More coming
Many videos explain how a specific mentoring program works.
To see all of our completed videos, see Mentor4OK YouTube Channel Link.
Pre-K - 1st Grade/Elementary
Pre-K – 1st Mentorship in Clinton, OK. Janalyn Taylor, principal of Nance Elementary School, discusses Tornadoes In Mentoring Excel (T.I.M.E.), begun in 2019. Sherry Boyles and Yvonne Covey, cofounders and codirectors, also participate.
Pre-K – 1st & More Mentorship in Cheyenne, OK. Whitney Moore, principal of Cheyenne High School, discusses her rural school’s three mentoring programs. The peer mentoring programs are the “Talls & Smalls” and the Principal’s Leadership Council’s Bigs/Littles. Adults mentor in B.E.A.R.S. (Building Esteem and Responsibility).
Pre-K – 1st & More Mentorship in Enid, OK. Stanley Brownlee, an Enid businessman, created the “SB” Crew, a mentoring program for four-year-old children at Carver Early Childhood Center. He also created his Sixth Grade Mentoring Program 35 years ago in 1987. The middle school model features bringing in a surprise guest speaker each week. Mr. Brownlee shares about both programs during the early childhood webinar.
Elementary Spanish Mentor Program, Norman
Darcy Pippins, M.Ed., NBCT, a Spanish teacher at Norman High School, created this peer mentoring program in which her upper-level Spanish students mentor once a week at elementary feeder schools. Not only do native Spanish speakers shine among their peers, but all students learn Spanish. Mentors also use their Spanish to mentor and tutor English Language Learners and learn from their native speaker mentees. Mentors Reece Gibbins and Landon Gibbins share the impact of their mentoring. Megan Sanders, the founder of #MentorNorman, interviews Darcy Pippins. Peer mentoring.
Serving ages 6-18 yrs.
How BBBSOK Has Reimagined Its Processes During COVID-19 To Keep Bigs, Littles, & Staff Safe
Melissa Ramirez, the Chief Executive Officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma, has led the organization's reimagining the way it does volunteer onboarding, fundraising event management, and match engagement.
Boys & Girls Club of Norman, Center for Children & Families
Megan Sanders, founder of #MentorNorman, interviews Whitney Dunn, the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Norman. The center serves students ages 6-18. After-school model.
Middle School
Loveworks Leadership Presentation – Middle School Mentorship & More
Launched in 2011, Loveworks Leadership, a progressive mentoring and leadership program for middle school students, continues to innovate. Designed to build character and confidence, Loveworks offers entrepreneurial opportunities, career pathways for high school, leadership for little leaders, and more. Executive Director Michael Hirsch and Associate Director Carolyn Le present.
Loveworks Leadership – Q&A – Middle School Mentorship & More
Loveworks Leadership’s Michael Hirsch, executive director, and Carolyn Le, associate director, share ways Loveworks reaches youth inside and outside Norman. Topics include elementary school student leadership, community professionals as mentors, student-created product development, a garden, fundraising, and a business boot up summer camp. Some outreach initiatives are the At Home Leadership online course, The Dreamers & Doers podcast, a blog, Raising Little Leaders story time, socially distanced events, daytime leadership, and more.
Part I The Lifelong Impact of Mentoring Youth with Disabilities
Kodey Toney, director and founder of the Pervasive Parenting Center (CPRC), talks presents. Among many resources and training, Mr. Toney developed a middle school peer mentoring program and a high school social group. Some mentoring results include less bullying, increased self-confidence, higher graduation rates, and entering college or CareerTech. The center serves Sequoyah, Haskell, LeFlore, and Latimer Counties.
Part II Q&A The Lifelong Impact of Mentoring Youth with Disabilities
Kodey Toney answers questions about the Pervasive Parenting Center (CPRC), a non-for-profit organization made up of families, local educators, community leaders, and health-care professionals. He will help other rural counties create their own center. Offering resources for families in eastern Oklahoma coping with autism and other disabilities, the Pervasive Parenting Center is a Community Parent Resource Center funded by a grant from the US Department of Education as well as donations.
The Workings of a Mentoring-Based Scholarship Program
Lowe Family Young Scholars Program, begun in 2006, assists academically promising yet economically disadvantaged students to earn a college degree. Big Brothers Big Sisters Bartlesville provides the mentoring program, and the Lowe Family Young Scholars Program provides academics, community service, leadership, the scholarships, and other opportunities for students in Bartlesville Public Schools. Students may apply during sixth - tenth grades for the program that continues through high school. Collaboration of many kinds creates success. Executive Director Michael Secora explains the program.
High School
Bridges of Norman
Bridges empowers high school students in family crisis to pursue education without obstacles. Bianca Gordon, associate director and mentoring director, talks about Bridges' various programs, including two types of mentoring, for residential and nonresidential high school students. Some college students at the University of Oklahoma also benefit from Bridges. Bridges is also part of the #MentorNorman Initiative.
POPS Mentoring for Males, Ages13-18
Tarell Earl, founder and president of Pursuit of Prosperity Strategies (POPS), explains his enrichment mentoring model which helps mentees set and pursue a vision for the future. Earl uses mentors and professionals as speakers in addition to curriculum he has developed. A POPS Program for elementary ages boys is in production. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Mentorship through the Lens of Entrepreneurship
The Honorable Kevin L. Matthews, Oklahoma State Senator for District 11 and founder of the Youth Entrepreneurship Shadow (YES) Program, talks about this unique model to match young people with professionals during the summer. Members of 100 Black Men of Tulsa continue to expand the program. Motivated by mentors helping him rise through entrepreneurship, Senator Matthews eloquently calls all adults to mentor.
The Workings of a Mentoring-Based Scholarship Program
The Lowe Family Young Scholars Program, begun in 2006, assists academically promising yet economically disadvantaged students to earn a college degree. Big Brothers Big Sisters Bartlesville provides the mentoring program, and the Lowe Family Young Scholars Program provides academics, community service, leadership, the scholarships, and other opportunities for students in Bartlesville Public Schools. Students may apply during sixth - tenth grades for the program that continues through high school. Collaboration of many kinds creates success. Executive Director Michael Secora explains the program. Describe your product or give more information.
Postsecondary (College/CareerTech)
A Professional-to-Student College Mentoring Program
Ronald Anderson, J.D., Ph.D., Co-Director, Division of Management and International Business Board of Advisors Mentoring Program, Michael F. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma
Discussing the program, the keys to its survival, and professional-to-student mentoring
The Importance of Mentorship for College Minority Students
Bryon A. Dickens, architect and director of Students Connecting with Mentors for Success (SCMS), describes how his award-winning program for minority students works. Jermaine Peterson and Tracey Morales, program coordinators, also share about the program, which began with Black males and now extends to Black females as well as Latinos and Native Americans at Oklahoma City Community College. The SCMS model also applies to high school students.
Chevron Phillips Scholar Mentor Program, University of Oklahoma
Taylor Hampshire and Lucas Condes, Chevron Phillips Scholar Mentors, briefly talk about the mentoring and tutoring program for sophomore chemical engineering students. College of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering, Gallogly College of Engineering. Chevron Phillips sponsors the scholarship. A more detailed video is posted below.
Chevron Phillips Scholar Mentor Program, University of Oklahoma
Taylor Hampshire and Lucas Condes, Chevron Phillips Scholar Mentors, talk about the value and range of the mentoring program for sophomore chemical engineering students. Both Hampshire and Condes had peer mentors during their sophomore year. College of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering, Gallogly College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma. Chevron Phillips sponsors the scholarship.
Mentoring Latino Students & Parents The drive for their children to succeed, the importance of family in decision-making, and the growing demographic of Latinx students K-16+ make understanding how to empower families and students essential. Teri Mora, M.Ed., director of Upward Bound, at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, has spent over 25 years developing successful programming that extends into the community. Alma Avalos, program facilitator for OPSU Upward Bound, shares strategies. Latinos, America’s fastest growing demographic, are our future leaders and community servants.
Mentoring Latino Students & Parents Q&A
Continuing the discussion about what makes mentoring Hispanic students unique are Teri Mora, director of Upward Bound, and Alma Avalos, program director, Upward Bound at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Avalos, mentored by Mora, offers her own experience as one example. OPSU is Oklahoma’s only Hispanic Serving Institution currently. Latinos, America’s fastest growing demographic, are our future leaders and community servants.
A College Model for Building Business Leaders
Since 1993 the JCPenney Leadership Program has not only produced exceptional leaders but continues to innovate and diversify. Key elements include the Peer Trainer Program, Peer-to-Peer Mentorship, Board Fellows, the Student Advisory Board, a choice of internship or study abroad, one-on-one mentorship by the director, and more. Breea Clark, J.D., director of the JCPenney Leadership Program, presents. Also contributing are Saba Sandhu, director of Peer Trainers, and Molly Thompson, chair of the Student Advisory Board. Michael F. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma.
Connecting Cultures through On-Campus Mentoring
OSU's Cooper Degner and Aarushi Singh talk about the benefits of international and national students' mentoring each other into friendships and supportive relationships. Originally designed as more one-on-one, the model includes group mentoring. Degner, a mechanical and aerospace engineering major, is the director, and Aarushi Singh, a computer engineering major, is the assistant director of Cowboy Cousins, Student Government Association, Oklahoma State University.
Others
Leading the Expecting & Parenting Adolescent Family
Graduation rates of 90% for high school and 50% for college prove this model works. J.A.M.E.S. (Just About Mothers Excelling in School), Inc., uses coaching, mentoring, and scholarships to enable mentees ages 13-24 to further their leadership, education, and careers. Alisa Davis Bell, founder and executive director, shares her model's pillars of transparency and authenticity, exposure, support, and opportunities. "It's never too late to be what you might have been."—George Eliot.
Overcoming Oklahoma's Fatherhood Crisis
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2020), 18.3 million children, 1 in 4, live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home. Consequently, there is a father factor in nearly all social ills facing America today. Tulsa's Sekou Clincy explains "How Mentorship Changes the Lives of Young Fathers and Their Families." Clincy is the Fatherhood Coordinator, Tulsa Community Service Council, Healthy Start Program; the host of the CSC Fatherhood Coalition; and a regional representative for National Healthy Start Program.
Breaking the Cycles of Incarceration through Mentoring
TEEM, Inc., uses mentoring in its current four programs--pretrial, reentry, community sentencing, and the veteran's initiative--for incarcerated or formerly incarcerated mentees. Other programming includes education, personal development, and work readiness training. Nikki Sharber, TEEM's first full-time volunteer coordinator, talks about this adaptable model. Some of the mentors are peer mentors, formerly incarcerated, who created new lives and wish to give back. The Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM), Oklahoma City.
Positive Male Mentors Impact Young Males
Lieutenant Rod Sanders, University of Oklahoma Police Department and Norman Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team, talks about "How Positive Male Mentorship Can Impact the Lives of Young Men." Sanders tells why he mentors and what he gains from mentoring. Keyante, whom Sanders began mentoring through Bridges of Norman, is now an adult and a member of the family. Sanders is also a Big through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Norman. #MentorNorman
Team Mentorship in the Lives of Transitioning Youth
For at-risk young adults ages 16-24, Life Launch's unique mentoring model led with a team of mentors per mentee transforms lives. Hayden Coffee, Oklahoma City Program Manager, and Alicia Keathley, Tulsa Program Manager, share best practices. Life Launch, Stand in the Gap Widows, and Women in Transition are three mentoring programs of Stand in the Gap Ministries, Tulsa.
#MentorNorman – Why (Community recruiting initiative)
Through the #MentorNorman initiative, Megan Sanders is solving a problem to recruit more mentors for K-12 mentoring groups in her hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. Norman is a progressive, thriving college town, the home of the University of Oklahoma, with multiple K-12 and college mentoring programs. Here Sanders talks about #MentorNorman but also makes a compelling call to action.
Call for Oklahomans to Mentor
Deborah Binkley-Jackson gives a compelling, impromptu appeal for Oklahomans to mentor youth, young adults, and adults in crisis. Binkley-Jackson is the director of Project Threshold, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.
Business Mentoring Collegians
Ronald Anderson, J.D., Ph.D., discusses face-to-face mentoring between business managers and collegian management majors. Ronald Dr. Anderson is the co-director, Division of Management and International Business Board of Advisors Mentoring Program, Michael F. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma.