DELAWARE MENTORING SUCCESS STORIES

Mentoring Works

This section is dedicated to sharing the stories of caring adults who have committed their time and talents to mentoring youth in Delaware. Interested in becoming a mentor? Find a Mentoring Program.

What Mentoring Means To Me:

Mentoring is like gardening. You find a seed or sapling and you decide to help it grow. It’s a slow process. But as long as you nurture it, it’s sure to bear fruits. At first, you water it and feed it. You watch its stems and leaves and every so often, it sprouts a blossom just to let you know you’re on the right track. Other times, it may grow thorns or leaves that whither and die prematurely. But it’s always growing stronger. One day, you stop watering and pruning it because its roots are deep enough and it’s branches long and sturdy. You no longer shade it or harvest its fruit.

Yes, in the beginning you’re very nice with your mentee and the relationship grows. You celebrate his ‘student-of-the-week’ or just him not losing his temper when someone does something he doesn’t like. Inevitably though, those thorny days come, too, when you have to mentor in the office because that’s where he’s been banished. Or, when he’s feeling lazy and only wants to play a game. But you appreciate this as part of the growing process and the total package. Then one day, the school year ends and for some reason you get all weepy wondering if he’ll ever need you again or even remember you. It’s a sad prospect but you remember the goal was for him not to need you after all . . . considering that you won’t be there always.

You realize that you miss that hobby, gardening; the welcomed diversion, the gradual but clear progress, the beauty of nature, the fact that a life depends on you, and the lessons it teaches you about the more important, yet simpler things. Yes, it’s sad but it’s also really great because one day when he grows up, this process will begin again. And you’ll learn that he never forgot . . . because the same seed you planted in him is the seed he plants anew.

Mudhillun MuQaribu, North Dover Elementary, Capital School District

Why Mentor?

It is my pleasure to mentor young impressionable young children. My name is Robert A. Allen and I’ve been mentoring four years. My sole aim is to provide an additional avenue in helping young boys become positive young adults and to achieve academic success.

I started mentoring in 2002 at Carrcroft Elementary. My first mentee, who at the time was in third grade, now attends Harlan Elementary. Early in my partnership with the students, my goal is to teach them confidence in themselves and respect others. I always teach the young boys how to communicate with others by making and keeping proper eye contact when they speak to someone. I also teach the young boys to give a proper and firm handshake. This instills mental confidence and gives hope that they can achieve anything in life as long as they establish goals and pursue them without giving up.

I love to spend time with my mentees by playing games to teach them rules, but also to understand how competition works, even with children their own age. I have the boys read to me at times although I know they sometimes do not wish to do so. The young boys become excited when we spend time outside and other children will ask how they can get a mentor.

It is always that intrinsic feeling that I receive when I receive positive feedback from the school teachers and administrators how well the child is progressing.

My mother raised me in a family of ten children. My goal is to teach some of those values to our young, talented and gifted young African-American boys. I always try to make it a point not to miss any of my scheduled weekly visits because I know how important it is to children.

One of the greatest satisfactions for me is that my son James B. Allen is in third grade and fully supports what I do. I always make it a point to see him before I leave school. It is very important to me that my two sons Robert Jr. and James know that I will always have time to be their father, and in addition that it allows me to give back to as many people as possible. Many people reached back to help me and now it’s my turn to help nurture these young special minds.

Robert Allen, Carrcroft Elementary School, Brandywine School District