Grand Island
Nancy Jones
Grand Island TeamMates
2124 N. Lafayette Ave.
Grand Island, NE 68803
Phone: 308-385-5950
Fax: 308-385-5966
Email: njones@gips.com
New Mentors for Grand Island
HISPANIC MENTORS JOIN TEAMMATESMany of the people who participated in Grand Island's first-ever
Hispanic Leadership class are now volunteering as mentors in the
TeamMates program. Seventeen people participated in the nine-week class
offered by the Hispanic Leadership Institute beginning in April 2006.
Odalys Perez, director of the Multicultural Coalition in Grand Island,
said many of the people from that original class continue to meet the
first Thursday of each month.
Grand Island Receives Federal Mentoring Grant
Grand Island Public School has received a three year grant from the US Department of Education to expand the TeamMates Mentoring Program to serve more middle school students.The Mentoring Program grant is for $76,931 for the first year of the grant and a total of $303,516 during the three year period.
The local project's three goals are to expand TeamMates' mentoring services in grades 6-8, support mentored students' achievement in core academic subjects and enhance the student's readiness to learn.
"We're thrilled that the Department of Education recognizes Grand Island TeamMates as a quality mentoring program and has awarded us funds to serve more students," said Nancy Jones, program coordinator for TeamMates in Grand Island.
"Obviously, this award also means we will need more caring adults to become mentors," she said. "The commitment is and hour a week, and the reward is beyond measure."
The Grand Island project proposes hiring two mentoring coordinators so 30 new mentors in the first year, 35 new mentors in the second year and 40 new mentors in the third year can serve students in grades 6-8.
The number of mentored students in grades 6-8 would increase to 105 students in the 2009-2010 school year.
College and career components are a key part of the grant. Middle school students will have the opportunity to tour Central Community College, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha. They will also do a "Career Cruise" during Spring break to learn more about career opportunities in Grand Island.
New Building Coordinators Hired for Grand Island TeamMates
With the award of a three-year, $300,000 federal mentoring grant, Grand Island Public Schools hired two new building coordinators. Kathy Lewis is very familiar to the TeamMates Mentoring Program. She has been mentoring a student for nearly five years. She also has been a TeamMates Advisory Board member since 2002. Ms. Lewis will serve students and mentors at Barr Middle School. She has two sons, Josh and Tyler. Josh was one of the original TeamMates mentees in the Grand Island Program. Tyler attends Senior High School.The new coordinator for Walnut Middle School is Mike Nichols. He has made Grand Island his home for 38 years, and has worked in the Grand Island Public Schools for more than 35 years. Mike is married to LaJean, a Registered Nurse, and they have two adult children and two grandchildren. Mike states that even though he retired in 2004-05 from education he missed the contact with kids. "When I saw there was a possibility of being part of the TeamMates program at Walnut, I knew that was something I wanted to do!"
Grand Island TeamMates welcomes Mike and Kathy to the staff.
