Waiting for Superman documentary - discuss how it helps volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs

[Daniel Bassill]

Last weekend the Waiting for Superman movie opened. It's purpose is to focus attention on a broken public education system and bring people together to build a better one.

Have you seen it? Have you visited the WOF web site to join the discussion and learn from the resources provided? 

I wrote about the movie on my blog after I saw it in July.  While this movie focuses on what happens in schools, what is it doing to help non-school tutor/mentor programs attract the resources each needs to influence what happens in the non-school hours, away from schools?

Share your thoughts and share any media articles or blog posts that you find that relate to this.

[Daniel Bassill]

Here's an Op-Ed piece in the Sept. 22 Los AngelesTimes , "Bridging the African-American 'Achievement Gap' in
Education." It mentions Big Brothers and Friends of Youth, but does not advocate for readers to support these programs as volunteers, leaders and donors.

[Daniel Bassill]

This is a blog article I read today from The Youth Mentoring Connection in California.

[Karina Walker]

Dan, I read Tony LoRe's blog article and really liked what he has to say about inserting conversations about mentoring into the very public dialogue surrounding "Waiting for Superman." I realize Tony is in California, but do you think he might ever consider being a keynote for our November Conference? Even though the Conference is over a month after the film's release, it seems like the themes addressed will still be timely--especially as programs seek ways to leverage support and donations during the season of year-end and holiday giving.

[Daniel Bassill]

I posted a note on his blog to reinforce what he wrote, and to build a connection. He might be someone to invite to host one of the on-line discussions during/after the conference.

[Daniel Bassill]

Here is another article posted on Fireside Learning that I feel should be read as you're all discussing Waiting for Superman.

[Daniel Bassill]

Here's a post showing how Mass Mentoring Partnership has encouraged dialog about mentoring following the movie. http://massmentors.org/news/waiting-superman

[Daniel Bassill]

Here's a place on the Mentor Exchange forum where I'm trying to get a discussion going about mentoring and the Waiting for Superman movie.

[Daniel Bassill]

Here's a commentary from the leader of The Afterschool Network in New York City.

[Daniel Bassill]

Another article abut Waiting for Superman

[Daniel Bassill]

Feel free to use America’s Promise Alliance's brand new Discussion Guide to help you host a discussion around Waiting for "Superman."

This Discussion Guide is a tool to engage your community in conversation about your local education system and how individuals can make a difference. Agreeing to host a screening and discussion will enable you to both leverage and advance the mentoring work you do — whether that means re-energizing your current team, engaging additional partners, finding funders or recruiting volunteers. By using this guide, you have the opportunity to raise awareness about your work and recruit additional stakeholders to help you change the trajectory for many young people in your community. The link to the Discussion Guide is below.

http://www.americaspromise.org/Our-Work/Grad-Nation/Waiting-for-Sup...

[Daniel Bassill]

Here's another article following Waiting for Superman. It talks about other kinds of "waiting lists".

If there are too few tutor/mentor programs in a neighborhood, or the ones that exist are full, and cannot handle more kids, wouldn't this also create a "waiting list". Use the interactive tutor/mentor program locator to look at poverty maps, and locations of poorly performing schools in Chicago. There are not enough tutor/mentor programs in most of these neighborhoods.

[Daniel Bassill]

This Waiting for Superman article talks about innovation outside the classroom