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The Pathfinder |
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By Daphne Mitchell In September of 2006, I took over as coordinator of the Louisiana Bridges Program. Recruitment for the second group of mentors and mentees was winding up, but there was still a lot to do to get ready for year two. Once I got my feet on the ground, I began to work with both group A, which we are calling the Bridge Builders and to interview prospective mentors and mentees for group B. Once that was done the race was on to get the new mentoring pairs on the path to success. We began that process by sponsoring a training weekend for mentors and mentees at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, in early December. People came from across the state to participate. The content was useful, and we even managed to work in a lot of fun. Amy Phelps, the national coordinator of this project, and Dr. Clara Carter, from the Maryland Mentoring Partnership gave us a lot of good information, and everyone left Ruston with a desire to work hard at developing a strong mentoring relationship. I should also say that we named Group B the Pavers that weekend, so we have the Builders and the Pavers. Mentoring pairs from both groups got together on the weekend of January 12-14 to receive additional training, to celebrate the end of the Builders' first year in the program, and to welcome the Pavers to the project. This event was held in Shreveport , and after the training session was complete mentoring pairs got together to visit the Shreveport Boardwalk for an afternoon of food, shopping and fun. The weekend ended with a dinner shared by the entire group, and everyone agreed that the time spent together served to strengthen the mentoring relationships as well as to allow the mentees to make new friends among their peers. We are planning additional activities for program participants throughout the year, and I'll provide updates about the progress we are making as time goes by. National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana, Inc. |
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