.edu or (517)543-2310. |
New Training Resource: Talking it Through
| Disclaimer: This section of the newsletter is designed for mentoring programs to use within their newsletters. Feel free to cut and paste!
For mentors, sometimes communicating with their mentee, especially about sticky situations, can be difficult. There is a new resource available through Education Northwest's National Mentoring Center that focuses on enhancing communication skills for mentors. The resources is called Talking it Through and is an interactive website designed to build a mentors' self-confidence when communicating with their mentee. The website shares 13 video stories with real mentors, youth and situations that illustrate common challenges and proven strategies that demonstrate how to:
- Handle difficult situations
- Empathize with mentees by noticing verbal and nonverbal cues
- Redirect mentee requests that are outside the boundaries of the mentor-mentee relationship
- Help youth identify their options and provide recommendations without judgment or coercion.
The website also includes a journaling feature to keep mentors engaged and save notes and thoughts as they watch the videos. The resource is free to use, all you need to do is sign up!
For more information about Talking it Through, visit http://talkingitthrough.educationnorthwest.org/
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MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thomas G. Coon, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing,MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.
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