Here’s a “What if” for all of us, or really each of us, to consider.
What if Joel Brown, the STRIPES Program mentor at both Chippewa Middle School and Mounds View High School were to ask you to speak at one of the bi-weekly group meetings he has with kids in the program after school.
Knowing that the purpose of the STRIPES Program is to instill in kids an understanding of the importance and purpose of an education, what would you want to share with these kids for 30 minutes?
Would you be willing to share your story or your understanding of an aspect of the world they may not have been exposed to yet?
When Al Ramos, Andy Thomas, Anoop Mathur and I met with Joel Brown and Mindy Handberg (Director of Community Partnerships for MV Public Schools) after the August 27 Rotary meeting, we wanted to find out how we as a Rotary club could support the STRIPES Program beyond just dangling our Strive scholarship out there as a motivator for kids to take their education seriously.
While it is true that the STRIPES Program mentors do have a general plan for what they want to cover in their group meetings with students, they also seem to appreciate the wealth of experience our membership can contribute. Although no time slots have been set aside for Rotary speakers, this is clearly an opportunity for us as individuals to meet with these kids to share something about our world to help broaden these kids’ understanding of the world beyond their classrooms.
So, think about it. WHAT IF you were asked to share? Let’s brainstorm, so we can get back to Joel Brown with specific ideas.