Smart Futures

Innovative career education programs for Pennsylvania's education community

Archive for category PA eMentoring

Dignity + Respect = Inclusion

Oct 5

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On Thursday October 1st, UPMC along with the city of Pittsburgh declared the month of October “Dignity and Respect” month. For the entire month, people are encouraged to follow 30 tips in order to promote dignity and respect in the community.

According to the community initiative, “Dignity and respect are crucial to building and sustaining an environment in which everyone feels included, valued, and appreciated.” Smart Futures not only supports this cause, but we had the pleasure of attending the first annual opening event as well. During the event, community leaders stressed the importance of including everyone in the community. They proposed the best way to ensure inclusion is by displaying dignity through individual behavior and giving respect to others. At Smart Futures, we agree and have pledged our support to uphold these values.

During the afternoon portion of the event, an education discussion panel presented new ideas and answered questions for a community audience. Romy Banks, Director of Outreach at Smart Futures,  participated on the panel to introduce our PA eMentoring program. We received a lot of great interest in the program and some audience praise from a past eMentor. The event was quite the success and we encourage everyone to pledge their support for dignity and respect in the community.    

For more information go to: www.dignityandrespectcampaign.com

Smart Futures Will Be Attending the PHRA Conference 2009

Sep 28

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On Tuesday September 29 and Wednesday September 30, Smart Futures will be attending the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association 2009 Annual Conference & Exhibition. The event will be hosted at Heinz Field and 60 organizations are scheduled to attend.

The PHRA Conference is a great way to attend educational sessions for human resources and find out more about new human resources innovation. Some of the topics that will be discussed at the event are the latest in regulations, current future and employees trends, and hire to recruit and hire in this labor shortage, legal concerns, etc. For more information go to www.pittsburghhra.org.

At the event, the Smart Futures team will be learning more about effective human resources strategies from the many scheduled discussion sessions. Also, we will be promoting our up and coming PA eMentoring program in the exhibition hall. The program is an attractive way of service for many professionals and we will be glad to assist anyone interested in becoming an eMentor. For more information go to www.pa-mentor.org.

Join us at the PHRA Conference and stop by our booth in the exhibition hall. We are scheduled to be at booth number 31 and a Smart Futures representative will be available all day.

eMentoring proving highly effective in studies

Aug 21

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It’s good to see continued momentum around evaluating the effectiveness of eMentoring vs. in person, face-to-face.

According to an Australian study referenced below:girl on computer

” E-mentoring has been found to be more convenient, more direct and better than face-to-face mentoring, according to a study. ‘E-mail-based communication is almost instant and helps overcome one of the major obstacles to traditional mentoring – participants finding a suitable time to meet,’ said Kim Rickard of Victoria University, who conducted the study.

www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/e-mentoring-highly-effective-study_10066925.html

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School-Based Mentoring; Quick Facts from the Mentoring Partnership

Aug 18

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In school mentoring has shown to have positive impact on kids

In school mentoring has shown to have positive impact on kids

A recent research project conducted by The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania uncovered that the number of schools in our region that have a mentoring program is nearly half compared to the national average. (For more details on this research, go to: http://www.mentoringpittsburgh.org/what-ismentoring_research.aspx)

Specific impacts of mentoring documented by research include:

  • Mentored youth feel greater competence in completing their schoolwork higher levels of classroom engagement and higher grades.
  • School-based mentoring enhances connectedness to schools, peers and society youth have more positive attitudes toward school and teachers.
  • Mentored youth experience improvements in parental relationships and their sense of self-worth.
  • Both one-to-one mentoring and group mentoring result in better school attendance for mentored youth.

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eMentoring and Pittsburgh Pirates

Jul 8

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We at Smart Futures have been pretty busy! Last weekend, we went to a baseball game, Pittsburgh Pirates versus Kansas City Royals, in order to garner interest in our mentoring program, PA eMentoring. We met and talked to some very interesting people! One was an inventor who worked with glass products, one was a teacher in Pennsylvania, and one was an advocate for a local organization. It just goes to show – anyone can become an eMentor.

Some of our affiliates were present at the event as well.

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Here are Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh and Coro Pittsburgh.

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And here we are! The woman on the left is Romy Banks, our Outreach Director, and the woman on the right is Jean, our intern.

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A Plug for Coro Pittsburgh

Jul 1

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Coro Pittsburgh

Thank you to Coro Pittsburgh for being a big supporter of PA eMentoring!  Coro trains civic leaders for a diverse number of positions and is a boon to our community.

Check out the information on their upcoming Fall Leadership Programs!

Women in Leadership (WIL): This is a 12-week, part time experiential program for women interested in improving their leadership skills in the professional world through group projects, personal mentoring, and interviews with influential leaders. Apply by July 31.

Leaders in Learning (LIL): This is a 10-week, part time experiential program dedicated to anyone with a vested interest in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Those who are interested in creating opportunities for regional transformation in education should apply by July 22.

Running for Public Office (RPO) : This is a 12-week, part time experiential program for those interested in strengthening citizen participation in public elections. Participants will learn how to get involved in electoral campaigns or run for public office by developing mock campaigns. Apply by August 10.

Coro Pittsburgh’s LEADERSHIP LUNCHEON SERIES concludes July 7, 2009 at Mallorca with Dr. Linda Lane, Deputy Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Have lunch with the region’s key leaders, network with your peers, and learn how to be involved in your community!

For more information on this and other programs visit the Coro site, or contact Misti McKeehen at mmckeehen@coropittsburgh.org or 412.258.2676.

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PA eMentoring Featured by Coro Pittsburgh

Jun 15

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Coro Pittsburgh, a nonprofit organization looking to advance effective leaders who are committed to civic engagement, has posted a piece about our eMentoring program on their blog! Here is a short segment from the article, written by Allison Quinn.

The choices I was up against, like choosing a profession, looked so ominous because I didn’t know how to face them. After talking to someone who had experience with these types of decisions, I felt more capable and up to the challenge to deal with future professional choices intelligently. That is why eMentoring is such a great program, because the program allows adults to mentor high school students in an intimidating and pivotal time in their lives, and help them tackle the future with confidence and intelligence.

Read the rest of the article here.

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PA eMentoring Hits the Compact Quarterly

Apr 20

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The Allegheny Conference on Community Development recently published an article about us in the Pittsburgh Regional Compact in the Spring 2009 Quarterly publication. Below is a short segment about one of their employees who decided to sign up for eMentoring – and loved it!

Paul Leger, senior vice president of the workforce quality program at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, is one business professional who decided that he could find ten minutes per week to share his story with a mentee. Leger signed up and got connected. His mentee thought that he knew where he wanted to go, how to get there, and what opportunities would be available to him. But Leger was able to provide fresh perspective for his mentee by sharing his own post-high school journey and the career paths he pursued.

Leger helped his mentee look at college and career choices through different lenses so that the student is less likely to experience career disappointment and regret later in life.

“I got a new perspective on the need to use ‘career education’ to expose students to many of the options available to them – options that can shape their futures. Students must find out what kinds of training are needed for the career areas that they find interesting. My experience with high school students shows me that they do not have a broad sense of the possibilities for the future. They need much more exposure to the variety of available careers so that they can make informed choices when they graduate. It is sad to meet individuals who are middle aged and to hear them say, ‘I wish I had known …’ when reflecting on an unsatisfying career choice. That disappointment shouldn’t happen to students who really look at all of the possibilities,” said Leger.

Read the full article here!

eMentoring hits Pop City

Apr 20

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Pop City, a weekly e-magazine that offers an alternative view on Pittsburgh, has recently published a short piece on us. Check it out here!

We have already received many mentor sign-ups from this.

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PA eMentoring’s 2008-9 Rollout A Success

Apr 1

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As many of you are aware, during this 2008-9 academic year Smart Futures piloted the rollout of a “souped up” version of our PA eMentoring program, an online college and career mentoring program for high school students that has the potential to engage large numbers of employers, high schools, and community based organizations in an easy, fun process that yields personalized College and Career Plans for 500 participating mentees.

Central to the project’s success is the adaptation of a 10-module curriculum, aligned to the PA Academic Standards for Career Education and Work, that guides the communication between mentor and mentee, as well as technology upgrades that allow for sophisticated program monitoring and built-in program evaluation.

Key partners in the project include 27 schools districts/schools including Pittsburgh Public Schools, 200 employers including UPMC, American Eagle, and Highmark, and intermediaries the Pittsburgh Regional Compact and the Mentoring Partnership. A full list of participating schools and employers is available at www.pa-ementor.org. The pilot is being supported by local funders including Pittsburgh Foundation, Highmark Healthy High Five Foundation, Buhl Foundation, Grable Foundation, BYN Mellon, Benedum Foundation, Duquesne Light and NexTier.

The pilot has sought to address the core obstacles inherent with expanding traditional mentoring programs: Could enough mentors be recruited? Would mentors see the online relationship as meaningful? Could the mentoring program be implemented easily within a classroom? Would the curriculum enhance the quality and flow of communication? Would the mentee perceive their relationship with their mentor as valuable? Could the process be monitored and evaluated to assure quality outcomes?

I am happy to report that the 2008-9 PA eMentoring rollout is meeting its major goals. Over 500 students have been matched one-to-one with mentors and during a 10-12 week process they have together discussed core issues related to college and career success. The conversations and activities have lead to the creation of a personalized college and career plan for each mentee.
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