End-of-Year 2014

FLOW Logo 
FLOW Mentoring Newsletter
St. Mary's County Public Schools 

 

 The mission of the Future Leaders of the World (FLOW) Mentoring Program is to foster positive mentoring relationships between students in St. Mary's County Public Schools and members of the community and to provide supported, safe, and inspiring environments in which these matches can cultivate the potential of each youth.
 
In This Issue
Celebrating with FLOW
Mentoring Research
Become a Mentor
Quick Links

 

Our Partners
 
 
St. Mary's College of Maryland Logo
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Visit Our Sponsor
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FLOW Thanks You!

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for another inspiring and fulfilling year with FLOW Mentoring! We are always overwhelmed by the dedication, compassion, and kindness our volunteer mentors, but this year perhaps even more so.  You've all been asking about how the budget will affect FLOW and the short answer is we just don't know yet. We are fortunate, mentoring is valued here is SMCPS. We'll share more information as it becomes available.

 

In the meantime, take a look at all of the great things happening with FLOW Mentoring here 

in St. Mary's County Public Schools...

 

MES FT 2014
Going Above and Beyond 
Our Amazing FLOW Community 

Its been a tough budget year. You've read all about it in the paper. And we've felt it in our programs. Luckily, we've got some pretty amazing mentors who know how much enrichment experiences mean to our kids. 

  BBES EOY 2014  

At Benjamin Banneker Elementary school, the Class of 1958 has adopted our FLOW Mentoring program. Two members of this prestigious group, Ms. Sarah Swales and Ms. Ella Neal, have volunteered with FLOW since our beginning six years ago! They are two extraordinary women who we are proud to call FLOW Mentors. When they heard we had no money to give our student mentees an end-of-year party, they spoke with other members of the Class of 1958 and sponsored a field trip to the Hong Kong Buffet in Leonardtown to celebrate. Our mentors and mentees had a wonderful time eating good food, visiting with one another, and exchanging their End-of-Year gifts: personalized word clouds they created for one another! THANK YOU CLASS OF 1958!



BBES EOY 2014
BBES EOY 2014

MES FT 2014
Mechanicsville Elementary experienced a similar act of kindness. When Logan Lopez, the fiance of Site Leader Gina Bonsignore, heard we had no money to fund their long anticipated field trip to NAS Pax River he stepped up and volunteered to pay for their bus, bowling and pizza lunch. They had a great time visiting the Test Pilot School and VX-20 hangar (where 2 of them were "hanged" as if parachuting!) before heading to the drill hall for bowling and pizza. Many of our kids had never been on base before, so it was a tremendous opportunity for them to meet the pilots, see the aircraft, and think about their future.THANK YOU LOGAN LOPEZ FOR THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY!
 
MES FT 2014 MES FT 2014
 
We get by with a little help from our friends...MES FT 2014
Best of Luck, Jake!
june newsletter 2014
The super talented Jake Quaytman interned with FLOW during the 2013-14 school year. Jake graduated from St. Mary's College of Maryland in May is now applying to medical schools while interning at Calvert Hospital. He's passionate about helping others with a real talent for seeing the big picture-I'm sure we'll be reading about all the good things he'll be doing in the future! We have been lucky to have him as such a special part of FLOW. 
Thank you, Jake!
 

 

Another Amazing Year 
with FLOW Mentoring!
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Lexington Park Elementary School made maracas using recycled materials to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
LPES 1


 
  LPES 2
   LPES 3
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White Marsh Elementary School
 planned and hosted a Bike Rodeo!
BIKE RODEO 
BIKE RODEO
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Lettie Marshall Dent Elementary School
 participates in Growing Stems.Add a description
 
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Leonardtown Elementary School
 make and play a Kentucky Derby game!
 LES KENTUCKY DERBY  LES KENTUCKY DERBY
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Hollywood Elementary School receive their FLOW Certificates and  create and install a clay tile mural!
 
HES MURAL
HES MURAL HES MURAL
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Mentees and Mentors at Greenview Knolls Elementary School go roller skating thanks to the donation of equipment rentals by St. Mary's County Parks & Rec! 
 gkes skating gkes skating
They also painted bird houses...
GKES BIRDHOUSES  and celebrated the end of another fabulous year with a celebration and handing out certificates of appreciation!
GKES CERTIFICATES

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Spring Ridge Middle School's program created these fun, short videos about what FLOW means to them:
 
Mentoring News
 

 

 

The Benefits of Mentoring

A report by the national organization MENTOR found children benefit from mentoring by having stronger performance at school, are more ambitious and greater matriculation. 



Mentoring Isn't Just for Kids
 
Interesting advice to college graduates: seek out mentors who will tell you about your mistakes. This is an interesting article on mentoring into adulthood that is worth the read.
 

   
BECOME A MENTOR
We need you. 
They need you. 



Some FAQs about FLOW Mentoring.


Why mentoring?
Because it works! Educational research has shown that mentoring is extremely effective in increasing academic performance and positive social interactions among young people. And you asked for it! Eight years ago, the most common request to the Department of Academic Support was for a quality mentoring program. We worked hard to develop and implement a school based mentoring program that meets the needs of our students here in St. Mary's County Public School-and we're proud to say we've been at it for six years!   
 

Who are the Mentors? 

How are they selected?

Our dedicated roster of Mentors come from all over Southern Maryland with hugely diverse backgrounds.  Many are business professionals or retired professionals.  Others are staff members, military personnel, secondary students, college students, and other caring and responsible community members.   They have all submitted applications, been screened, and have gone through Mentor Training before they begin to work with their student mentee.   

 

When and where does 
the mentoring take place?  

Mentoring takes place after school once a week for an hour and a half at the student's home school. This ensures that students do not miss any part of their academic day.

 

How are the student mentees selected?

At each school, the FLOW Site Leader consults with teachers, counselors, administrators, the nurse, and other staff to develop a list of students that are most likely to benefit from the program.


How can I apply? 
To apply to become a Mentor with FLOW Mentoring, we require that you complete a FLOW Mentoring Mentor Application and an SMCPS Volunteer Application (this is required of all volunteers in our school system).

Please click on the links below to view printable versions of each application.

When you have completed both applications, please mail, fax, or email the applications to:
 
Sarah R. Tyson, FLOW Mentoring IRT 
FLOW Office Location:
Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center 
24005 Point Lookout Road 
Leonardtown, MD  20650 
Phone: 301-475-0242 ext. 28128
Fax: 301-475-0245 
flow@smcps.org 
 

If you need further persuasion, click on the article link below to read more about the importance of mentoring.

 

MILLIONS OF CHILDREN NEED MENTORS 

 
FLOW Logo
Again, FLOW Thanks You!
 
Thank you for supporting mentoring in St. Mary's County Public Schools. We wouldn't be here without your TREMENDOUS support.
 
In gratitude,
Your FLOW Mentoring team    

FLOW Mentoring
St. Mary's County Public Schools
Department of College and Career Readiness
24005 Point Lookout Road
Leonardtown, MD  20650 
Phone: 301-475-0242 x.28128
Fax: 301-475-0245