Time is All Students Need

Suzanne Najim spends two days a week volunteering with Communities In Schools of Arizona. In addition to being a tutor with All Star Kids Tutoring reading program she also serves as a mentor for Eve*, an 8th grader at a middle school in the Washington School District. For a year now, the pair has spent time doing a variety of things - working on science projects, playing basketball and sharing a slice at Peter Piper Pizza. "No matter what we're doing, we're always talking," says Suzanne. "She's very open with me," Suzanne says of her mentee Eve. "In our time together she just likes to talk. she looks to me as another positive adult in her life." Eve is not the only one that has gained something through the pair's growing friendship. "I wish I was more like her when I was her age. There's a lot to admire," Suzanne explains. "She's very fair and non-judgmental. She handles things with a very adult mind." Because of Eve's life experiences, she's able to share a new perspective with Suzanne through talking about her concerns and joys. Suzanne recalls a story she heard from Eve about her experience with snow. Eve's family spent the day playing in the snow and "had a blast," Suzanne remembers. Hearing Eve speak about this family trip reminded Suzanne of her own childhood and playing in the snow. Although, just being an adult there to listen may seem minimal, Suzanne knows the true value of giving her time to these children. "It's worth the time. Time is all they need - undivided attention," Suzanne explains. "Sometimes they need to know they're valued and someone cares." written by Hannah M. Davis * = her name has been changed for privacy purposes

Bobby Raths Has the Key to Mentoring

January is National Mentor Month! To show our appreciation for our mentors who volunteer with CIS Arizona we are showcasing mentors during the month of January.

Sitting quietly on a park bench listening is all mentor Bobby Raths needs to do for his mentee Chris*. For Bobby, the key to mentoring is listening.

"Being a good listener is sometimes all they want," says Bobby who has been mentoring a CIS Arizona student for two years. "Just talking about his family and his accomplishments," Bobby explains is one of the pair's favorite activities. "I let him do 70 percent of the talking."

Through listening, they've built a relationship of mutual respect, honesty and patience. Bobby explains there's no time limit when he's with Chris and often the two find themselves hours later still on that same bench.

The topics of their conversations are limitless, spanning from friends and girls to social pressures at school and violence in Chris' neighborhood. "Just surviving," Bobby says when asked what the pair are working on together.

"They see bullet casings in the street," describes Bobby. "People don't realize this goes on," he continues. "When we're done sometimes I have a lump in my stomach knowing he's having a tough time."

Despite the challenges Chris faces outside of school, he remains an upbeat, energetic and comical 15-year-old who is looking at what the future holds for him. He has goals, but Bobby is challenging him with the idea of setting up a plan to meet these goals. "How will [you] achieve this?" Bobby explains of the pair's focus when it comes to goal setting.

A retired teacher, Bobby was often a mentor to younger teachers and students. "I wanted to set them up for success, not failure," he says. He brings that same principle to his mentor relationships with the youth he works with now.

After he left teaching, Bobby turned to mentoring to fill the void left by the absence of the classroom. "I still have something to give," Bobby says of the over 30 years he spent teaching. He uses not only his teaching background, but his own life experiences, failures and mistakes to be a good mentor, proving you don't have to be perfect to make a difference.

Although Bobby has a plethora of knowledge he cautions other mentors, "You can give ideas and ways to make things easier or less stressful. Never preach."

Chris is not the only one gaining something from a mentor relationship. "Patience," Bobby admits is something he's learned from Chris. "Eventually things get done. A lot of times it's at his pace."

Although the rewards aren't tangible, Bobby sees the value in giving his time to help Chris. "A mentor is not a teacher or a parent, not just a friend," he says. "It's something different. They tell you everything."

written by Hannah M. Davis

*=his name has been changed for privacy purposes

CIS Arizona just finished its first fundraising breakfast on February 17th. What a great success!! We raised lots of money, made some great new friends and will be able to serve so many more kids this year. You can still donate. Visit us at cisarizona.org.
We could not have been successful without our great staff of Communty Resource Coordinators, who never get a big enough shout out and all our volunteers. Many thanks to all of you and to all who donated to the cause.

Why We do What We Do

Someone asked the other day, "Why do you guys do what you do? You can't make a dent in the actual problem." It's not an unusual belief but it should not stop us. Every single one of us in every single move we make every single day can make a difference in the lives of those around us. And with a targeted effort, the difference we can make in the lives of needy children is immeasurable.

How about an example? We at Communities In Schools of Arizona just finished with the Supplies 4 Students program, which is one of our success stories every year. Lloyd runs this program with all the finesse and dedication that is his hallmark. In his report he writes, "We continued to move away from the previous years' structure of having a drive in the Arizona Mills Mall. Because the mall drive was volunteer intensive and only resulted in the collection of several hundred backpacks, we chose to focus on business drives, which have always been a major contributor to the program."

To date, and donations are still coming in, our partners and individuals collected over 2200 backpacks stuffed with supplies to distribute to needy students at 21 valley schools and community centers. We had a surplus of supplies once the backpacks were stuffed and each school received extra bags and boxes of pencils, crayons, glue, paper and such. Overall there were 151 volunteers who put in over 1652 hours of time to prepare the backpacks for pickup and distribution to the kids.

And we can't make a difference? We can all make a difference. Here's a story.

Looking through the thank you notes we receive each year from the students, there was one from a little girl. She writes of how much she loves her backpack and is surprised that is filled with beautiful brand new pens, pencils and the like. She loves that it is pink. But what she loves most of all is that she is going to give it to her little sister, who is starting kindergarten this year and has no backpack, no pencils, crayons or glue. She is grateful that the back pack meant for her can go to her little sister who she sees as more in need.

That's how we make a difference each and every day and that's how we make a dent in the problem. Our little dent made a huge diffference for that little girl and her sister. As they say, "pay it forward." Some of us learn that in grade school in the simple act of passing on a backpack to a sibling. Some of us learn it when we come face to face with poverty, abuse or lack. And some of us are lucky enough to have a job that makes a difference every day of our lives.

Blessings to you and yours. Remember Communities In Schools of Arizona. Pay it forward. Pass it on.

First Friday!

We went to our very first First Friday for CIS Arizona & AmeriCorps VISTA. It was amazing.

The people there were friendly. We had a balloon monkey given to us. Teachers & parents wanted to know who we (CIS) was. Students wanted to get involved with AmeriCorps. People wanted to know about our volunteer opportunities.

The best part was when FOX news strolled by and interviewed Lloyd Hopkins, one of the directors for the state office of CIS. He was talking about National Service and what the VISTAs (Jenn, Diana, Chris, & Caly) were doing.

We had a hippo bank that broke. He was taking donations for a table for next first Friday. He was equally successful.

First Friday is fun!