Like most of you I was horrified watching the attack on the US Capital on January 6 and I fear what will happen to our democracy in coming months and years. I'm hopeful that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and a Democratic controlled Congress will bring healing to every zip code in America, with new laws, new policy, and a flow of needed resources. That remains to be seen.

Amidst all of this we are celebrating Mentoring this month. While there's much to distract us I feel we need to continue to focus daily on ways we can build and sustain mentor-rich support systems that create HOPE and OPPORTUNITY for those who need extra help. In many ways this is a strategy to reduce the appeal to the right wing idealism that leads to hatred, division and destruction.

Good luck to all of you as you travel this difficult journey.

I've been building a web library since 1993 with a goal that people would use this information to innovate better ways to support k-12 youth in well-organized, and well-funded, volunteer based tutor, mentor and learning organizations.

View this PDF to see how ideas from one place can inspire work done in many other places. Few of the youth tutor/mentor programs I look at share their strategies, program design, lessons learned, etc. consistently on websites and blogs, but if more did this they would be helping others learn from them, so more kids would receive better support.

It's January and National Mentoring Month draws attention to mentoring programs throughout the country. If you're on a school-based calendar, your year starts in August as you recruit youth and volunteers. That means in January you should be starting a process of evaluating your own fall start-up activities with a goal of doing even better next fall. As you move through the spring, you should be inviting your volunteers, youth, parents and donors into your brainstorming and planning process. By June you should have a plan of operations for the coming year.
View this PDF to learn more of this process.

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

Since 2011 I've supported Tutor/Mentor Connection via the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, which is not a 501-c-3. It's also not broadly funded. I've covered expenses through my own savings and the help of a few who make annual donations to me either via my December 19 birthday campaign, or my year-end fund me campaign. Below are links to each page. Please help if you can. Thank you to all who contributed in 2020.

Dan's 74th Birthday- click here

Fund Tutor/Mentor Institute- click here