Mentors End of Programme Meeting: Minutes

Yesterday various junior and senior mentors met up for the final time under the 09/10 programme. Thanks again to everyone who attended. This meeting was a chance for mentors to share their experiences and to share any thoughts on what needs to be addressed for the next YLMP to be an even greater success. Here are the minutes (thanks to Elinam Adadevoh for writing up them up!):

Selection Process
Though some mentors stated that they had no trouble meeting their mentees, most mentors complained that their mentees did not show up to meetings. Thus, it was agreed that it is important to select mentees who are willing to be mentored.

New process for mentees: Market YLMP to Kinbu students and inform them that there is limited space for mentees. Making the program competitive will require selected mentees to be serious with the program.

Open selection process – we will accept applications from all students who are interested in being mentees. Selection to be a mentee will be based on the student’s performance on a 100 word (or so) paper.

Meeting Times & Places
Mini seminars and mentee-mentor sessions will be held at Kinbu on Friday afternoons.

YLMP will be a club so we can meet on Fridays when all other school clubs meet. This ensures that YLMP will not have to compete with other clubs and/or Friday entertainment.

Programmes
Who Moved my Cheese was too heavy for the mentees. Therefore, one of the 3 books will be used for the next programme:

Who Moved my Cheese for Teens

The Cross Drums

7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

Library project: we will continue with the library club and refurbishment.
Fundraising effort: We will find a way to involve the students in this effort. We will have to seek funds from corporates.
Newsletter: Copies should be ready in September. The newsletter can be used to market YLMP in other schools.

YLMP Awards Day

As promised in my email a few weeks ago, I have some more details for you about our fast approaching Awards Day. But first, to remind you:

Where: Databank
When: 14th August 2010
Time: 10am – 12pm

It will be a day to reflect on how far we've come since the Programme started, and of course, to honour you as mentors. Everyone who participated in the Programme (all mentors and mentees) will receive certificates. In addition to this, there will be awards for the 3 best junior and senior mentors* as well as for the winners of our 'Mentee's Choice' awards - Most positive, Most hardworking, Natural born leader, Future president, Always on time, and Most likely to write a book in future.

Please note that attendance to the Awards Day is strictly by invitation only. We have, however, made provisions for all mentors, mentees and speakers of the YLMP to attend.

*Awards are calculated across a set of six criteria such as meeting and Mini Seminar attendance and handing in Appraisal Forms. Points are allocated to each mentor depending on their performance on each criterion. Awards will be presented to mentors with the highest total score.

Library Club @ Kinbu, Part 2

This week, junior mentors have been working on a proposed action plan to implement the Library Club at Kinbu. Yesterday, we held a meeting for a presentation and a discussion in order to fine tune the action plan and make some final decisions as to how everything was going to work. The presentation turned out to be incredibly detailed (kudos to you guys, you did great), so there wasn't as much to discuss and decide as we had anticipated. Nevertheless, we had a discussion and threw some ideas around. Here are some of the main points:

> We have been working closely with Kinbu in the formation of the action plan for the Library Club so that implementation can be as smooth as possible. We are waiting on the school to release their schedule for next term so we can fine tune our schedule and ensure nothing clashes.

> We also want the students of Kinbu (not just mentees) to be involved. We are waiting for their suggestions by way of a patron. Divine Akortsu (whom we have been working with) has been suggested by the assistant headmaster, and he will be suggested to the students. We will also present them with a list of recommended activities, books, etc to choose from.

> We toyed with the possibility of having the library open to students during the holidays, but this did not seem likely. Instead we decided it would be a good idea to take students to public libraries as part of their Library Club trips. This way, they can learn how to use their local libraries and reading would become much more accessible to them.

>We'd like to sensitise students to their Ghanaian and African heritage, including literature. We agreed that it would be good to look into having groups visit the school to perform books or plays they might be reading (e.g. Efua Sutherland)

> A rough schedule was put together (this will be fine-tuned after we receive a schedule from Kinbu). One key factor was that reading competitions take place after exams. This means that students can be given a recommended list of books to read during the holidays on which the competitions will be based.

> The plan of action included key performance indicators and critical success factors as a means of ensuring we are on track. In addition to these, the Library Club will be required to submit regular reports both to the headmistress and to Databank.

> You might remember from a visit to the Kinbu library a while back that there was a large stack of books that were not being (and would not be) used. It was pointed out that the Ministry of Education buys old books and recycles them - this could be another way we could use to generate funds for the refurbishment of the library. We could also approach the Rotary and Lions Clubs.

A few announcements - Updated

Sorry for the long silence folks! Been a busy past couple of days, but no excuses so I'll just press right on. I have a few announcements that I'll be emailing you about later on once everything is confirmed; this is for all you bloggers out there.

First up, we have some dates for the last two Mini Seminars! These are especially important because they are the last ones, and there are a couple of things we need you to know. The first will be on the 2nd of July - Mr Nyantekyi will be continuing his talk on the Power of Positive Thinking. It is really really important that you come along to this one as this is the date your journals are due. We'll be needing them as part of the Programme's assessment. The second will be a week later, on the 9th of July, when Albert Ankrah will be talking to mentees about Career Development. We'd like to see everyone here for this too as it's the last session before the Awards Day (yes, we're having an awards ceremony!) Please note though, that these dates are not yet confirmed. It is possible that we will be having one of the two on the 9th of July instead. As usual, I'll update you as soon as they have been confirmed, but until then please keep your diaries free!

The second thing I'd like to talk to you about is to remind you to fundraise!!! I haven't received a call/text/email from anyone letting me know that they'll be going somewhere, so I'm guessing no one has started yet. Please please can we start as soon as possible - we've only got until the end of July to raise over GH¢30,000! We really have to pull together to manage this. And please don't forget to let me know after you've been to someone with the sponsorship letter - we'd like to keep records so we don't have too many people going to the same place. You can call, text, send me an email or even just drop a comment... anything that'll get the message through.

Third thing: the Appraisal Forms. These were due last Friday, so it's really important that I get them as soon as possible. Elinam wants you to know that if you've been having trouble meeting up with your mentees, you can fill in the form among yourselves (i.e. junior and/or senior mentors in a group). If you've met them before and have a fair idea of what they're like, you can go ahead and put some objectives down and we'll work with those. The deadline is now this Friday (18th June). You may or may not be pleased to know that we are scrapping section 3 (Interim Performance Tracking). We will be working on sections 4 and 5 (End of Programme Conversation and Review, final comments) during the last Mini Seminars, which is another important reason we'd like to see you all there.

Lastly, junior mentors in the Library and Support Team have a meeting next Friday (25th June 2010). We need to put together a concrete plan of action as to how the Library Club at Kinbu is going to run. We also need to make some headway into choosing a patron, etc. This time we're taking a slightly different approach -- come to the meeting to find out more!

I think that's all for now. Keep checking back and I'll inform you of any changes to the dates of the Mini Seminars.

Go Black Stars!!

Recap of yesterday's meeting

Last night we had a short meeting to finalise ideas about the Library Club. (Thanks to everyone who braved the heavy rain and made it over!) We decided that we would go ahead with the ideas we came up with during the previous two meetings. Added onto this, we're planning on asking a teacher at Kinbu to be the patron of the club. This way, the club can be run without Databank needing to be there at all times. We can give them the guidelines and they can run with it. We might want to check in every now and again and provide the occasional speaker for example, but for the most part the day to day running of the Library Club will be up to Kinbu.

Senyo Tetteh, the architect we're working with on the Library refurbishing project has informed us that once we get started, the work will take 5 weeks to complete. This means that we will be looking at raising as much as we can until the end of July (instead of June) so it'll be good to go by the start of term in September. We really do have to get this started, so if you don't have a sponsorship letter you can pass by Databank and we'll get one to you. Alternatively if you let me know by 2pm on Friday, I can bring some along to the Mini Seminar.

During the meeting it came to light that not everyone is clear on the plans for fundraising. We've decided that that all mentors in all teams (i.e. Clean Up, Library and Support) will work together to raise funds. We have the mentees involved as well so it's a big team effort - it needs to be if we're to raise the whole GH¢32,000!


Other Notes:
Tomorrow is an important date for two reasons. Three, actually. First, the FIFA World Cup is starting, whooo! As excited we all are about this, lets not forget about two other things. One is that our Appraisal Forms are due, and the other is that we're having a Mini Seminar. If you've not handed in your Forms yet and you can't make it to the seminar, please try to bring them over to Databank sometime during the day.

Go Black Stars!!

Mini Seminar cancelled

Unfortunately, due to a number of unforeseen circumstances, we have had to cancel today's Mini Seminar for now. Harry McNinson (our scheduled speaker) has been called impromptu to Koforidua on official business. There has also been an uprising in the Kinbu area as a result of the AMA reclaiming land. While we are unsure of the exact details around the issue, safety is our main priority and we do not want to do anything that could potentially put anyone at risk.

God willing, the seminar will be rescheduled for next Friday. I will let you know as soon as this has been confirmed. You can still come along to Databank to submit your Appraisal Forms however.

Mini Seminar coming up

Another quick message for all mentors! We have another Mini Seminar coming up on the 4th of June (now confirmed). This is the same day the Appraisal Forms are due. If you need to use the seminar to talk to your mentes, you may do so at the end. I will have copies with me on the day, so you don't need to worry about printing them out. As usual the seminar will take place in the assembly hall at Kinbu at 3pm. Harry McNinson, a Databank employee and former Kinbu student will be talking to the mentees to encourage and motivate them.

See you all next Friday!

Developing a culture of reading (Part 2)

Last night, various junior and senior mentors met to decide on which programme we are going to implement at Kinbu. As mentioned earlier, we wanted to pick the most effective and sustainable idea that would benefit the largest number of students.

To start with, everyone present shared their ideas on which idea they thought was the best to implement and why. From this, we came down to about five ideas. In the end, we decided that it made most sense to go with the Library Club idea. A point was raised that it would be unrealistic to target the whole school to begin with. If we're able to implement the club successfully and make it attractive enough, eventually a large number of students would benefit. Better start small with high levels of success than to start too ambitiously and end up with little progress.

Another point was that providing incentives to the students would work well, and this could work quite well with a Library Club. One of the most attractive features of the Library Club is that it is flexible. Several ideas can be integrated together for the Library Club to organise. Out of the ideas we came up last week, these include:

• Termly quizzes/competitions based on set books. Internal (within Kinbu) and external (involving other schools) reading competitions
• Members get exclusive benefits, i.e. watch movies (e.g. The Book Club, The Debaters), go on trips etc based on attendance to meetings
• Have speakers periodically come and talk to students about the importance of reading (e.g. Ama Ata Aidoo).
• Arrange books in order of difficulty. A ‘reading marathon’ could then be introduced. Students must finish one book before advancing to the next. Can create positive competitiveness
• The club could organise writing and debating events
• The library could be emphasised at orientation – new students could be given a tour of library and encouraged to join the library club

Instead of completely scrapping the idea of having students make drama productions from books, we decided that if there was an 'outside' production happening, students could read the book and then go see the play as one of the Library Club trips. This would be at the discretion of staff at Kinbu.

The issue of students only joining the library Club for benefits (i.e. to hear speakers, to go on trips, etc) was brought up. We decided that events such as speakers talking about the importance of reading should be open to both members and non-members of the club as withholding this would be counter-productive. However, there will be a 'discounts' based system for events such as trips. The more club meetings students attend, the cheaper the trip will be for them.

Feel free to drop a comment if you've got any additional suggestions.

Sponsorship letters

As you might know, sponsorship letters were handed out to the junior mentors who attended yesterdays meeting. During the meeting, we discussed the procedure for handing out the letters. The guidelines are:

• Junior and senior mentors should only hand out letters to people they know personally
• Mentors should let Foundation staff know where they are taking the letter to before they do so
• Once a letter has been delivered, mentors should please let Foundation staff know so that no one else goes back to the same place
• If more letters are required, mentors can contact the Foundation for another one. This will be given provided that the person they are going to ask has not been given one before

If you were not present at the meeting, you can drop a comment, call or send an email and we will work on getting one to you.

News for mentors

This is a quick post to remind mentors that we're having a meeting this Monday. The meeting is for all junior and senior mentors, so please make it a point to be there. We're going to be deciding on the initiative we will implement to help encourage and motivate Kinbu students to read more. Please come ready to share your thoughts on which idea you think will be most effective and why. If you've not had a look at the ideas we came up with in our previous meeting, click here or refer to the minutes that were emailed to you on on Tuesday.

We will also be handing out sponsorship letters during this meeting so that we can kick-start the fundraising process. We have to raise over GH¢ 30,000 by the end of June at the latest - so we need to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

Finally, due to the fact that most of you are busy with exams at this time, the deadline for submitting the Appraisal Forms has been extended until Friday 4th June**. Please ensure that you have completed them by then as the deadline cannot be extended past this date. If you have already completed some (or all) of the Forms, you can still bring them along to the meeting on Monday.

See you all then!


** Because this deadline has shifted, you'll need to arrange to discuss them with a member of the Foundation staff from the week beginning on the 7th of June. If, however, you have already completed the Appraisal Forms for all your mentees, you can arrange for a meeting prior to this date.

Developing a culture of reading

Last night, the Library campaign group and members of the Support Team met to discuss ways in which we could develop a culture of reading amongst Kinbu students. Like I mentioned earlier, it's all well and good renovating the library, but if the students do not use it our efforts would have been in vain.

We met in order to brainstorm both ways we could motivate students to go to the library (aside from the refurbishment) and also to make reading in general something of a habit. We came up with quite a few ideas, and now we need to pick one main area to focus our energies on. 'Minor' initiatives that will not require too much initial effort to start up can run alongside the main idea. It has to be something sustainable so it can run without Databank Foundation needing to be there at all times (or every time it needs to be run).

We'd like to open up the discussion to all the groups of the Programme. Here is a list of the ideas we came up with:

--> Termly quizzes/competitions based on set books. Internal (within Kinbu) and external (involving other schools) reading competitions
--> Book/library club - Members get exclusive benefits, i.e. watch movies, go on trips etc based on attendance to meetings
--> Notice board in library – announces local essay competitions, new books (reviews), etc. Students have to go into the library in order to check it
--> Have speakers periodically come and talk to students about the importance of reading (e.g. Ama Ata Aidoo). Can also show movies that demonstrate this (e.g. The Book Club, The Debaters)
--> Arrange books in order of difficulty. A ‘reading marathon’ could then be introduced. Students must finish one book before advancing to the next. Can create positive competitiveness
--> Library ‘scavenger hunt’ – event where students must hunt to find specific items in the library
--> Kinbu could join Readwide Club
--> Create a writers and debaters club
--> Organise drama productions based on specific books
--> Reading linked to grades, i.e. have an exam/section of an exam based on a book
--> The library could be emphasised at orientation – new SH1 students could be given a tour of library and encouraged to join the library club
--> Games competitions (e.g. scrabble) twice a term. First prize could be one term’s fees paid, second prize a scrabble game, third prize a citation… etc. There should be a reading based qualification system; the more students read, the more prizes they are eligible to apply for

Which do you think is the most practical, effective and sustainable idea? We'll be meeting up again this Monday (17th May) at Databank at 5pm, and we should reach a decision by then. In the meantime, especially if you're part of the Clean Up campaign or the Support Team (formerly the School Fair campaign), please leave comments with your suggestions. If you prefer, you could email me or Elinam instead.