Mentoring groups given $1,000 by school district

The organizations, 100 Men of Lorain County and Lorain NAACP, perform a valuable service to the alternative high school.

Lorain School Board approved donations of $1,000 each to organizations that mentor youth at New Beginnings Academy in Lorain.

The organizations, 100 Men of Lorain County and Lorain NAACP, perform a valuable service to the alternative high school at 307 W. 7th St. in Lorain, said Lorain Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Graham.

“They mentor our children,” Graham said. “I think we’ve paid them for awhile now. It’s a very small token compared to the work they do.”

Mic Becerra, assistant superintendent of Lorain Schools at 2601 Pole Ave., Lorain, said about 125 students are on the rolls at New Beginnings Academy.

Roughly 60 percent to 70 percent attend school, Becerra said. But he’s encouraged by an increase in high school graduates from zero last year to 10 this year, he said. Not all of the students are seniors.

Positive relationships with caring adults matter to students going through difficulties, Graham says.

President E. Jean Wrice said the Lorain NAACP as a group began mentoring several years ago while Tom Tucker served as superintendent of the district.

“I’ve been doing it for eight or nine years,” Wrice said. “I go because I was trained to be a mentor. My best mentoring training came when I was a foster mom. I’m a certified mentor.”

At first Wrice worked with boys and girls at the elementary and middle school level, she said.

“Now I’m dealing with teenage girls,” Wrice said. “We talk about any subject they want to talk on. We do holidays. We talk about everyday things: How they’re doing with grades, with attendance. And I give them a lot of encouragement.”

She usually works with eight or 10 girls in a group, she said.

“They’re really fascinated with history,” Wrice said. “I told them I was born in Alabama. In February we talked about (Dr. Martin Luther) King (Jr.) and Rosa Parks. They really are into that.”

Over spring vacation Wrice challenged the girls to decide on a favorite female and to tell her why they chose that person as a role model.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Wrice said.

Youth most need positive adults in their lives, she said.

“A lot of them have young parents who are working,” Wrice said, adding she encourages retired educators to return to the buildings in a mentor role.

“We need mentors of color,” Wrice said. “Most of our children are brown.”

She is upset because very few teachers represent minority groups.

And she finds her mentoring spills over as she visits local restaurants.

“I ask them, ‘Have you finished high school?’ ” Wrice said. “It makes a difference.”