[ShareTompkins] Fwd: Mentoring teens who need to "rise out" of school.

Wed Sep 22 14:33:58 UTC 2010

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Jessica Brown <nariah at gmail.com>
> Date: September 21, 2010 10:28:57 PM EDT
> To: HSC Serve <TC-HSC-L at cornell.edu>
> Subject: Mentoring teens who need to "rise out" of school.
> Reply-To: Jessica Brown <nariah at gmail.com>
>
> I have been in touch with Sarabeth and she encouraged me to share  
> this with this list. Please be in touch with her directly - I know  
> nothing more than what she has written here. Thanks.
>
> J
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: Sarabeth Matilsky <sara at cheeber.com>
>> Date: September 21, 2010 4:57:27 PM EDT
>> To: TCunschoolers at yahoogroups.com, funschooling at yahoogroups.com
>> Cc: jonahmeyer at gmail.com
>> Subject: [funschooling] North Star Learning Center, and Mentoring  
>> Teens
>> Reply-To: funschooling at yahoogroups.com
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I just visited North Star in western Massachusetts
>> http://northstarteens.org/ . This is an absolutely, incredibly,
>> indescribably amazing place. North Star helps teens and their  
>> parents to
>> bridge the gap between schooling and homeschooling, but it's not a
>> learning co-op, or even an "alternative school." Most particularly,  
>> it's
>> for helping kids who are miserable in school, to get out. (See North
>> Star's 7 Guiding Principles, pasted below.)
>>
>> Imagine a place that is a sunny, bright community center for 58  
>> really
>> happy teenagers who like to play ping-pong and study capoira and math
>> and current events and circus arts and gaming and travel and  
>> writing and
>> painting and play, and where there are comics on the bathroom  
>> walls, and
>> where people are happy about Being Alive at 10 o'clock on Monday
>> mornings, and where there are tons of awesome mentors hanging
>> around...and you'll get a tiny taste of how cool North Star is. (It's
>> like Not Back to School Camp, but four days per week!)
>>
>> The amazing part is that most of these teens, so obviously thriving  
>> now,
>> were suffering terribly in school until very recently.
>>
>> I want to start a North Star in Ithaca! But I'm not quite there  
>> yet, and
>> I don't have Ken Danford's credentials, experience, or charisma.
>>
>> But it got me thinking: I am totally qualified to mentor a  
>> homeschooling
>> teenager on the topic of homeschooling, and so I've got a new,
>> grassroots goal for this year: I want to help a teenager rise out  
>> of school.
>>
>>
>>
>> Can you help me find this teenager? Please e-mail me off-list if you
>> know of a potential high-school rise-out who might benefit from an  
>> adult
>> homeschooling mentor in the spirit of North Star.
>>
>> I would not charge for my services, since this would be my first  
>> client,
>> and I'm thinking that I would meet with a teen and his or her family
>> once or twice per week to start.
>>
>> My Qualifications:
>>
>> --I am a lifelong homeschooler, and a homeschooling mom.
>> --I have read and written extensively on the topic of homeschooling.
>> --I can offer support for a family who is new to homeschooling, and  
>> who
>> has questions about how it all works in general, and how their teen
>> could learn, be successful, and thrive outside of school.
>> --I have worked for Not Back to School Camp (as well as other teen
>> organizations) for over twelve years, and love working with teens.
>>
>> Necessary Qualifications for a Teenage Mentor-ee:
>>
>> --Must be currently in school, but highly motivated to leave.
>> --Must be independent and capable.
>> --Must be in need of logistical, emotional, and/or creative support  
>> in
>> order to rise out of high school.
>>
>> Necessary Qualifications for a Teenage Mentor-ee's Parent(s):
>>
>> --Must be willing to entertain the idea of their teen  
>> homeschooling, and
>> be willing to work with their teen and me to make it possible.
>>
>> Thanks for reading!
>> --Sarabeth Matilsky
>> 607-330-1201
>>
>>
>> ----
>>
>> North Star for Teens
>>
>> Guiding Principles
>> Seven Principles that Inform Our Work at North Star
>>
>> 1 Young people want to learn.
>>
>> Human beings are learning creatures. We donï¿½t have to persuade  
>> babies to
>> be curious and to seek competence and understanding. The same can  
>> be l
>> true of teenagers. Rather than trying to motivate teenagers, we  
>> support
>> their basic human drive to learn and grow. Where obstacles ï¿½  
>> internal or
>> external ï¿½ have gotten in the way of this intrinsic drive, we  
>> focus on
>> helping teenagers overcome or remove these obstacles.
>>
>> 2  Learning happens everywhere.
>>
>> Conventional wisdom says that children ï¿½go to school to learn,ï¿½  
>> as
>> though learning can only occur in places specially designed for that
>> purpose. We believe that people learn all the time and in all kinds  
>> of
>> places. It doesnï¿½t have to look like school or feel like school  
>> to be
>> valuable, and itï¿½s not necessary to make distinctions between
>> ï¿½schoolworkï¿½ and ï¿½your own hobbiesï¿½ or ï¿½for creditï¿½ and  
>> ï¿½not for
>> credit.ï¿½ As one teenager who had recently left school observed,
>> ï¿½Everything I do counts now.ï¿½
>>
>> 3  It really is OK to leave school.
>>
>> Many young people who are miserable in school ï¿½ academically or  
>> socially
>> ï¿½ stay because they believe that leaving school will rule out (or  
>> at
>> least diminish) the possibility of a successful future. We believe  
>> that
>> young people can achieve a meaningful and successful adulthood  
>> without
>> going to school. Weï¿½ve seen it happen, over and over again.
>>
>> 4  How people behave under one set of circumstances and assumptions  
>> does
>> not predict how they will behave under a very different set of
>> circumstances and assumptions.
>>
>> School success or failure is not necessarily a predictor of a  
>> childï¿½s
>> potential for success or failure outside of school. An unmotivated
>> student may become enthusiastic and committed after sheï¿½s left  
>> school. A
>> student who doesnï¿½t thrive in a classroom environment may become
>> successful when allowed to learn through apprenticeships or in
>> one-on-one tutorials. When we change the approach, the structure, and
>> the assumptions, all kinds of other changes often follow.
>>
>> 5  Structure communicates as powerfully as words ï¿½ and often more
>> powerfully.
>>
>> Itï¿½s not enough to tell kids that we want them to be self- 
>> motivated, or
>> that we want them to value learning for its own sake, if the  
>> structure
>> of their lives and their educations is actually communicating the
>> opposite message. Voluntary (rather than compulsory) classes, the
>> ability to choose what one studies rather than following a required
>> curriculum, and the absence of tests and grades all contribute to a
>> structure that supports and facilitates intrinsic motivation and
>> self-directed learning.
>>
>> 6  As adults working with young people, we should mostly strive to  
>> ï¿½make
>> possibleï¿½ rather than ï¿½make sure.ï¿½
>>
>> Most of the time, we canï¿½t truly make sure that young people  
>> learn any
>> particular thing ï¿½ learning just doesnï¿½t work that way. A group  
>> of
>> adults can decide that all fifth graders should learn fractions, but
>> when it comes to each individual childï¿½s genuine understanding and
>> retention, we canï¿½t actually make it happen or guarantee that it  
>> will
>> happen. As adults, what we can do, however, is try to make things
>> possible for young people ï¿½ provide access, offer opportunity,  
>> figure
>> out what kind of support will be most helpful, do whatever we can to
>> help navigate the challenges and problems that arise.
>>
>> 7  The best preparation for a meaningful and productive future is a
>> meaningful and productive present.
>>
>> Too often, education is thought of in terms of preparation: ï¿½Do  
>> this
>> now, even if it doesnï¿½t feel connected to your most pressing  
>> interests
>> and concerns, because later on youï¿½ll find it useful.ï¿½ We  
>> believe that
>> helping teenagers to figure out what seems interesting and worth  
>> doing
>> right now, in their current lives, is also the best way to help them
>> develop self-knowledge and experience at figuring out what kind of  
>> life
>> they want and what they need to do or learn in order to create that
>> life. In other words, itï¿½s the best preparation for their futures.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
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