The beginning of January is always a time of self-reflection. We look back at the past year to evaluate what we accomplished (or maybe didn鈥檛 accomplish) and create resolutions for the new year. We promise ourselves we will exercise more, read more books, and spend less time in front of televisions and computers. We pledge that we will do more to make our lives better and more fulfilling. And what鈥檚 more fulfilling than helping others achieve?

While January is a month to make personal resolutions, it鈥檚 also . It鈥檚 when we thank the people who inspire us and give us the strength to reach our goals, and take the time to consider how we can be positive role models for others.

At Communities In Schools of Whatcom County, Wash., students are dedicated to being mentors throughout the school year. For the past three years, seniors at Sehome High School have been paired with incoming freshmen to help them with homework, projects and navigating the path to graduation. This year, 71 seniors are acting as mentors.

鈥淥ur peer mentoring has an academic focus,鈥� said Communities In Schools of Whatcom County Executive Director Dennis D鈥橝melio. 鈥淏ut beyond that, mentors get to sit down with their mentees and talk about everything important to kids that they might not want to talk about with an adult.鈥�

All mentors participating in the program are interviewed and thoroughly trained before being paired with their mentees. They鈥檙e taught how to help freshmen with their homework, how to ask important questions and what to do if they feel like their mentee needs more support than they can provide. Student academic progress is tracked and Communities In Schools staff and school counselors know if anyone needs additional resources. Student safety, both mentor and mentee, is also very important.

鈥淲e train our mentors to be aware of potential issues and if they see something to ask for help,鈥� D鈥橝melio said.聽 鈥淚f a mentee mentions potential abuse or neglect, the mentor informs Communities In Schools staff and they bring in school counselors.鈥�

Sehome High School鈥檚 mentoring program doesn鈥檛 just help freshmen 鈥� the seniors acting as mentors benefit as well. In Washington, serving the community is a requirement for graduation. Acting as a mentor qualifies, and helps students get a step closer to receiving a diploma. But many of the students who participate are there for more than the credit 鈥� they鈥檙e there for the experience of being a positive role model and helping others.

鈥淜颈诲蝉 can give back,鈥� D鈥橝melio said. 鈥淲e have dynamic student leaders.鈥�

Learn more about Communities In Schools of Whatcom County鈥檚 peer mentoring program at .

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As a volunteer for Communities In Schools of Federal Way, I mentored a young student named Marvella.* When she moved to Auburn, I was happy to learn that Auburn also had a strong Communities In Schools program through which I could continue supporting this student.

Like most mentored students, Marvella is “on the brink of success,” but also at risk for a a number of reasons. The Communities In Schools goal is to make sure she stays in school and graduates, despite the hardships she faces.

The site coordinator an the elementary school where Marvella transferred was highly effective in another transition in her life. Now that Marvella is in middle school in Auburn, the site coordinator at her new school is taking all the necessary steps to keep the safety net in place.

Through the Communities In Schools network and the work of site coordinators across boundary lines, I am able to continue mentoring this promising young student. It’s a joy to see how we all work together to insure academic and personal success for the students in our schools who just need that extra boost and show of confidence to begin to achieve success. Communities In Schools provides stability, support, and access to a range of services in order to keep students in school, achieving their true potential.

*Name has been changed.

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Pencil to paper, marker to dry erase board, finger to calculator. The medium changes constantly. Never the same in process but always the same in answer: math. I teach her how to add mixed numbers, divide decimals. She teaches me to love the life I have. I teach her to subtract fractions, multiply three-digit numbers. She teaches me to utilize my power to change my world and myself. We teach each other, because life, I have learned, is like math. Search long enough, try hard enough, risk enough, and the answer can be found. Life is not always easy. Neither is math. But I have found that those twists and turns along the way have just been life going absolutely perfectly.

I did not have this epiphany on my own. I did not wake up one morning with a greater understanding of my life than I had the day before. I did not open my mind to reason in just one day. A seventh grade girl did all of that for me. We met through the Communities In Schools of Peninsula program, which connected struggling students to willing mentors. During the fall of my junior year I decided to become a middle school math mentor. But, after eight months, I realized that I was not the only teacher.

I remember my first day tutoring. I remember walking into the library, one of the last to arrive, and the loud rattling noises the door made as it eased shut. I remember looking around at the brown circular tables, full of students with mentors decades older, and decades more experienced, than I. I remember finding my name written in permanent ink on a piece of 8 by 11 printer paper, put haphazardly on the table next to a seventh grade girl. She did not look like I had imagined she would. Her light blonde hair had been dyed black and she was wearing sweats, a sweatshirt, and a pair of vans. I am not going to say I did not judge her or expect her to be a lost cause. To say I did not would be a lie, because I did judge her. And I regret having done so.

I regret judging her because I was wrong.

Life had not been kind to her. She rarely saw her dad. She was moving across the country in less than a year. She was less intelligent than her younger brother. From where I sat, her life appeared to be an uphill battle. From where I sat, her life appeared to be one problem after another. But she never saw life that way. She chose to focus on the times she did see her dad, the fact that a new state meant new opportunities, and that less intelligent in math did not mean she was lesser than her brother. Because she chose optimism, she taught me to choose optimism too.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽

I realized that life rarely, if ever, follows the plans I had hoped it would. My parents may not be married anymore, my sister/best friend may be leaving for college in the fall, and my brother may be impermeable to my advice. But I do not fight those battles everyday. And, even if I had to fight every day, the little, wonderful moments I have every day are enough to make my life beautiful. The little moments, like throwing sand dollars on the beach for my dog, watching my friends skate board after having a mud fight on the beach, and being given a flower from an adorable five-year-old boy, are what really count. After all, life is what happens when we are busy making other plans. Good things happen everyday. Before Communities In Schools of Peninsula, I just wasn鈥檛 seeing them. But now, I could not miss them even if I tried.

Cori originally wrote this essay for her high school Advanced Placement Comp and Language class June 6, 2011.

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found this mix and brought it all together for their recent Mentor & Mentee Fieldtrip, AKA 鈥淓xtreme Games 2010鈥�. Held once a year, the field trip allows mentors and mentees to get together at the end of the school year, have some fun, and take part in half a day of activities. And for some young mentees, beating their mentor in foosball was the icing on the cake of a year-long relationship.

The fieldtrip was held at the , located in the heart of Renton. But the event didn鈥檛 always have the neighborhood location. According to Erin Iverson, Mentor Program Coordinator, the event had previously taken mentors and mentees to locations outside the city, causing many to have to miss the fun. Communities In Schools of Renton kept it within the community for the first time last year, and the community took in the event with open arms. Donations came in from all parts of the community, and this momentum hasn鈥檛 stopped.

鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing greater,鈥� offered Tim Williams, Recreation Director for the city of Renton, 鈥渢han the feel of a room full of kids!鈥�

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Give your time, Mentor a child, Make a Difference

National Mentoring Month is the time each year when our nation officially puts the spotlight on the importance of mentors and the need of every child to have a caring adult in his or her life.

Think of the mentors in your life – a neighbor, a teacher or coach, a parent – and consider how they helped you be a better person. Take the time to thank them, and then think about who you could mentor in your community.

There are lots of young people – all around us – who don’t have a healthy relationship with a caring adult, and they need YOU. to learn how through Communities In Schools you can make a difference in a child’s life.

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