Monday, January 6, 2014
Paramount Pictures Mentors and Their Mentees Give Back
Right before the holidays, our LeConte Middle School youth teamed up with their mentors from Paramount Studios to give a little something back to the community. Our mentor/mentee groups worked together to build and decorate tasty gingerbread houses that would then be given as gifts to Covenant House - a place decicated to helping homeless youth and their families. The old cliche is true, though - it feels good to give. Constructing these houses was not only an excuse to have some laughs and be creative, but it served as yet another opportunity to bring our youth and their mentors a little closer together. Even though the holiday season is just now in our rear view mirror, it's nice to take a moment to remember what this time of year was really all about. Thanks everyone!
Monday, December 30, 2013
LAMAR BANKS STORY – Journey with Youth Mentoring Connection
Lamar Banks grew
up in South Central LA in an area that was highly gang-oriented. He like a large number of young men from that
community never knew his father and was raised by a very tough and strong-handed
mother and grandma. Lamar, at 13 years
of age found himself being influenced to join a gang in order to survive. So he and the guys in the neighborhood that
he grew up with decided to form a “set” called Fo Block. (A set is a subset of
a gang). Lamar being a big, strong kid
was designate to be the enforcer for
the gang. What he
and the others weren’t told is that when you are a part of a gang, it doesn’t
make you safer. Instead it does the
opposite. It puts a target on your back
and puts you in greater danger. It was
around this time that he also found out about YMC’s mentoring program through
some of his friends who had gotten involved with their work.
When Lamar started YMC’s mentoring program, he was not doing
well, barely interested in school or even attending much. YMC found him a mentor that was the perfect
match. They started breaking his shell. There were some improvement but the peer
pressure that kept him involved in the gang was a huge roadblock. Then at one of YMC’s yearly boy’s initiations
on the Big Bear Mountains, part of the Fo Block gang came up with various
weapons and were gang banging on the other youth. Because of Tony and YMC’s deep, powerful and
transformation work that they do at this 4-day youth initiation which supplements
the mentoring work that they do on a daily basis with their youth, the gang
ended on the mountain that weekend.
There was much follow up work to do when they came back to LA so these
youth could keep their promise to each other and their community but with YMC’s
help, Lamar and the other members of “fo block” did just that.
Now Lamar became a deeper part of YMC’s community and
started really getting into the mentoring.
He did better in school, yet still had a lot of catching up to do. He felt really proud of himself because he
was making it although it was challenging.
The day came when he was finally graduating from High School. His family was so proud. They had even bought him a new suit to
wear. Then a couple of days before the
ceremony, he was informed by the school that he would not be walking the stage
with the rest of his classmates. He had
not passed the California High School Exit Exam and they did not get the
results for him to retake until now.
Lamar was devastated because he had worked so hard.
When Lamar told YMC about his situation, they decided to
create a graduation ceremony for him because they wanted to honor how hard he
had worked. They had seen his
commitment, his transformation and were proud of him. So they told Lamar of their plans. They asked him to choose a restaurant that he
and his family would like to go to after the YMC graduation ceremony for
him. He picked Cheese Cake Factory at
the Grove. So on that day, they headed
to the restaurant only expecting his immediate family. However, when they got there, not only had
his family turned out, but at least 20 people from his community showed up as
well. For them, Lamar represented a
young man who had made it. He was an
example to those people of what was possible – a symbol of hope in a community
where most don’t make it.
YMC ended the evening with their traditional “Gift Circle”
where each person expressed the gift they saw in Lamar as his family watched
with tears of pride in their eyes. To
this day, Lamar said that this was the best night of his life. He later took the California HS Exit Exam, passed
and went on to East LA College for 2 years where he played football. Lamar has stayed a part of the YMC mentoring
community, helping mentor other youth and become Coach Banks for a local youth
football team. Just this year, he got
accepted and transferred to the University of Hawaii where he is studying
Kinesiology and plans to be an Athletic Performance Trainer.
Labels:
Banks,
Chance 2 Lives,
college,
Mentee,
transformation,
youth,
Youth Mentoring Connection
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Tip for Mentors: Help Someone Heal. Reach Out to Cure the Holiday Blues
So, though you just
heard from us, we thought this would be helpful!
Reach
Out to Cure the Holiday Blues
During the holidays we tend
to get busy and spend less time with our mentees as our focus turns to our
immediate families and our holiday preparation and trips. This, however,
is also a time when many of our mentees feel a sense of longing for the kinds of
family love that they see portrayed in the media but may not be getting at
home. Children often are reminded of the losses they have experienced and
the difference between their life and Ozzy and Harriet type fantasies.
“Holiday blues"
range from mild sadness during the holidays to severe depression. Real
medicine for holiday blues is knowing that someone cares about you. If
you’re feeling holiday blues, you can give yourself some healing by reaching
out to your mentee. Even if they don’t respond the way you want, you can
know that you did something
So, please try to stay in
contact with your mentee during the time between now and the New Year.
o A
simple phone call from their mentor is a big statement that someone
cares.
o Doing
something special with your mentee is even more powerful when you are able to
make the time.
o Don’t
forget to send your mentee a Holiday card.
o If
you go somewhere special during the holidays, perhaps you can send a postcard
to your mentee.
o A
caveat: Try to resist the temptation of giving expensive gifts to your
mentee.
Labels:
holiday,
Mentor,
Mentor Tips,
ymc
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Connecting Mentors and Mentees through “Connecting Cultures”
It’s striking how much we discover our similarities by examining
our differences. This past Tuesday, students from LeConte middle school not only found out their Paramount mentor matches, but they got a unique opportunity to get to
know each other with help from our friends at Connecting Cultures. Our two groups learned about their own
heritage, as well as the cultures of others, through artifacts and art pieces
from around the world in a beautiful mobile museum display. But let’s be
honest, the best part about exploring our cultures is the food! All of our
participants were also able to grind their own spice blends to be taken home
and used in a recipe of their choice from various regions of the globe. It was
a chance to learn, share, explore and connect. All of us at YMC, LeConte Middle
School and Paramount would like to thank Connecting Cultures for this exciting
experience. Check out more of what they do at http://www.connectingcultures.us/
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Giving Thanks
This week at BEATS, our mentee/mentor matches got together for a Thanksgiving party where each group sat down and came up with a menu, guest list, activities, and a list of people not invited to their ultimate fantasy holiday dinner. Our groups really got into the project. They were able to invite anybody (past or present) so we had guest appearances from the king of pop himself, Michael Jackson, to funny guy Kevin Heart. Meanwhile the food was being prepared by Chief Ramsey in the kitchen. We had lots of fun activities for all ages- some guests watched old movies, played guitar hero, and some talked amongst themselves while others took a nap before the big meal. But not the basketball fans- they couldn't miss all the fun happening outside where Michael Jordan was holding a dunking contest. During the group presentations, the room was full of laughter and everyone had so much to be thankful for.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
True Colors at Paramount 11/5/13
During our True Colors session at the Paramount High School Mentoring program, mentors and mentees had the opportunity to learn more about their respective match through an activity called True Colors. Everyone was able to see who the spontaneous, compassionate, analytical and responsible individuals were. Mentors and mentees were then grouped by similar affiliations and were able to discuss their strengths, joys and values. This was a great and interactive way that the newly formed community was able to get to know each other!!!
WB: The time has finally arrived!
After weeks of anticipation, the time is finally here! It is with great pleasure to announce the WB mentor-mentee matches of 2013-2014. While engaging in a fun activity called “Human Bingo”, today was filled with so much enthusiasm and happiness. As matches were revealed, everyone’s high spirits showed that this is only the beginning of what is yet to come!
Labels:
2013,
excitement,
fun,
Human Bingo,
Mentoring,
WB,
ymc
Thursday, November 7, 2013
True Colors
Normally putting "Thinkers" and "Doers" in the same room is never a good idea, but today at HBO we couldn't have had a better group dynamic. Even the "People Person" who's normally at war with the impatience "Organizer" found space to be caring and compassionate without negating. Somehow, the YMC staff manage to get through session in a timely fashion with no black eyes, no broken bones,and no arguing!
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