Obama's First Day of School Speech

Yesterday, throughout the country, President Barack Obama addressed students on their first day of school. You can watch his address here or read the transcript of the address here. Since I'm one of those visual learners, I needed to digest what the president said and then read the transcript in order for me to be able to fully take in everything the President said yesterday. No matter whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, I'm sure everybody found something they could take from the speech.

Since I view the world in the tutoring and mentoring perspective after having worked at Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection for a little over two years now, I'll just comment on a couple of things that struck me after watching the speech yesterday, digesting it, and then reading the transcript today.

At the beginning of his speech, President Obama says:

"I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide."

This is one of the main tenants of tutoring and mentoring - that every child has the potential for greatness, no matter what the circumstances they grew up in. However, some of these kids need a little help along to discovering what they have to offer, especially if they have no support at home. This is where tutors and mentors come in.

President Obama goes on to say:

"And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to train for it and work for it and learn for it."

One of the main ways to prevent dropping out of school is for students to enroll in an afterschool tutoring and mentoring program. With someone who ha their back and who won't give up on them, these at-risk students are less likely to give up on themselves and drop out of school.

Also, in regards to preparing for a career - Many tutoring and mentoring progams offer career training such as on how to write a good resume or how to dress for success at a job. Some tutoring and mentoring programs even offer job shadowing or internship programs at a variety of professions. When students learn what it takes to get the job of their dreams, they are also less likely to drop out of school.

An especially central part of Obama's speech was where he talks about his own story, growing up with no dad and not having a lot of money. This is something that a lot of kids that tutoring and mentoring programs can relate to. He says:

"Now, I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. . .
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right."

These are all circumstances that many of our kids face everyday. Obama talks about how he succeeded despite difficult circumstances, as did the First Lady. He also highlights three students who have also succeeded despite difficult circumstances, including Shantell Steve, a young woman who has grown up in foster care on the South Side and who has succeeded acedmically and has become a leader in her community. What Obama doesn't say is that I'm almost positive that he, Mrs. Obama, and the three outstanding young people that he talked about all had mentors in their lives who encouraged them when they were about to give up and who helped them realize that they could be even better than they thought they could be.

That's what tutors and mentors are here for - to help young people who wouldn't have the support, guidance, and belief in them otherwise. Students working hard and striving to succeed are one part of the equation. The other part of the equation are caring adults who can help these young people become contributing members of society.

Unfortunately, many of these programs where students meet these tutors and mentors are being cut due to the economy. This is a shame and you should do everything you can to support your local tutoring and mentoring program. If you want to help tutoring and mentoring programs throughout Chicago continue to succeed in this rough economy, I encourage you to do two things:

1) Volunteer - the role you may play in the program may be an even bigger role than just a one-on-one tutor/mentor. You have the potential to impact a large number of people with doing whatever you can with your time in helping these programs.

2) Donate - your dollars will come back to you better used than you can imagine. With the money you donate, programs can retain staff, help kids get into college, and help them into adulthood with the continued support these programs can offer.

If you would like to volunteer or donate visit the Cabrini Connections or the Tutor/Mentor Connection websites to find out more. Also, you can quickly donate by clicking the PayPal icon in the upper right-hand corner of this blog. We need your help now more than ever. But the payoff will be sure in the future.

Eleven-Year-Old Interviews President Obama about Education

In my daily perusal of the news, I came across this video of eleven-year-old Damon Weaver of Pahokee, Florida interviewing President Barack Obama on what he's doing about improving America's education system, violence in communities with a high level of poverty, and whether President Obama can dunk a basketball. While I wish President Obama mentioned after-school programs such as tutoring and mentoring programs as a way of helping students in low-achieving schools succeed and stay away from violence, I do think that President Obama said some very important things. I also am extremely impressed with the questions that young Mr. Weaver asked President Obama and look forward to watching what he does in the future. Note, on Tuesday September 8th, President Obama will be giving a speech on the state of America's Education System and what the administration is going to do next to improve America's schools. Be sure to tune in, but first enjoy this great video:

Happy Inauguration Day!

The exciting week continues! Today we say our 44th and first African-American President, Barack Obama was sworn in. In what was a stirring and inspiring ceremony, Obama's speech to the nation was the centerpiece. He, of course, brought up the troubled times we are faced with today - two wars, an economy in collapse, a healthcare system that doesn't serve the entire populus, and failing schools. However he also reminded us that we've been faced with troubled times before and have prevailed and succeeded in ways that we would've never dreamed possible - including the fact that we elected an African-American to be the leader of this great nation.

Many things that he said resonated with us here at Cabrini Connections. I'm sure you can imagine the excitement the kids have that we have an African-American President. Many of them have spoken about how inspiring they find it and how many more possibilities they realize are out there.

This truly is an example of Obama invoking "The God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, all may choose to pursue their happiness." (I'm paraphrasing here from notes that I took during the speech). This is what we strive for everyday here at Cabrini Connections and Tutor/Mentor Connection - to ensure that every child, no matter what circumstance they are born in, can succeed to their fullest potential. Unfortunately, I think we have lost sight of that goal - college is more expensive than ever, it's harder to get loans, schools are more focused on test scores than on actually learning - which makes succeeding in life even more difficult than it was before if you weren't born into the best circumstances. Hopefully, with a story like Barack Obama's - born bi-racial to single white mother and a black father, raised partially by his grandparents who weren't wealthy but who made sure that Barack got everything possible to achieve - we can return to the quintessentially American idea that anyone can become a president.

I also, want to highlight the part of the speech about "everywhere we look, there is work to be done." This is very true, and it reaffirms to me the reasons why I am so passionate about what we do here at Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection. The task before us, just in the tutoring and mentoring world, is daunting - young people are dropping out of school, girls are getting pregnant, boys are joining gangs, drug use and murders are on the rise. However, if people take this call to action to heart, more people will think of ways they can contribute to their community and to help their community be a better place to live in.

I have great hopes for the Presidency of Barack Obama. Hopefully, we will all take his words to heart and set out to improve this country in a variety of different ways.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

What an exciting week we have ahead of us. Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, commemorating the great life and work of the civil rights leader, who would've been 80 on January 15th. Tomorrow is the inauguration of our first African-American President, Barack Obama. And as always this month, it's National Mentoring Month!

Today, President-elect Obama has designated a National Day of Service. To that, I say "Hurray!" and am so happy that he is promoting giving back to the community. And of course, I must encourage you to turn this National Day of Service into a National Year of Service by becoming a tutor or mentor to an at-risk youth. What could be a better way of honoring Dr. King, who worked tirelessly to help elevate the situation of those who were in need, than to make the future brighter for a child who needs a brighter future.

Also, if you're reading this blog and want to write a guest blog about what mentoring means to you, just leave a comment, and I'll be delighted to have you contribute to my blog.

Finally, I thought you would all enjoy letters written by children to President-elect Obama. Some are funny, others show a wisdom beyond their years, and some are very sad. My favorite of course:

Dear Sir Obama,

These are the first 10 things you should do as president:

1. Make everyone read books.
2. Don’t let teachers give kids hard homework.
3. Make a law where kids only get one page of homework per week.
4. Kids can go visit you whenever they want.
5. Make volunteer tutors get paid.
6. Let the tutors do all the thinking.
7. Make universities free.
8. Make students get extra credit for everything.
9. Give teachers raises.
10. If No. 4 is approved, let kids visit the Oval Office, but don’t make it boring.

— Mireya Perez, age 8, San Francisco

Thanks Mireya Perez! I couldn't have said it better myself! Volunteer tutors do extraordinary work and I wish they could be paid! However, many tutoring and mentoring organizations are hurting for money right now for a variety of reasons. Even if you can't give your time to help the community, a donation to your local tutoring and mentoring organization would be an equally wonderful contribution to your community.

January - a busy month!

January is going to be a very exciting month! Not only is it National Mentoring Month, but it is also the month of Dr. Martin Luther King Day on the 19th and President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on the 20th. This is a HUGE opportunity for all of us in the tutoring and mentoring community to get the word out.

A good place to start is a wonderful article on Social Edge, a blog that highlights social issues, which writes about what the Tutor/Mentor Connection is all about. It's always exciting when you talk to people who really get what purpose Tutor/Mentor Connection serves and applies the idea to other realms. I really like how author of the article talks about how all the different types of non-profits - health, nutrition, education, women's rights can easily overlap and learn from one another. That's definitely something that we have championed here at Tutor/Mentor Connection - especially in our maps demonstrating the intersection between say - banks, failing schools, and tutoring and mentoring programs. I also appreciate how the author highlights not only the program locator aspect of Tutor/Mentor Connection, but also shows how the T/MC can be teaching tool for programs looking to improve, as well as for programs trying to get off the ground through our links library. Finally, the author does a wonderful job of drawing you into the discussion and learning more about not only what we do, but how you can take what we do and apply to your own program. So, go read the article! And then add your own comments and continue the discussion!

It is an honor to get to witness history!

Last night, history was made when America elected Barack Obama as its first African-American President. I had the honor to be at the rally in Grant Park and it truly was the most incredible experience of my life. I'm still processing everything, but here are my initial thoughts.

Looking out across the crowd, it was so, incredibly beautiful to see African-Americans, Caucasians, Asian-Americans, Latinos, young, and old, families, and couples. Walking back to my apartment, I saw people of all colors and ages dancing together in the street, hugging each other, and simply enjoying the beautiful Chicago night. This truly is what America is all about and I felt like last night exemplified the best of what America has to offer.

I also feel like it is such a privilege to be working at a place like Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection at a historic time like this. Almost a year and a half ago, I started here as PIP fellow, and somewhat felt like an outsider. I didn't know what these children's lives were like or how I would be able to relate to them. But over the course of my time as Assistant Program Coordinator and Interim Program Coordinator I got to know the kids and I now feel like it's such an honor to be able to help them and kids in other programs out as well. I can't tell you what a joy it was when some of our older high schoolers and alumnae would come bouncing in telling me they had registered to vote or had voted. This election energized all of us, but I think for these kids, the fact that an African-American had a shot at being president was especially exciting. One of our kids even told me last summer that we was going to be the second African-American President after Barack Obama. That is so exciting and makes working here all the more worthwhile.

I can only hope that Barack Obama will unite this country together for at least the next four years as he did last night. I do know that he will continue to serve as an inspiration to all of us in making it to the highest office in this nation quite decidedly and uniting all of us, no matter what age we are or what the color is of our skin. We have worked hard in this country to achieve what has happened last night and we will continue to work hard so that every child of every color has the chance to change the world the way President-elect Obama did last night.