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 Spotlight on Mentoring
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2011 Michigan Mentoring Month Recap
The 2011 Michigan Mentoring Month - an annual opportunity to highlight the importance of and need for mentoring - was a great  success. In January, more than 45 recruitment, recognition, and/or celebration events were registered with Mentor Michigan. Mentor Michigan also distributed 42 Michigan Mentoring Month mini grants, valued at $16,000 to several organizations to help them host those events.
Read the complete recap for a comprehensive look at this January's efforts.
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Mentor Michigan Welcomes New AmeriCorps*VISTA
Mentor Michigan is excited to welcome a new AmeriCorps*VISTA,  Jessica Chung, to its team.
Jess spent most of her life on the East Coast, and went to Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. As an undergraduate, she interned in several educational organizations and schools, focusing primarily on Hispanic populations. She eventually wrote her undergraduate thesis on the plight of undocumented Latino students in the U.S. education system and earned her B.A. in Spanish and International Relations.
After college, Jess stayed at Amherst for three years as a religious advisor, where she worked on engaging students in social justice issues and developing cross-cultural relations. She met her future husband, Noel, in 2007; they married in the summer of 2009 and began graduate school the following autumn. Jess received her M.A. in Educational Administration and Policy from the University of Michigan in 2010. She joined AmeriCorps*VISTA because she wanted a yearlong opportunity to serve the needs of Michigan youth while Noel finished his M.A. in Entomology at Michigan State.
Jess is excited to be serving at Mentor Michigan; her foci are children in and aging out of foster care, children of incarcerated parents, and men in mentoring. Once she completes her VISTA year, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Education Policy Studies.
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"Mentoring Night at the Palace" a Big Success
 The first-ever "Mentoring Night at The Palace" on Saturday, January 22, provided a special opportunity to shine a spotlight on mentoring in Michigan. It also offered mentoring matches and professionals from various communities the chance to celebrate mentoring in conjunction with the 2011 Michigan Mentoring Month and the Detroit Pistons versus Phoenix Suns basketball game!
All elements of the evening's game featured an aspect of mentoring - from sharing key stats and messages to encouraging individuals to serve as mentors. Thank yous go to the Detroit Pistons for developing this opportunity and for all those who attended the game.
As a result of this effort, Mentor Michigan will soon be announcing its inaugural Detroit Pistons Mini-Grant opportunity. Thanks to funds raised through ticket purchases and on-site activities, the Detroit Pistons will be making a donation to support mentoring programs across the state of Michigan. Be on the lookout for details surrounding that funding opportunity.
Thanks again for making the first-ever "Mentoring Night at The Palace" a huge success! For more information, visit www.mentormichigan.org.
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First Ever National Mentoring Summit Held in January
This past January the first-ever National Mentoring Summit was held in Washington, D.C. The Summit, "Achieving Academic and Social Success: Supporting Youth through Mentoring," brought together leading mentoring organizations, as well as federal and state government and civic leaders, to develop strategies that leverage mentoring to increase graduation rates among America's youth and position them for success.
Several representatives from Michigan were in attendance, including Kristina Marshall from Winning Futures, Dara Munson from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit, Tony Campbell from Heart of West Michigan United Way, Bob Kahle from Kahle Research Solutions, Inc., Amber Troupe from Mentor Michigan, and Paula Kaiser VanDam from the Michigan Community Service Commission.
First Lady Michelle Obama served as the Summit's keynote speaker and discussed The Corporate Mentoring Challenge, an initiative led by the Corporation for National and Community Service to encourage companies in the U.S. to launch a mentoring program, expand existing employee mentoring programs, or provide resources to support local mentoring programs that help youth gain leadership skills, achieve their educational goals, and increase their confidence.
Companies that have already signed up for the Challenge include United Way, Bank of America, Deloitte, Viacom, Comcast, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, and AT&T.
"The Summit was a great opportunity to network with mentoring leaders from across the country," said Amber Troupe. "It gave us a chance to celebrate our accomplishments and prepare for the future."
For more information on the Summit and The Corporate Mentoring Challenge, visit www.mentoring.org/summit.
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Detroit's Police Chief Becomes Big Brother
During the 2011 Michigan Mentoring Month this past January, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit announced the Detroit
 | | Chief Godbee and his Little Brother. |
Chief of Police became a Big Brother with the program. Chief Ralph L. Godbee Jr. is also President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and was the first law enforcement individual to join the 100 MENtors in 100 Days Campaign.
Chief Godbee's efforts also marked the start of a new partnership between NOBLE and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit in an effort to get more law enforcement individuals engaged in mentoring children in the communities where they live and work.
Dara T. Munson, President and CEO of the agency, said "we are so thrilled that Chief Godbee and NOBLE would commit time and energy to elevate the minds and spirits of young people in our community."
For more information, visit www.bbbsdetroit.org.
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Local & National Opportunities | |
March 7, 2011 - Building a Successful Mentoring Program: Matching Strategy and Monitoring Matches
Online webinar provided by Mentor Michigan
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/141498530.
March 8, 2011 - Research In Action - Mentoring: A Promising Intervention for Children of Prisoners
Online webinar provided by Mentor Michigan
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/203603210.
March 9, 2011 - Building a Successful Mentoring Program: Matching Strategy and Monitoring Matches
Online webinar provided by Mentor Michigan
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/301302675.
March 17, 2011 - Research In Action - Mentoring: A Promising Intervention for Children of Prisoners
Online webinar provided by Mentor Michigan
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/201246762.
March 22, 2011 - Men in Mentoring Toolkit
Online webinar provided by Mentor Michigan
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/316676387.
April 13, 2011 - A Celebration of Giving & Volunteering
Lansing, MI
To register, or for more information, visit http://www.mnaonline.org/givingvolunteering.aspx.
April 15, 2011
Resources for New Mentoring Programs & New Staff Members
Online webinar provided by Mentor Michigan
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/279822483.
April 18, 2011 - Building a Successful Mentoring Program: Mentor Support, Recognition, & Retention and Match Closure
Online webinar provided by Mentor Michigan
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/186923467.
April 21, 2011 - Building a Successful Mentoring Program: Mentor Support, Recognition, & Retention and Match Closure
Online webinar provided by Mentor Michigan
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/671719075.
April 28 & 29, 2011 - National Network for Social Work Managers 2011 Conference
Baltimore, MD
For more information, or to register, visit http://a3.acteva.com/orderbooking/listCatalogEvents.action?catalogGoWord=NNSWM&emailAttendeeId=&emailSkusId=.
For more local opportunities, click here.
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Funding Opportunities
Check out the latest funding opportunities available to mentoring organizations:
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: Research on Best Practices for Mentoring Grant Opportunity
This program seeks to enhance what is understood about mentoring as a prevention strategy for youth who are at risk of involvement or already involved in the juvenile justice system. While mentoring appears to be a promising intervention for youth, more evaluation work is needed to further highlight the components of a mentoring program that are most effective. In addition, research is needed to demonstrate specifically the components of mentoring programs that have a significant impact in reducing juvenile delinquency and offending. This solicitation seeks to fund research studies that will inform the design and delivery of mentoring programs. OJJDP expects that the results of this effort will encourage a more effective utilization of resources as well as enhance the implementation of evidence-based best practices for juvenile mentoring.
Amount: Between $200,000 and $500,000
Deadline: March 8, 2011
Contact: http://www.ojjdp.gov/funding/FundingDetail.asp?fi=220
Waiting for "Superman" Available on DVD Waiting for "Superman," the documentary that addresses America's educational system, was released on DVD on February 15.
MENTOR, and other national partners, believes the film and follow-up dialogue will inform and help people understand that mentoring is one powerful solution to keeping kids in school. They're encouraging state mentoring partnerships and local programs to build awareness about Waiting for "Superman," pledge to watch the film, and prepare for the response.
For more information, visit www.waitingforsuperman.com.
Free Healthy Guide for Mentors
The Harvard School of Public Health has released a free mentor guide called "Eat Well, Stay Active, Have Fun." The guide provides mentors with information and guidance on how to make healthy eating and physical activity natural parts of the mentor-mentee relationship.
To view this guide, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/wmy/images2011/EatWell_StayActive_HaveFun_aGuideforMentors.pdf.
Facebook
 To keep up to date with the latest Mentor Michigan and mentoring news, find Mentor Michigan on Facebook. Just visit www.facebook.com/mentormichigan and join other individuals currently following our efforts.
Twitter
 For an additional way to stay up to date with the latest Mentor Michigan and mentoring news and information, follow us on Twitter! Search for @MentorMI and read our messages for the mentoring community.
Michigan National Service Directory
Michigan's National Service Directory is a new tool designed to assist national service program staff and members to quickly identify the different groups and organizations in their area that have a similar programmatic focus for the purpose of establishing collaborative partnerships.The Directory may also be used to connect interested individuals with respective national service programs in their area and assist programs in member recruitment. Click here to find local AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve, and/or Senior Corps programs.
Service
Being a mentor is one of the most important things you can do for a child. If you're interested in gaining more information on becoming a mentor or looking for a local mentoring program, visit the Mentor Michigan website to utilize the mentoring program directory. Mentoring programs can be located by ZIP code. For more information, click here.
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About Mentor Michigan
One hour a week can make a big difference in a young person's future. Mentor Michigan supports nearly 250 organizations around the state that are changing lives by matching mentors with young people. Mentor Michigan provides those organizations with training and research. It fosters partnerships with businesses, faith-based and nonprofit organizations, schools, colleges and universities, and state and local government to support mentoring. Mentor Michigan also builds public awareness about the importance of and the need for mentors by urging caring adults to "Pass It On," because sharing a little of yourself with a young person can reward both of you with lifelong benefits.
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