January 2004
NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH
January is National Mentoring Month. Various activities are going on nation-wide to celebrate the third annual "National Mentoring Month." Locally, we are sending out cards on January 15th to celebrate the first annual "Thank Your Mentor Day." We are also honoring our Partners who are members of the Chamber of Commerce at the General Membership Meeting on January 15, 2004 at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center.

500 + Mentors
We are proud to announce that we now have over 500 active mentors in the Wicomico County School System. Who would have believed that ten years ago the Wicomico Mentoring Project was born with 26 mentors in three schools? We now celebrate each and every one of our 500+ mentors in the 25 schools that reside in Wicomico County! Congratulations to all the people who help to make this program successful!

BROWN BAG LUNCHES
Brown Bag Lunches will begin again in mid-February. Like last time, you will be receiving a post card in the mail announcing your school's brown bag lunch date, time, and place. Those who attended last term really enjoyed themselves. The lunches allow mentors to meet other mentors in the school as well as seek advice about mentoring from more experienced mentors. We invite all of you to join us, we would like to meet you too!
KIDS OF HONOR

Bennett Middle and Salisbury Middle have proudly announced their December "Kids of Honor"! Derrell Johnson was chosen as the Bennett Middle Kid of Honor for December. Derrell received a certificate and official Kid of Honor t-shirt. He was also guest of honor at a pizza lunch with five guests of his choosing and past monthly Kid of Honor winners.<

Shardae Russell was chosen as the Salisbury Middle Kid of Honor for December. Shardae received a t-shirt, certificate and $25 gift certificate to the Centre at Salisbury. She along with the rest of the top five students for December will also enjoy lunch at Golden Corral.

Wicomico Middle has kicked off their Kids of Honor program this month. Jamar Wilson, a past annual Kid of Honor, and Paula Morris, founder of Kids of Honor were on hand to explain the Kids of Honor program. All mentored students and students involved in the WISE/STARS afterschool program will be invited to participate. One winner will be selected from each program and will receive a certificate and t-shirt. The top five from each program will be able to invite one friend to a pizza lunch held at the school.

We Hear...

To celebrate National Mentoring Month, we wanted to share what the mentees have to say... ..."I love you very much and you are so so special to me and I never want to lose contact with you." ..."Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for helping me out with things I didn't understand. And thank you for not only being a mentor but being a good friend." ..."Without you, my school life would be miserable." ..."We are the best friends ever!" ..."Thanks for always being by my side and helping me when I was down. You are the greatest gift God could ever give to me. I hope we are best friends forever."

**We are interested in other wonderful stories! If you or your mentee have a great story, share it! Please call us at 410/677-4586 or send us an e-mail at hparker@wcboe.org