Peer mentoring, TeamMates programs win $323,829 grant

McCook Daily Gazette

McCook Public Schools' peer mentoring and TeamMates programs have been awarded a three-year $323,829 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. McCook Junior High Principal Dennis Berry told board of education members Monday evening that Congress has approved funding for $118,000 of the total, which will pay for training, equipment, supplies and some stipends for directors.

MENTORING

Mentoring program co-cooridinator Pam Ochsner, along with Lynse Schmidt, told board members that Mary Ellen Goodenberger, then curriculum director for McCook Public Schools, started peer mentoring 28 years ago, pairing up high school students with junior high schools. The program has grown since them to include elementary students, Ochsner said.

The goals of peer mentoring, she said, are to improve school attendance, academic achievement, self-esteem and confidence of mentees. It is also designed to improve the communication skills of and teach the importance of commitment to mentors.

TEAMMATES

Tom Osborne, former University of Nebraska-Lincoln football coach and U.S. congressman, and his wife, Nancy, started TeamMates in 1991 as a means of emphasizing and building character in kids in need of adult influence and guidance.

A year and a half ago, in McCook, there were six matches between youngsters and adults, TeamMates coordinator Stacy Spector said. With a resurgence of energy, the program now has 28 matches and a list of kids waiting for adult sponsors. "Our biggest challenge is finding matches for kids," Spector said.

Spector said the organization's goal is to increase the number of mentor-mentee matches and to create a fund to pay for college scholarships for mentees.