Tag Archive: National Mentoring Summit


Innovations in Mentoring

Filed Under: National Office, Programs by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
January 31, 2013

Today’s blog post is by Communities In Schools Associate Director of Federal Grants and Initiatives, Megan Robinson.

Communities In Schools staff at national mentoring summit

Left to right: Danya Perry of Communities In Schools of North Carolina, Lori Fickling of Communities In Schools of North Texas, Jade Parker of Communities In Schools of New Orleans, Megan Robinson of Communities In Schools national office, LaShawn Johnson of the national office, and LaTousha Daniels of Communities In Schools of Miami.

As we wrap up National Mentoring Month, I hope you’ve taken time to thank someone who has helped mentor you, or offered your own time to mentor someone who could use extra support or guidance. Mentoring can have a significant impact on young people’s determination and drive to stay in school. This message resonated for me during MENTOR’s National Mentoring Summit held in Washington, D.C. January 24-25. Nearly 650 leaders from youth-serving organizations, government, research and business came together to share innovative program models and research findings to connect young people with mentors so they can stay on the path to successful adulthood.

The Communities In Schools national office was invited to participate in the Summit as a presenter for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Multi-State Mentoring Initiative. OJJDP awarded Communities In Schools a $2.5 million grant during the Fall of 2011 and we currently have 10 affiliates partnering on the project. Several affiliates, including our technical assistance provider Communities In Schools of North Carolina, joined me at the Summit last week. I was excited to present the accomplishments of our OJJDP affiliates, alongside Communities In Schools of Cape Fear, who presented a unique peer mentoring program that’s being supported by the OJJDP grant.

Our OJJDP partnering affiliates have made over 900 mentoring matches under the grant and we hope to demonstrate to the country how the Communities In Schools model strengthens mentoring relationships and leads to deeper connections between students and their mentors. When Communities In Schools site coordinators provide case management that includes things like parental engagement activities and ensuring basic needs like nutrition and medical care are met, mentors can focus on what they do best – being trusted friends, confidantes and champions to our students.

The OJJDP grant is allowing affiliates to build and expand innovative program designs including school-to-work initiatives for high school students, transition programs for adjudicated youth, and STEM projects with middle school and university students. The MENTOR Summit provided an engaging platform for us to share our efforts and learn from other programs around the country.

Thank you to our OJJDP partnering affiliates for recruiting and training hundreds of dedicated mentors and for building creative mentoring programs that are helping students reach their goals.

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Some Thoughts on Mentoring

Filed Under: National Office by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
January 27, 2012

Today’s blog post is from Danya Perry, director of program and youth development at Communities In Schools of North Carolina.

Danya PerryBecause of the influential men who shaped my life, namely my father and uncle, I am passionate about mentoring. I was so excited to be in Washington, D.C. with some of my Communities In Schools family and to learn about innovative strategies at the 2012 National Mentoring Summit. I’m not going to lie…I was a little hesitant to travel because I heard it was going to snow and the flu bug was going around. I resolved to stay in my hotel room and only come out for the summit sessions and Pop-Tarts. But as soon as we hit the floor of the hotel, we met a group of individuals from Wilmington, N.C. and bonded instantaneously. We didn’t just share our organizations’ work on autopilot – rather, we talked about the change in youth and power of mentoring. What a way to set the stage for a great event. Like Bill Milliken says – “It’s relationships, not programs, that change children.” I felt that this was a good sign of what was to come. I wasn’t wrong… View full article »

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Time Well Spent

Filed Under: National Office by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
January 26, 2012

Today’s blog post is from Marketing and Public Relations Manager Cindy Nixon.

Former Communities In Schools intern Ariel Johnson spoke at the National Mentoring Summit.

For the last two days, it was an honor to share ideas with some of the leaders in mentoring from across the country. Since mentoring is one of the key things we do at Communities In Schools, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to join minds with other innovators at the second annual National Mentoring Summit. This year’s theme was Invest in the Future: Mentor a Child.

It was so refreshing to hear about some of the programs dedicated to creating a brighter future for our youth, from one centered solely on mentoring the children of military families to another focused on students who are the first in their families to attend college. Over the course of the two-day summit, I spoke with people from all walks of life — from a Brooklyn “hipster” to a young woman from North Dakota. As diverse as the crowd was, they were all united by one cause – mentoring our nation’s youth in hopes of giving young men and women the chance for a brighter future. View full article »

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The Vital Importance of Mentors

Filed Under: National Office, Volunteers by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
January 24, 2012

national mentoring summit logoCommunities In Schools works around the clock to make sure students’ physical needs are met. If a student’s family is unable to afford groceries, we connect them with food assistance programs. If they find themselves without a home, we harness community resources to provide them with shelter. Communities In Schools makes sure that the physical barriers that can prevent students from learning in school are eliminated.

But we also work to mitigate the social barriers as well. Across the country, our volunteer mentors act as role models and provide students with tutoring, a listening ear and most importantly, a friend. Having adequate food and clothing is extremely important to a student’s success; having a positive adult influence – a person who believes in a student’s dreams and pushes him or her to achieve, is equally vital. View full article »

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Back with a Bang

Filed Under: National Office by Briana Kerensky — Leave a comment
January 10, 2012

January is usually a very cold, quiet month in the Washington, D.C, area, (I say “usually,” because lately we’ve had some crazy spring-like temperatures). But despite the quiet, January is the beginning of a new year, and in 2012 Beyond the Classroom is working hard to top the amazing posts we featured last year.

national mentoring summit logoThis month is going to be jam-packed. We recently re-launched our Site Coordinator Snapshot series, and can’t wait to share even more inspiring stories of the work Communities In Schools site coordinators are doing across the country to help kids succeed. We are also going to be live blogging from the National Mentoring Summit in Washington, D.C., posting photos from local Martin Luther King Day community service events with Communities In Schools students and alumni, and celebrating National Thank Your Mentor Day™.

In addition, keep an eye on the Communities In Schools national website. In the next few weeks we will be launching an innovative, interactive version of our model, which helps explain how we work in schools to meet each student’s individual needs.

Beyond the Classroom is really starting 2012 with a bang. We hope you share in the adventure with us!

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