Celebrating 10 years as a mentor

Every Thursday morning after I drop my kids off at school I stick around to spend a half-hour as a SKIP mentor working one-on-one with a child who needs help reading. I've been doing that for 10 years, not always on Thursday and not always at Britton-Macon Area School. I can't take credit for starting the tradition of mentoring through my work here at the Herald. I carry the tradition on from previous Herald staff writer and editor Melissa Cunningham, who started volunteering at Britton when the program began as HOSTS.

My start was at Sutton school. Somehow, then coordinator Bonnie Downing snagged me away before the Britton staff got to me. I was still getting acclamated as a cub reporter. The next year, I figured it would be better to volunteer once a week on my beat, where I could better get to know the people there while doing some good. That's where I've been ever since. There are a good number of community members who join me and SKIP Coordinator Cookie Smith-Kish to help kids learn to read. The attached video highlights just a few of my fellow mentors and why they've consistantly returned to mentor each year.