Twinfield Together in the News!
Twinfield Together was highlighted in Bernie's Latest Buzz Newsletter! Bernie is highlighting the importance of mentoring in our state. Click here to read the Bernie's newsletter and watch the video.
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Times Argus: Twinfield Union School 8th-graders Judah Klarich, left, and Antoine Jurkicwicz, work with volunteer and school board member Milena Yasus to make Asian Cabbage Salad on Tuesday at the school. Twinfield middle schoolers work on community-oriented projects every week at the school and this group makes food for distribution at the Marshfield Food Shelf.
Photo by Jeb Wallace @jebphot
Photo by Jeb Wallace @jebphot
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Twinfield Together on Vermont Viewpoint
Thanks to Kevin Ellis for hosting Twinfield Together on Vermont Viewpoint this month to talk about relationships, youth and community! Click below to listen to the interview |
Listen to David Goodman's interview with mentoring programs across Vermont. Twinfield Together's Program Director talks about how mentoring brings connection and joy to the participants of TtMP! Click here to listen
Twinfield students spearhead ‘essential items’ drive
PLAINFIELD, Vt. (WCAX) - A little kindness can go a long way, and two Twinfield high school students are seeing that firsthand after spearheading a collection drive to provide toiletries and other essential items to local families. click here to see the rest of the story!
TTMP Mentees Join Governor Scott for Proclamation Signing
All Smiles
Surrounded by mentored children, Gov. Phil Scott smiles Wednesday after signing a proclamation recognizing January as National Mentoring Month at a Mentor Vermont celebration in Montpelier.
Jeb Wallace-Brodeur / Staff Photo
Surrounded by mentored children, Gov. Phil Scott smiles Wednesday after signing a proclamation recognizing January as National Mentoring Month at a Mentor Vermont celebration in Montpelier.
Jeb Wallace-Brodeur / Staff Photo
Why I Am a Mentor!
Why am I a mentor? That is a question I have been asked many times by folks who know that my day job as Superintendent serving Twinfield Union School already involves me deeply in the work this school does to support its students. And for those who know the scope of my job, the second question always is, “How do you find the time?”
Why is an easy question to answer, now that I have been doing it for a while. My mentee comes from a loving home, but I know from the work I do every day that in general, kids today are more isolated; unlike when I grew up, most of our kids have very few adult role models beyond their caregivers at home; they spend too much time focused one-on-one with a computer screen; they are more inclined to pick up a game controller than a book; often times they don’t know how to play games that don’t depend on a computer.
I am sure you are hesitating, thinking, “what do I have to give to a child? I get it – despite having spent many years working with kids, I wasn’t sure at first if and how I would connect with a young child who I didn’t know. But after a couple of weeks, our new friendship was cemented and now we both look forward to our next weekly meeting. Saying so long for the summer last June was difficult, but seeing each other again in September was like reconnecting with an old friend.
As for time, well, time is a precious quantity for most of us, but mentoring does not take a lot of time. 50 minutes a week, at the beginning of the day, at the school that I drive by every morning on my way to the office. It’s the highpoint of my week. When you mentor a student, you are giving your time to teach the “soft skills” that children cannot learn from TV or a computer game – conversation, turn-taking, winning and losing at play and being okay with either outcome. When I greet my mentee every week, I always get a smile and the end of the session, another smile and a “see you next week.” Who wouldn’t want to start their day like this? I have come to think of the fifty minutes as a gift I give to myself every week.
Everyone deserves a gift. Give yourself one. Be a mentor. You won’t be sorry
Mark Tucker, WNESU Superintendent
Why is an easy question to answer, now that I have been doing it for a while. My mentee comes from a loving home, but I know from the work I do every day that in general, kids today are more isolated; unlike when I grew up, most of our kids have very few adult role models beyond their caregivers at home; they spend too much time focused one-on-one with a computer screen; they are more inclined to pick up a game controller than a book; often times they don’t know how to play games that don’t depend on a computer.
I am sure you are hesitating, thinking, “what do I have to give to a child? I get it – despite having spent many years working with kids, I wasn’t sure at first if and how I would connect with a young child who I didn’t know. But after a couple of weeks, our new friendship was cemented and now we both look forward to our next weekly meeting. Saying so long for the summer last June was difficult, but seeing each other again in September was like reconnecting with an old friend.
As for time, well, time is a precious quantity for most of us, but mentoring does not take a lot of time. 50 minutes a week, at the beginning of the day, at the school that I drive by every morning on my way to the office. It’s the highpoint of my week. When you mentor a student, you are giving your time to teach the “soft skills” that children cannot learn from TV or a computer game – conversation, turn-taking, winning and losing at play and being okay with either outcome. When I greet my mentee every week, I always get a smile and the end of the session, another smile and a “see you next week.” Who wouldn’t want to start their day like this? I have come to think of the fifty minutes as a gift I give to myself every week.
Everyone deserves a gift. Give yourself one. Be a mentor. You won’t be sorry
Mark Tucker, WNESU Superintendent
2018 Lynne Von Trapp Award
Burlington, VT, June 25, 2018
The 2018 Lynne von Trapp award was given to Pamela Quinn, Program Director of Twinfield Together Mentoring Program in Twinfield, VT. This award is in recognition of the organization’s valuable contributions to children and youth in Vermont, and honors a specific staff person who displays exemplary leadership of the program.
“I am delighted to present our VCTF Lynne von Trapp award to Pam Quinn. Her work in the Twinfield school system is making a big difference in this rural community by helping to ensure social connections for students across all grades,” said Theo Clark, VCTF program manager. “The success of TTMP’s expanding mentoring programs is evidenced in an increase in requests for mentors by students, parents and teachers.”
Twinfield Together Mentoring Program’s (TTMP) goal is every student who wants a mentor gets a mentor. Currently, TTMP is providing 63 mentoring matches across its three programs and offers a diverse set of structured and supported mentoring relationships. In 2015 TTMP began a program for high school students to mentor elementary and middle school students increasing the number of students participating in mentoring matches. This peer-to-peer mentoring offers valuable mentoring experience for both high school student mentors and their younger mentees.
Twinfield Together Mentoring Program is just one of the 53 prevention programs for children and families the Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation funds throughout Vermont.
The 2018 Lynne von Trapp award was given to Pamela Quinn, Program Director of Twinfield Together Mentoring Program in Twinfield, VT. This award is in recognition of the organization’s valuable contributions to children and youth in Vermont, and honors a specific staff person who displays exemplary leadership of the program.
“I am delighted to present our VCTF Lynne von Trapp award to Pam Quinn. Her work in the Twinfield school system is making a big difference in this rural community by helping to ensure social connections for students across all grades,” said Theo Clark, VCTF program manager. “The success of TTMP’s expanding mentoring programs is evidenced in an increase in requests for mentors by students, parents and teachers.”
Twinfield Together Mentoring Program’s (TTMP) goal is every student who wants a mentor gets a mentor. Currently, TTMP is providing 63 mentoring matches across its three programs and offers a diverse set of structured and supported mentoring relationships. In 2015 TTMP began a program for high school students to mentor elementary and middle school students increasing the number of students participating in mentoring matches. This peer-to-peer mentoring offers valuable mentoring experience for both high school student mentors and their younger mentees.
Twinfield Together Mentoring Program is just one of the 53 prevention programs for children and families the Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation funds throughout Vermont.
Listen to our Mentor Podcast!
What Our Peer Mentors Say
Our Peer mentors share why they mentor. Listen below and click HERE to see more of what they have to say.
Mentor Match Visits StoryCorps
Long-time mentor match Patty and Lydia recorded their story at the StoryCorps booth in Burlington!
Listen to the highlights of their interview here
Listen to the highlights of their interview here
Volunteer to be a mentor
Joseph Gainza Commentary
Times Argus
Monday January 4, 2016
As January is National Mentoring Month, a time for all of us to reflect on the people who have had an effect on our lives, I thought I would relate my own experience as a mentor and encourage others to share the wisdom and friendship that we, as adults, can offer to young people in our communities.
After my first mentee, Dylan, moved with his family to another part of the state, I waited a year before asking to be matched with another young boy. I had grown very fond of Dylan and did not want to just “replace” him as one would a car or a pair of skis. I was also concerned that I might be tempted to compare my new young friend with my first mentee.
I mention this because it is a dimension of mentoring that I had not expected, the relationship develops into a friendship which shapes, not only my time, but also my life. Not having children of my own, and having left teaching grade school over 40 years ago, I had not had the opportunity to see how I interact with a young boy on a regular basis. Aspects of myself were revealed to me that otherwise may have lay hidden. Also, having the opportunity to get a glimpse of the world mediated through the eyes and experience of a 10 year old, broadened and deepened my own experience. In that year's hiatus, I realized that I missed that relationship and that dimension of living.
Clearly, mentoring is not just about doing something useful and, hopefully helpful for and with a young person, or about providing enriching experiences for someone who may not otherwise have them. Mentoring is the development of a relationship that is mutually beneficial and rewarding, like any good friendship.
When Samuel and I first met, I asked him to make a list of things he would like to do. “Look at the stars” was at the top, followed by going to museums – I knew right there that we were well matched. He also had on his list “visit the Humane Society,” so, like me, he also loves animals. “Hiking” was there as well – it doesn't get much better than this.
We are going through the list and adding more activities as we get to know one another and find ways to have a good time together. A friend, hearing about his list, offered us her telescope, which we are learning to use. Thanks to Samuel, I have visited the Montshire Museum, a truly wonderful place, where I saw his preferred mode of leaning, kinesthetic. Thanks to him, we built a birdhouse that is far more imaginative than I alone would have conjured up. I call him “eagle eye;” he sees things in the woods that I would pass by without noticing. I have also seen how a young boy, contrary to the stereotype, can be kind and gentle to a degree that is almost breathtaking.
I guess I needed the year away from mentoring, but when I pick up Samuel at school on Thursdays and he asks what we are doing today, I am grateful that I did not wait longer.
There are many boys and girls waiting for a special friend. Based on my experience, it is likely that many adults do not know that such a friendship is the very thing they need to retrieve a sense of possibility and hope for a better world.
You may be one of those adults, visit www.mobiusmentors.org to find a program in your community.
Sincerely,
Joseph Gainza
Joseph Gainza has been a mentor with Twinfield Together Mentoring Program since 2012. For more information about joining the Twinfield Together Mentoring Program, visit www.twinfieldtogether.net. To learn more about other mentoring programs throughout Vermont, visit www.mobiusmentors.org.
After my first mentee, Dylan, moved with his family to another part of the state, I waited a year before asking to be matched with another young boy. I had grown very fond of Dylan and did not want to just “replace” him as one would a car or a pair of skis. I was also concerned that I might be tempted to compare my new young friend with my first mentee.
I mention this because it is a dimension of mentoring that I had not expected, the relationship develops into a friendship which shapes, not only my time, but also my life. Not having children of my own, and having left teaching grade school over 40 years ago, I had not had the opportunity to see how I interact with a young boy on a regular basis. Aspects of myself were revealed to me that otherwise may have lay hidden. Also, having the opportunity to get a glimpse of the world mediated through the eyes and experience of a 10 year old, broadened and deepened my own experience. In that year's hiatus, I realized that I missed that relationship and that dimension of living.
Clearly, mentoring is not just about doing something useful and, hopefully helpful for and with a young person, or about providing enriching experiences for someone who may not otherwise have them. Mentoring is the development of a relationship that is mutually beneficial and rewarding, like any good friendship.
When Samuel and I first met, I asked him to make a list of things he would like to do. “Look at the stars” was at the top, followed by going to museums – I knew right there that we were well matched. He also had on his list “visit the Humane Society,” so, like me, he also loves animals. “Hiking” was there as well – it doesn't get much better than this.
We are going through the list and adding more activities as we get to know one another and find ways to have a good time together. A friend, hearing about his list, offered us her telescope, which we are learning to use. Thanks to Samuel, I have visited the Montshire Museum, a truly wonderful place, where I saw his preferred mode of leaning, kinesthetic. Thanks to him, we built a birdhouse that is far more imaginative than I alone would have conjured up. I call him “eagle eye;” he sees things in the woods that I would pass by without noticing. I have also seen how a young boy, contrary to the stereotype, can be kind and gentle to a degree that is almost breathtaking.
I guess I needed the year away from mentoring, but when I pick up Samuel at school on Thursdays and he asks what we are doing today, I am grateful that I did not wait longer.
There are many boys and girls waiting for a special friend. Based on my experience, it is likely that many adults do not know that such a friendship is the very thing they need to retrieve a sense of possibility and hope for a better world.
You may be one of those adults, visit www.mobiusmentors.org to find a program in your community.
Sincerely,
Joseph Gainza
Joseph Gainza has been a mentor with Twinfield Together Mentoring Program since 2012. For more information about joining the Twinfield Together Mentoring Program, visit www.twinfieldtogether.net. To learn more about other mentoring programs throughout Vermont, visit www.mobiusmentors.org.
Relationships Make a Difference
Opinion
Hardwick Gazette, September 30, 2015
Times Argus October 3, 2015
This fall, education in Vermont has been a hot topic, often leaving many of us wondering what to do right now to help our students, children and neighbors succeed and be happy in school. I believe the answer lies in one word: relationships.
As the director of Twinfield Together Mentoring Program, I get to see firsthand how much joy and enthusiasm mentoring relationships bring to the students at Twinfield. Connecting youth to a caring role model can really make a difference in a child’s life. I know this because of the kids who jump for joy when they see that their Everybody Wins! mentor is there to read with them, and because of the parent who tells me that their child’s mentoring days are the best day of the week for that child.
I could go on with stories of what I see every day, but there is also data to prove that mentoring makes a difference for our youth. Every other year in Vermont, middle school and high school students take the Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey. According to the last three surveys, only about half of the members of the general youth population feel like they “matter to people in their community.” In contrast, the 2015 Vermont mentoring surveys revealed that 79 percent of youth who are matched with an adult mentor feel like they “matter to people in their community.”
This statistic is promising for the 2,300 mentoring pairs currently enrolled through one of more than 140 program sites in Vermont. But what does this mean for all the young Vermonters who are not part of a formal mentoring program? September was Attendance Awareness Month, a national effort to bring awareness of the importance of attendance and its role in academic achievement. This national campaign states the obvious: The more kids are interested and engaged in school, the more likely they are to attend. I know from working at a great school like Twinfield that schools are doing what they can to make school interesting and engaging. As a former educator and mother of three school-aged children, I also know schools cannot do it alone. They need the support and investment of individual community members.
I believe connecting our youth with a caring adult, or older student mentor who cares about them and believes in them, is an investment that will last a lifetime. The reason I am speaking out is because I hope in Vermont we can talk about what we can do as individuals to support our youth, our local schools and community.
National data from Big Brothers Big Sisters and the National Mentoring Partnership tells us that youth who have a mentor are less likely to skip school and more likely to go on to pursue postsecondary education. Mentoring is a powerful and meaningful way to make a difference, and there are many opportunities to get involved all across the state. If you are interested in finding out how you can support mentoring in your community, visit Mobius, Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership, at mobiusmentors.org.
Pam Quinn is program director of Twinfield Together Mentoring Program and a board member of Mobius, Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership.
Hardwick Gazette, September 30, 2015
Times Argus October 3, 2015
This fall, education in Vermont has been a hot topic, often leaving many of us wondering what to do right now to help our students, children and neighbors succeed and be happy in school. I believe the answer lies in one word: relationships.
As the director of Twinfield Together Mentoring Program, I get to see firsthand how much joy and enthusiasm mentoring relationships bring to the students at Twinfield. Connecting youth to a caring role model can really make a difference in a child’s life. I know this because of the kids who jump for joy when they see that their Everybody Wins! mentor is there to read with them, and because of the parent who tells me that their child’s mentoring days are the best day of the week for that child.
I could go on with stories of what I see every day, but there is also data to prove that mentoring makes a difference for our youth. Every other year in Vermont, middle school and high school students take the Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey. According to the last three surveys, only about half of the members of the general youth population feel like they “matter to people in their community.” In contrast, the 2015 Vermont mentoring surveys revealed that 79 percent of youth who are matched with an adult mentor feel like they “matter to people in their community.”
This statistic is promising for the 2,300 mentoring pairs currently enrolled through one of more than 140 program sites in Vermont. But what does this mean for all the young Vermonters who are not part of a formal mentoring program? September was Attendance Awareness Month, a national effort to bring awareness of the importance of attendance and its role in academic achievement. This national campaign states the obvious: The more kids are interested and engaged in school, the more likely they are to attend. I know from working at a great school like Twinfield that schools are doing what they can to make school interesting and engaging. As a former educator and mother of three school-aged children, I also know schools cannot do it alone. They need the support and investment of individual community members.
I believe connecting our youth with a caring adult, or older student mentor who cares about them and believes in them, is an investment that will last a lifetime. The reason I am speaking out is because I hope in Vermont we can talk about what we can do as individuals to support our youth, our local schools and community.
National data from Big Brothers Big Sisters and the National Mentoring Partnership tells us that youth who have a mentor are less likely to skip school and more likely to go on to pursue postsecondary education. Mentoring is a powerful and meaningful way to make a difference, and there are many opportunities to get involved all across the state. If you are interested in finding out how you can support mentoring in your community, visit Mobius, Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership, at mobiusmentors.org.
Pam Quinn is program director of Twinfield Together Mentoring Program and a board member of Mobius, Vermont’s Mentoring Partnership.
At Twinfield, mentoring boosts all ages
Montpelier Times Argus: May 10, 2014
Times Argus Staff Writer: Amy Ash Nixon Date: May 10, 2014 Section: NEWS Photo: Jeb Wallace
MARSHFIELD — Pam Quinn was near the entryway of Twinfield Union School late Thursday morning when a little boy ran by and yelled, “Mentor!” The child is soon to be partnered with an adult in a mentoring program Quinn oversees at the school. He’s so excited about getting a mentor of his own, she said, he has taken to addressing her by the title of mentor. She sees it as a positive sign of how mentoring is perceived at the school.
“We have many children that request mentors. Having a mentor is seen as a privilege, and there is no apparent stigma attached to having a mentor,” said Quinn.
A table in the entryway has off-white cloth bags filled with books, like one for Jerrie and Selena. Mentor Jerrie Nash, of Marshfield, is semi- retired, and her mentee is 6-year-old first-grader Selena Lamery. The pair ate lunch together Thursday while reading about Jane Goodall, a scientist who worked with gorillas and taught the world about them.
“I like mentoring,” said Nash. “I think it’s a great program. I think it’s nice for almost any child to have someone who is not their parent — another adult friend.”
Jolie Zumba, 8, a third-grader, enjoyed making a Mother’s Day card with her mentor, Andrea Carbonneau.
“I really like reading and getting to do crafts together,” Jolie said while eating lunch. She said her mentor does not tell her what to do and doesn’t assign homework. They just enjoy time together, and she looks forward to their visits. “She’s really nice,” she said, smiling.
Library media/technology integrationist Maria Forman said of the program, “It’s just wonderful, the relationships that it builds. The kids have grown so much. I really see a carry-over in their daily lives. It also brings the community into the school.”
Dave Boyer, of Plainfield, sat in the library with his mentee, 5-year-old, Wesley Barlow, a kindergartner. Wesley was wearing cool 3-D glasses while listening to a story.
“He tells really, really silly jokes,” Wesley said of his mentor, sharing one: “What do you call a sleeping bull? A bulldozer!”
The school is always looking for new community volunteers, said Quinn, the program’s director. Interested people can contact the school and ask for her.
Twinfield Together Mentoring Program began in 2009, said Quinn. “We are funded through grants, school support, individual donors and fundraising efforts,” she said. The school contributes about $5,000 annually, and she applies for grants to fund the program to keep two aspects of the mentoring — one literacy-based and the other community-based — going.
The program expanded in 2012 to include the literacy-based component, called Everybody Wins! Vermont. It brings mentoring partnerships to the youngest children in the school with the hope that a mentoring pair will eventually move to community-based mentoring and continue throughout the child’s education.
The school is highly unusual, said Quinn, in hosting a mentoring program and its staff in-house. She is a school employee.
“Twinfield is the only Vermont school with both a literacy-based and a community-based mentoring program,” she said. “These companion programs operate under the same umbrella and are an integral part of the school. It is a model that other mentoring programs are just beginning to envision.”
The programs support 36 one-on-one mentoring matches, said Quinn, with children as young as kindergarten at school and community partnerships extending all the way through some students’ senior year.
“Twinfield Together Mentoring Program believes that every child that wants a mentor should have a mentor,” she said.
Everybody Wins! Vermont Executive Director Bonnie Farro, whose organization partners with Twinfield, said, “Research shows that the benefits of mentoring are stronger when children are matched younger and the relationship is long-term. Everybody Wins! Vermont’s partnership with Twinfield’s mentoring program provides an opportunity for our mentoring matches to last longer and move beyond elementary school when the Everybody Wins! Vermont program traditionally ends.”
Rick Levy is one of the Everybody Wins! Vermont mentors. “When I was mentoring a youngster after school, which I did for three years, he brightened my day,” said Levy. “We did things together which I never would have done alone, and we shared some of the funniest times and comments I can remember. In mentoring him, I helped myself enjoy life.”
Levy, who is 74 and retired, said both he and the student benefit.
“We talk, we argue, we point out things we see and read about to each other. I guess to sum up the experience, I feel so much younger when involved with youth. It’s way better than blood pressure meds.”
amy.nixon @timesargus.com Copyright, 2014, The Times Argus
MARSHFIELD — Pam Quinn was near the entryway of Twinfield Union School late Thursday morning when a little boy ran by and yelled, “Mentor!” The child is soon to be partnered with an adult in a mentoring program Quinn oversees at the school. He’s so excited about getting a mentor of his own, she said, he has taken to addressing her by the title of mentor. She sees it as a positive sign of how mentoring is perceived at the school.
“We have many children that request mentors. Having a mentor is seen as a privilege, and there is no apparent stigma attached to having a mentor,” said Quinn.
A table in the entryway has off-white cloth bags filled with books, like one for Jerrie and Selena. Mentor Jerrie Nash, of Marshfield, is semi- retired, and her mentee is 6-year-old first-grader Selena Lamery. The pair ate lunch together Thursday while reading about Jane Goodall, a scientist who worked with gorillas and taught the world about them.
“I like mentoring,” said Nash. “I think it’s a great program. I think it’s nice for almost any child to have someone who is not their parent — another adult friend.”
Jolie Zumba, 8, a third-grader, enjoyed making a Mother’s Day card with her mentor, Andrea Carbonneau.
“I really like reading and getting to do crafts together,” Jolie said while eating lunch. She said her mentor does not tell her what to do and doesn’t assign homework. They just enjoy time together, and she looks forward to their visits. “She’s really nice,” she said, smiling.
Library media/technology integrationist Maria Forman said of the program, “It’s just wonderful, the relationships that it builds. The kids have grown so much. I really see a carry-over in their daily lives. It also brings the community into the school.”
Dave Boyer, of Plainfield, sat in the library with his mentee, 5-year-old, Wesley Barlow, a kindergartner. Wesley was wearing cool 3-D glasses while listening to a story.
“He tells really, really silly jokes,” Wesley said of his mentor, sharing one: “What do you call a sleeping bull? A bulldozer!”
The school is always looking for new community volunteers, said Quinn, the program’s director. Interested people can contact the school and ask for her.
Twinfield Together Mentoring Program began in 2009, said Quinn. “We are funded through grants, school support, individual donors and fundraising efforts,” she said. The school contributes about $5,000 annually, and she applies for grants to fund the program to keep two aspects of the mentoring — one literacy-based and the other community-based — going.
The program expanded in 2012 to include the literacy-based component, called Everybody Wins! Vermont. It brings mentoring partnerships to the youngest children in the school with the hope that a mentoring pair will eventually move to community-based mentoring and continue throughout the child’s education.
The school is highly unusual, said Quinn, in hosting a mentoring program and its staff in-house. She is a school employee.
“Twinfield is the only Vermont school with both a literacy-based and a community-based mentoring program,” she said. “These companion programs operate under the same umbrella and are an integral part of the school. It is a model that other mentoring programs are just beginning to envision.”
The programs support 36 one-on-one mentoring matches, said Quinn, with children as young as kindergarten at school and community partnerships extending all the way through some students’ senior year.
“Twinfield Together Mentoring Program believes that every child that wants a mentor should have a mentor,” she said.
Everybody Wins! Vermont Executive Director Bonnie Farro, whose organization partners with Twinfield, said, “Research shows that the benefits of mentoring are stronger when children are matched younger and the relationship is long-term. Everybody Wins! Vermont’s partnership with Twinfield’s mentoring program provides an opportunity for our mentoring matches to last longer and move beyond elementary school when the Everybody Wins! Vermont program traditionally ends.”
Rick Levy is one of the Everybody Wins! Vermont mentors. “When I was mentoring a youngster after school, which I did for three years, he brightened my day,” said Levy. “We did things together which I never would have done alone, and we shared some of the funniest times and comments I can remember. In mentoring him, I helped myself enjoy life.”
Levy, who is 74 and retired, said both he and the student benefit.
“We talk, we argue, we point out things we see and read about to each other. I guess to sum up the experience, I feel so much younger when involved with youth. It’s way better than blood pressure meds.”
amy.nixon @timesargus.com Copyright, 2014, The Times Argus
