Honoring mentors

By REBECCA HATTAWAY

April 26, 2008 03:14 pm

— By REBECCA HATTAWAY
Staff Writer
news1@claremoreprogress.com

Volunteers for Youth’s PAL Program, a school-based mentoring program, honored its mentors at the Mentor Recognition Luncheon Wednesday at the Claremore Community Center.
“It’s great to have this many people dedicated to mentoring our young people,” said Volunteers for Youth Executive Director Mendy Stone as she welcomed the group. “There’s nothing better you could spend your time doing.”
The luncheon has been an annual event since the PAL Program began during the 1999-2000 school year.
According to Stone, this school year there were 109 Rogers County public school students matched with volunteer mentors.
“Where there was previously a problem with grades, teachers tell us that 60 percent of the mentored students improved their grade point average. Seventy-three percent showed improvement in their overall attitude; 78 percent showed improvement in their self-esteem; and 65 percent showed improvement in classroom behavior,” Stone said. “Even kids who are frequently absent seem to always be at school on mentoring day, so we feel we are positively impacting connectedness to school and attendance.”
Speaker at the luncheon was Tom Pace, founder and CEO of the PaceButler Corporation in Oklahoma City, and author of Mentor: The Kid & The CEO.
“The more we give, the better our lives get,” he said. “The thing about being a mentor is that a mentor has been there.”
Pace shared his own story of how mentoring made a difference in his life and how he continues to “pay it forward” by mentoring numerous individuals from diverse backgrounds.

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By REBECCA HATTAWAY
Staff Writer
news1@claremoreprogress.com

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