Mentoring Success
by J Terry
September 08, 2009
Mentoring for Success!
Janna Terry
This ongoing article is dedicated to our classmate and friend - Seth VanNostrand. Because Seth is fighting MPS/ML, he frequently misses school and many of the activities that his classmates participate in. This year, our classes focused their attention on the meanings of words like - persevere, attitude, courage, patience, kindness ...we know no other person like Seth who displays each of these characteristics every day of his life. We love you Seth and wish you well!
The high school Psychology class, taught by Mrs. Bechard, is teaming up with Ms. Terry’s 5th grade class this year to create a culture of success. This summer after reading the book, The Nature of Success, by Mac Anderson, Ms. Terry and Mrs. Bechard discussed how they could use this information in their classes to promote thinking and behavior that would lead to success. From those discussions, the mentoring idea was formed. Ms. Terry’s class is doing a success Word of the Week that will help students focus on successful behaviors. Mrs. Bechard’s class highlights that same word with quotes and discussions on how that impacts success. Periodically the two classes will get together throughout the school year for activities that relate to the Word of the Week. The interaction between the students is beneficial to both groups. In this section, we hope to highlight our activities and let you enjoy our experiences!
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” ~ Henry Ford
May Activities
Teamwork: 
Geodesic Dome
As the year was wrapping up, the seniors were gone but there were a few of our mentors left to continue with year-end activities. With the help of our 4 remaining Junior mentors the class built a geodesic dome from rolled newspapers. The idea was inspired by a book read by the 5th graders called The Landry News. Take a look at the slide show for the step by step project. The kids were very proud of their product – and so was I! :-) Notice in the photo that we managed to get the entire class (+ me) within the dome! It was a great example of TEAMWORK.
Our students also spent a morning in the kitchen baking cookies to share and enjoy! Learning their way around the kitchen, using measuring utensils, following directions, taking turns...a learning experience for everyone. The best part about this learning was the benefit of getting to eat the project! :-) Cookies!
We had a terrific year together and look forward to more opportunities to work with the high school students in the future.
“Your most precious possession is not your financial assets. Your most precious possession is the people you have working there, and what they carry around in their heads, and their ability to work together.” ~Robert Reich
January 29
Sharing: February is a month to tell people you care....Valentine's Day! This month our students created Valentines for Vets. It was a an opportunity to share their creativity and sentiments for those who have served our country. These Valentines will be shared with the VA Hospital in Topeka and distributed to veterans to lift their spirits and let them know they are appreciated. This month, and always, be sure to tell those you care about how much they mean to you. Happy Valentines Day, everyone!
December 17
Listen: Students spent time speaking and listening to one another on a variety of holiday topics. They shared such things as their favorite Christmas food, who was the most excited for Christmas in their house, favorite holiday symbol, describing their stocking, etc. Then we followed up with a friendly Christmas Trivia competition, where students had to listen to a question and be the first to answer. Much fun was had by all.
There is a difference between hearing what someone has to say, and truly listening to them. We hope that we can teach our children the value of listening to others. Everyone has something important to share and we owe it to them to listen. "The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention." ~Richard Moss
Listening We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
November 24 Collage
As we head into the holiday season, we are reminded through our children how important it is to have dreams…and to be able to identify aptitudes and characteristics that we all possess to get us to those dreams. The students worked together to create collages that represented the words of study so far in the semester. Mrs. Bechard and I hope that by studying these words and incorporating them into discussion and activities that our students will begin to apply these very important words into their lives. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
dream...enthusiasm...attitude...persevere...change...courage...kindness...progress...risk ...patience...discipline...belief...goal setting...
October 23rd
Patience: the ability to endure waiting or delay without becoming annoyed or upset; to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties. Patience
We’ve heard that “patience is a virtue”…a good quality to have. We hope that we are able to model this quality for our children and also hope that our children possess the ability to show patience – regardless of the situation they are in. The high school mentors played “board games” with the 5th graders this month. Taking turns and learning to play new games, and working with many other people requires patience – one that we need to be reminded of now and again because of the hectic world we live in. Playing games together is a great way to practice this virtue and have fun while you’re doing it!
September 11th
Kindness – The classes plan to combine to help Wes Patterson get the football field ready for the high school home opener (Sept. 11th) which follows the middle school home game (Sept. 10th) by picking up trash at the stadium. We all know how hard Wes works and with the custodial staff short-handed, a little kindness will go a long way!
September 4th
Enthusiasm – After discussing what interested them or what they got excited about, the Psychology class assisted us in creating a cheer for their particular area of interest. Cheers were created to support art, math, testing, classroom routine, prioritizing (Eat that Frog!) and the Bulldogs.
August 19th
Dream Mobiles – My students talked about their dreams and were assisted in the creation of their Dream Mobile by the Psychology class. These mobiles hang from the ceiling in our classroom as a daily reminder of their dreams and aspirations.
