Author: kellyfairthementor

Tuesday, September 6 marks the first day of school for the Chicago Public Schools. There’s excitement, scrambling for last minute supplies, and nerves. Of course the child is nervous for school; new classroom, new teacher, harder lessons and books. But, the parent(s) is also nervous. Of course they also worry about the class, friends, and teacher. But, there is a greater worry for the quality of their child’s education–are they learning what they need to succeed in life?

This is a hard question to answer as we have to look at so much more than the standard definition of success. Our schools prepare our children for success in academics. They learn how to read and write, how to memorize, and how to take exams. While they may bring back A’s, this may not accurately reflect their actual learning. What would describe success to you? Perhaps it looks like this:

• Ability to work in teams
• Daring to be creative
• Confidence to try
• Having positive relationships
• Being empathetic

Our school system focuses on creating good learners and successful test takers. Sometimes, that takes all of their focus. This is not a fault of our school system, it just points to where it needs support to help our children be well-rounded in their success. And answers exist! Your child can learn everything they need to succeed in life, including the important social skills.

After-school programs are positive supports to schools, and they should be recognized by parents as being equally important in their child’s education. After-school programs, especially mentoring programs, build the supports children need to develop strong, successful relationships. They can also be an important tool to keeping our kids safe after school. The Afterschool Alliance says:

Afterschool programs have come to be recognized as critical partners in helping to ensure that all children are afforded the opportunities that will help them thrive and meet their full potential. Afterschool programs can enact meaningful change by encouraging children to explore different interest areas to find their passion, finding new and creative ways to keep kids excited about learning, offering academic help to students who are struggling with their school day lessons, and helping keep their students from hunger by providing nutritious foods.

In sum, encourage your children to attend an after-school program!

An important part of non-profit management is acknowledging all the people that help to get you there. Although you may feel like a one woman powerhouse, there was a lot of support that pushed you along and walked with you. And you don’t want to get so big that you forget that!

So, take a step back, look around, and say thank you to everyone that works with you or supports you. Because truly, you would not be where you are without them.

We did just that with our Polished Pebbles Ambassador Network. Our Polished Pebbles Ambassadors bring fresh ideas for programming and ways to spread the Polished Pebbles mission. With their help, we were able to expand all the way to Texas! Here’s a look at our celebration at Two Fish.

We all know that reading is beneficial. We are told to start our children young and encourage a love of reading to last them through adulthood. A task easier said than done in a society that pushes video games, social media, and television as superior forms of entertainment.

So, how important is getting your kids to read:

That’s because research shows that if children aren’t reading proficiently by third grade, they’re four times more likely to drop out of high school. “We’ve known for quite some time in education that there’s an incredibly strong link between oral language development and future reading abilities” — no matter what language kids speak, says Alan Cohen.

—To Teach Kids To Read And Write, Sometimes You Have To Get Creative

Developing a love of reading will help your child in their academic success. It increases vocabulary, writing skills, empathy, comprehension, and imagination! Though sometimes it isn’t as simple as handing a kid a book. People like to read books that they can relate to. And even in diverse classrooms, we are missing diverse texts. Just as representation is important on the screen, it is also important in print. Perhaps your child will want to read more if the characters look like them and share their experiences.

A teacher who worked in LA with Latino students found that to be true:

My students could definitely connect with the text. Many of them were in some way affected by gang warfare in their neighborhood. Some even had family members or friends who had been killed in gunfights or incarcerated. Finally something they could relate to. Class discussions suddenly became vibrant and empowering. Students would read well ahead of the assigned chapters. Some shared the book with siblings and friends. Others bought their own copy to keep once we moved on to other readings.

—Let’s Get More Kids of Color Exciting About Reading

Check out these lists of children’s book with main characters of color:

• Common Sense Media: Book With Characters of Color
• NPR: A Diverse #SummerReading List for Kids
• Huffington Post: 21 Children’s Books Every Black Kid Should Read

With August here parents and children are turning their thoughts towards school. Education is right around the corner! For a lot of children, summer has been a vacation away not only from school, but also from learning. Educators have been talking about what they call “summer slide”.

The summer slide takes place when students do not have access or the opportunity to participate in summer learning activities. These activities can range from actively reading to participating in educational summer camps. The summer slide disproportionately affects students from lower-income families and communities. If students aren’t actively stimulating their brains during summer, they can head back into school 1 to 2 months behind! We want no child to be behind in their education.

Here is what the National Summer Learning Association has to say about this growing achievement gap:

The two important subjects to reinforce during the summer are reading and math skills. Here are some simple ways to keep your child’s brain active:

• Encourage reading for fun. Reading shouldn’t just be for nerds or bookworms. Let your child know that books are a wonderful escape on a summer day. Take trips to the library or read together as a family. Work with your children to help them find genres they enjoy.
• Play games together. Puzzles and board games utilize critical thinking skills and encourage team work. Games they might already play such as uno, mancala, or dominos work with numbers. Don’t be afraid to look for little twists to the game that can use more math skills. Or research math games online! Some are so fun they won’t realize they are using addition or subtraction.
• Look for community learning opportunities. Not all families are able to send their children to educational camps, and that is okay! Your community or neighboring communities might have free events for you and your family. Look for free or discounted museum days. Perhaps there is a movie night that showcases educational films.

The past few weeks we have shared with you the Pillars for the Polished Pebbles Girl’s Mentoring Program: Communication, Career Exploration, and Community. We are so proud of our girls and the success they have had.

The success of our girls have inspired and caused us to grow. Their success is ours and we want to share with you how far we have come thanks to our girls. For we are nothing without our pebbles.

Kelly Fair published a book on the Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program to encourage others to get involved in mentoring or start their own program. Here she is with “They’re All the Same Girl!”

We have expanded to Irving, Texas! With the help of ThoughtWorks the Polished Pebbles program has gone national. This academic year we will be introduced to elementary aged girls at Haley Elementary. We are so excited meet them!

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

– Marian Wright Edelman, President and Founder of Children’s Defense Fund

Just as Marian Wright Edelman says in the quote, we want our girls in Polished Pebbles to strive to make “small daily differences”. We want them to learn the importance of community and helping to build community. Even further, we hope to create a community with Polished Pebbles. Here is the description of our Community Pillar:

COMMUNITY – A primary goal of our program is to create a space and place for members of the schools’ communities and the city’s corporate residents to impact youth and bring about change in their local communities. This also includes deliberate efforts to create parental engagement events to inform parents about program activities and get them involved with the learning objectives to some degree.

➢ 21st Century Skill Building Blocks Addressed: Social Awareness, Verbal Communication, Planning for Success)

Here are some ways we help build community and give back to our community with Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program.

We have talked countless times about future career opportunities for women, especially women of color, in our society:

• Relevant Reblog: Gender Pay Gap 2016
• Women, How Much Are Our Careers Affected By Gender Bias?
• High Enrollment, But Gaps In Graduation

So, we know the importance of preparing our young women involved in Polished Pebbles for their future careers. Thanks to our many corporate partners, we are able to provide our girls with exciting career exploration opportunities.

For the month of July we want to delve into Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program. Many of you know that we work with girls ages 7 to 17 to prepare them for a future of success. We encourage our girls to build positive relationships and develop professional skills. Polished Pebbles does this through three pillars: Communication, Career Development, and Community. Each week we are going to highlight how Polished Pebbles uses these pillars to prepare our young women for their future careers.

Here is a description of the Communication pillar from the Polished Pebbles website:

COMMUNICATION – Our focus is mentoring girls to become strong, effective communicators in all aspects, including interpersonal communication and communicating respectfully with adults and peers.
➢ 21st Century Skill Building Blocks Addressed: Verbal Communication, Social Awareness, Problem Solving, Collaboration, Planning for Success

“Younger women give as much as they get, if not more.”

-Andrea Guendelman

In the traditional mentor and mentee model, the mentor is the older and wise contributor to the relationship. The mentee is usually younger, naive and open to learning as much as possible from the mentor. While there is nothing wrong with this traditional model of mentorship, it is limiting our learning opportunities!

Just because someone is younger, it doesn’t mean they don’t have something to teach us or that we can’t benefit from their knowledge. And how big are we to think we know more simply because of our age. So, let’s push pass these age limitations and open ourselves up to a dynamic, unbound mentorship relationship.

This is exactly what Andrea Guendelman spoke about during her Mentoring Moment for Forbes. She recalls how she formed a mentorship with a younger colleague who inspired her and taught her lessons she didn’t know she was missing. She shared these four lessons you can learn from a younger mentor:

1. An understanding of a new generation
2. New ways of thinking
3. A sense of gratitude
4. The need to up one’s game

And don’t forget, that just because we may be experienced or educated, there is still much we do not know. On another Mentoring Moment, Jenny Lefcourt shares this:

Many of us women dwell on our lack of knowledge or experience and convince ourselves that we are not ready for a promotion or that there is someone more qualified for a particular job. I’ve realized that the most qualified people are the ones who have the vision, passion and energy to pursue that vision.

So, if you are feeling in need of inspiration or guidance, look all around you for a positive mentor. Don’t let age be a barrier. We all have something to give and we all have something to learn.