Outstanding mentors honored at community breakfast

Photo by harald hohendorf

GRATITUDE. Cheryl Bostic receives a certificate of appreciation from Doug Baxter, chair of Pierce County Mentorship Partnership.

Outstanding mentors of Pierce County were honored Jan. 14 at a community mentoring breakfast at the Landmark Convention Center. The event, organized by the Pierce County Mentoring Partnership (PCMP), featured keynote speakers Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen and Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank E. Cuthbertson.

Outstanding mentors honored were Holliann White, Communities in Schools of Lakewood; Glen Weiman, Mentor 253, Northwest Leadership Foundation; Kya Miller, Girls Reclaiming Individual Purpose in Society; Quentin Silbernagel, Washington State University, Pierce County Extension 4-H; Kandi Horton, Communities in Schools Peninsula; Cheryl Bostic, Washington Youth Academy; Bobbie Watkins, Harvard Covenant Church KidREACH; Jose Guzman, World Vision Youth Empowerment Project and Christine Laybourn, Palmer Scholars.

During introductory remarks, Rick Enloe, pastor of Harborview Christian Church in Gig Harbor, said there are approximately 240,000 kids in Washington that need mentors. Currently, about 30,000 kids are already matched with a mentor through a mentorship program. These figures show the evident need for more adults to make a commitment to mentoring a child.

Owen quoted from Governor Christine Gregoire’s proclamation declaring the State of Washington’s observance of January as Mentoring Month. The proclamation showcases the benefits of mentoring: “…research shows that mentoring has a definitive impact on young people by increasing attendance in school, improving rates of high school graduation and college attendance, and decreasing involvement with drugs, alcohol, and violent behaviors…” The proclamation includes a call to all adults across the nation to become involved in mentoring programs.

Cuthbertson spoke about the approximately 1,500 children in the welfare system in Pierce County. As the economy worsens, this number increases. These are kids that are in foster care and in volunteer placements, generally with extended family. Cuthbertson estimates that 90 percent of kids he comes into contact with in the judicial system are missing either one or both parents. He estimates another 15 percent of kids in detention are there because there is no responsible adult, or their parents refuse to pick them up.

Cuthbertson went on to discuss the factors that make mentoring partnerships so successful. First of all, a child needs at least one adult with whom they are close, and who believes in them. A good mentor will recognize the child’s strengths, and set high and attainable expectations for the child. A mentor provides a child with hope, when often they are living in negative situations, with family members affected by substance abuse and violence in the home. And, finally, a child needs to be given an opportunity to contribute, which dramatically and positively improves his or her sense of self worth and achievement.

The Pierce County Mentorship Partnership’s mission statement sums its important work best: “The…partnership brings together mentoring organizations to enhance collaboration, promote and support the use of best practices, coordinate marketing efforts, and work together to provide expanded training opportunities to mentors.” The PCMP’s vision is to provide all children with access to quality mentoring programs.

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