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Written By:
Peter Kent
Photography By:
Stephen Cherry
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Peter Kent
Photography By:
Stephen Cherry
HELPING HANDS
Heading into 1994, Henrietta Parker had the good fortune of working in an industry that was teetering on the brink of collapse. That’s right, good fortune, because it was that precarious situation that led Parker to change her life for the better – along with the lives of countless others in her community.
“I had been working for an employment agency, which in the early-to-mid-’90s was an industry that had fallen on hard times,” recalled Parker. “At the same time, because my husband was an educator, I was very aware of the growing number of children in our community who were at risk. So when I’d read an ad that AmeriCorps was looking for someone to work on a mentoring project, I jumped at the chance.”
What resulted from that ad was the Wicomico Mentoring Project, and 17 years later, the future of the county’s at-risk children looks brighter than ever.
Formed under the direction of the Wicomico County Board of Education, the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Salisbury Committee, Parker’s mission is to provide an effective, organized and sustainable program for recruiting, training and maintaining volunteers to mentor at-risk youth in Wicomico County public schools.
The program launched in 1994 with a modest total of 27 mentors. Today, the resounding success of the program has resulted in a roster of 840 mentors, covering pre-K through 12, who have a daily, on-campus presence at every school in the county.
A student is considered at risk when he/she is identified as experiencing challenges that include (but not necessarily limited to) performance (e.g., grades or attendance), behavioral/social (e.g., violence, isolation, low self-esteem, dramatic mood swings or other antisocial behavior) or life circumstances (e.g., divorce, separation or other domestic instability, loss or economic deprivation). That’s when either a teacher, parent, the Department of Juvenile Services, Social Services or Truancy Court will refer the student to the Wicomico Mentoring Project staff, who will then ask a school-mentor coordinator to select an appropriate mentor for that child. School-mentor coordinators include guidance counselors, conflict-resolution teachers, deans of students and teachers who are part of the C.A.R.E.S. (Children at Risk Educationally and Socially) program.
With full parental knowledge and consent, the mentor usually spends one hour a week with their student — or mentee. These sessions can occur in the classroom, as in the
case of elementary and middle school students, or in the media center, playground, sports field or elsewhere in the school, as is often the case with high school students.
A major watershed for the program came in the year 2000, when professional educators were officially invited to join the program. Ten years later they constitute the majority of volunteers, at 55 percent. Another 20 percent are college students; 14 percent are individuals; and the remaining 11 percent are either business, civic, agency or faith-based contributors.
And while we’re talking numbers, it becomes quite obvious that the program is making a difference when one considers that of all the mentees currently involved in the Wicomico Mentoring Project, 41 percent show improved grades, 46 percent have better attendance and 27 percent exhibit discernible improvement in behavior, resulting in a decreased number of office referrals overall.
Perhaps the most gratifying statistic for Parker, however, comes from the parents themselves, 91 percent of whom rate their children’s experience in the Wicomico Mentoring Project as either “positive” or “very positive.” Yet there are still challenges to be met, as Parker would be the first to tell you.
“One area where we really need to grow is in terms of the number of males currently participating in the program,” she said. “We really need more guys to step up and become part of something guaranteed to make a positive difference in the life of another, as well as make them feel better about themselves. And with a current waiting list of 1,000 students, there isn’t a moment to waste.
“There are so many at-risk adolescent boys who would be helped dramatically if there were quality males who entered the picture at the right time,” Parker continued. “If we could just redress that issue, our young men would have a better chance of graduating from high school and becoming productive citizens.”
“I had been working for an employment agency, which in the early-to-mid-’90s was an industry that had fallen on hard times,” recalled Parker. “At the same time, because my husband was an educator, I was very aware of the growing number of children in our community who were at risk. So when I’d read an ad that AmeriCorps was looking for someone to work on a mentoring project, I jumped at the chance.”
What resulted from that ad was the Wicomico Mentoring Project, and 17 years later, the future of the county’s at-risk children looks brighter than ever.
Formed under the direction of the Wicomico County Board of Education, the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Salisbury Committee, Parker’s mission is to provide an effective, organized and sustainable program for recruiting, training and maintaining volunteers to mentor at-risk youth in Wicomico County public schools.
The program launched in 1994 with a modest total of 27 mentors. Today, the resounding success of the program has resulted in a roster of 840 mentors, covering pre-K through 12, who have a daily, on-campus presence at every school in the county.
A student is considered at risk when he/she is identified as experiencing challenges that include (but not necessarily limited to) performance (e.g., grades or attendance), behavioral/social (e.g., violence, isolation, low self-esteem, dramatic mood swings or other antisocial behavior) or life circumstances (e.g., divorce, separation or other domestic instability, loss or economic deprivation). That’s when either a teacher, parent, the Department of Juvenile Services, Social Services or Truancy Court will refer the student to the Wicomico Mentoring Project staff, who will then ask a school-mentor coordinator to select an appropriate mentor for that child. School-mentor coordinators include guidance counselors, conflict-resolution teachers, deans of students and teachers who are part of the C.A.R.E.S. (Children at Risk Educationally and Socially) program.
With full parental knowledge and consent, the mentor usually spends one hour a week with their student — or mentee. These sessions can occur in the classroom, as in the
case of elementary and middle school students, or in the media center, playground, sports field or elsewhere in the school, as is often the case with high school students.
A major watershed for the program came in the year 2000, when professional educators were officially invited to join the program. Ten years later they constitute the majority of volunteers, at 55 percent. Another 20 percent are college students; 14 percent are individuals; and the remaining 11 percent are either business, civic, agency or faith-based contributors.
And while we’re talking numbers, it becomes quite obvious that the program is making a difference when one considers that of all the mentees currently involved in the Wicomico Mentoring Project, 41 percent show improved grades, 46 percent have better attendance and 27 percent exhibit discernible improvement in behavior, resulting in a decreased number of office referrals overall.
Perhaps the most gratifying statistic for Parker, however, comes from the parents themselves, 91 percent of whom rate their children’s experience in the Wicomico Mentoring Project as either “positive” or “very positive.” Yet there are still challenges to be met, as Parker would be the first to tell you.
“One area where we really need to grow is in terms of the number of males currently participating in the program,” she said. “We really need more guys to step up and become part of something guaranteed to make a positive difference in the life of another, as well as make them feel better about themselves. And with a current waiting list of 1,000 students, there isn’t a moment to waste.
“There are so many at-risk adolescent boys who would be helped dramatically if there were quality males who entered the picture at the right time,” Parker continued. “If we could just redress that issue, our young men would have a better chance of graduating from high school and becoming productive citizens.”
Wicomico Mentoring Project, 410-677-4856
www.WCBOE.org
www.WCBOE.org
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