Governor’s Mentoring Initiative Update

Governor’s Mentoring Initiative announces partner

Visit Us!

www.flamentoring.org

News You can Use!

Governor’s Mentoring Initiative announces

partnership with GrantStation

The Governor's Initiative partnership with Grant Station will bring you

weekly (free) information on the latest and greatest grants available from

private, business and family foundations

Be on the lookout! If you do not

want the subscription, you may "unsubscribe" upon receipt but they do have

a 98% retention rate and we are very impressed with their information.

For many programs, what we send weekly will be all that you want or need;

however, if you do have a full-time grant writer on board, you may want to

consider joining as a member yourself. For the next two weeks, GrantStation

will allow Florida educational groups access to their information so that you

can determine interest. Check it out:

To begin using GrantStation simply go to the login page at

http://www.grantstation.com/grantstation/member_login.asp and enter

your

username and password.

Your Username and Password are as follows:

User Name: School

Password: 45TNs

Please note that these are case-sensitive and must be entered exactly as

they appear above.

If you are interested in a membership, please let our office know as the rate

of subscription varies according to the volume. Therefore, the more that

purchase from Florida at one time, the less expensive it will be.

Governor’s Mentoring Initiative announces

PowerUP grants

PowerUP sites are eligible for two funding opportunities. For more

information see our website at www.flamentoring.org

Sample News from Around the State

(we love to hear from you!

..be sure and send your info for our website!..we update weekly!)

•

Mentors are the guideposts on the road to success

<http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2002/10/21/smallb3.html>

(10/23/02 © Jacksonville Business Journal)

How do you keep a mentor for years and years? Bring value to the relationship. Here's a

list of guidelines that will grow a

mentoring

relationship: Use them wisely - don't over

use or abuse your privilege. Don't ask your mentors for money. It will prejud...

•

Virtually learning

<http://tcpalm.com/tcp/family/article/0,1651,TCP_1042_1492907,00.html>

(10/21/02 © tcpalm.com)

Parents considering virtual schooling must commit at least 20 hours each week to one-

on-one

mentoring

with each student. "You don't just put your kid on the computer,

you've got to be there every day to make sure everything gets done."

•

Teens find mentors in Youth for Christ

<http://www.polkonline.com/stories/102002/loc_youth.shtml>

(10/20/02 © Winter Haven News Chief)

"We have chosen to work with at-risk, troubled, and hard-to-reach kids in the

community." Youth for Christ provides

mentoring

programs and spiritual guidance, as

well as worship services, to adolescents in juvenile institutions throughout the local area,

including tutoring...

Grants, free stuff and funding opportunities

•

Interested in signing up for the

Florida Department of Education's new electronic

system for funding information

1) On your computer, access the Internet and type in:

<http://www.myfloridaeducation.com/>

Click on

Official Communications

Choose "Signup for Email Notices". Click on that, then follow the directions!

For FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES click in the "Publications" section of any "Interest

Area".

•

The US DOE's

Partnerships in Character Education

program

(<http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/10-2002/10232002.html>) seeks to establish

character education programs for youth, with a focus on caring, civic virtue and

citizenship, justice and fairness, respect, responsibility, and trustworthiness. Programs

are measured according to their success in reducing discipline problems and improving

student grades, increasing participation in extracurricular activities, and strengthening

parent and community involvement.

•

Empower Youth Youth Venture

is offering

up to $1,000 in seed capital to help young

people ages 12-20 launch civic-minded organizations, clubs or businesses. A national

not-for-profit that empowers young people, Youth Venture provides access to a variety of

resources, including scholarships, awards, invitations to special conferences, a national

network of like-minded young people, media opportunities, and technical allies. For

additional information, visit www.youthventure.org <http://www.youthventure.org>. To

learn how you can work with Youth Venture, please send e-mail info@youthventure.org

<mailto:info@youthventure.org> or call (703) 527-4126.

•

Be sure to review the revised

FY 2002 Grants Forecast from the US

DOE

(

<http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO/grants/forecast.html>), which lists virtually all

programs and competitions under which the Department has invited or expects to invite

applications for new awards and provides actual or estimated dates for the transmittal of

applications under these programs.

Awards

•

The

Very Best In Youth program

, sponsored by Nestlé and Reading Is Fundamental

(RIF), honors the achievements of young people between 9 and 18 who are readers,

recognize the importance of reading in their lives and work hard to improve their

communities. From the many applications submitted, 30 young people will be selected

by a panel of educators and business leaders to be honored by this program. The

honorees will be featured in an official awards publication, receive an all-expense-paid

trip to Los Angeles for an awards ceremony in July, 2003, and $1,000 to be donated to

the charity of their choice. For a copy of this year's Nestlé Very Best In Youth program

application, please visit: <www.rif.org/news/events/vbiy2003.html>.

•

The

Governor’ Points of Lights Award

is presented weekly to a Florida resident or

organization that demonstrates exemplary service to the community. Awards are given

to volunteers of all ages. Nominations for this award may be submitted on an ongoing

basis. If you know of anyone deserving this prestigious award and would like to submit a

nomination form, contact the Governor’s Points of Light office at (850)921-5172.

•

Recognize your young volunteers with the

President's Student Service Awards

. Make

them a part of every ceremony and special event! For more information on the

President's Student Service Awards or the President's Student Service Scholarships,

please visit: www.student-service-awards.org

Facts You can Use

•

According to National Points of Light, the latest listing for the

hourly rate for volunteer

services is $16.05 an hour

... for up to date information, please check out this website...

http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/volunteer_time.html

•

Poor school performance is linked to father absence

. According to one study

involving the parents of 16,910 children from Kindergarten through 12th grade, children

whose fathers maintain a low level of involvement in their education are less likely to get

A's, enjoy school or be involved in extracurricular activities. Another study of 25,000

children finds that children who live with only one parent have higher drop out rates,

lower grade point averages and lower college aspirations compared to children who live

with both parents. For more information see: www.floridafathers.org

•

"Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2001," a new report by

the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), found

percent of public schools in America had access to the Internet

, compared to just

35 percent when the annual survey was first conducted in 1994. Moreover, 87 percent of

instructional rooms now have Internet access, up from three percent back in 1994.

The

ratio of students to computers is currently 5.4 to 1

. FOR MORE INFORMATION,

PLEASE GO TO <http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2002018>.

National News

•

USA Freedom Corps Network Links Volunteers, Nonprofits Nationwide

In late July, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the USA Freedom

Corps Volunteer Network <http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov/>, a partnership between

some of the largest nonprofit and volunteer clearinghouses in the country. The network

enables potential volunteers to connect with more than 50,000 community-service

organizations that match their individual needs and interests.

Dates to Remember

•

October 20 - 26, 2002 Kids Care Week - <www.kidscare.org>

•

October 23, 2002 National Peer Helpers Day 2002 - www.peerhelping.org

•

October 26, 2002 Make A Difference Day - www.makeadifferenceday.com

•

November 1, 2002 National Family Literacy Day - www.flamentoring.org

•

November 11-17, 2002 Youth Appreciation Week - www.optimist.org/index-

prog.html

•

November 11-17, 2002 World Kindness Week -

www.actsofkindness.org/whats_new/whats_new.html

•

November 23, 2002 National Family Volunteer Day - www.alliance1.org

•

November 24-30, 2002 National Family Week - www.familyweek.org

•

January 20, 2003 Martin Luther King Day of Service - www.mlkday.org

Governor's Mentoring Initiative

Public Relations Assistant

850-410-0696