Role models open hearts to kids

Vivian Munsen knew she had doubters.

As coordinator of the new TeamMates program in Hershey, Neb., she had just declared her first-year goals. One board member told Munsen it was impossible to recruit that many mentors, that she should lower her expectations.

Dream on, quipped another.

Munsen, however, would go on to double the goal. A year later, she is running one of the fastest-growing TeamMates chapters in Nebraska and Iowa.

The town of about 800 today has nearly 100 mentors: more per capita than any of the 85 chapters that cover 112 Midlands communities, said Suzanne Hince, executive director of the entire TeamMates organization.

“That is no small thing,” said Hince. “They've got the mentoring bug in Hershey.”

Between Nebraska and Iowa, TeamMates has 4,000 mentor matches. Started in 1991 by Hince's parents, then-Husker football coach Tom Osborne and his wife, Nancy — it is designed to bolster the success of youth.

Hershey, though, is noticing a broader rippling effect: grown-ups have become more connected to schools; employers have become so invested that some give workers time off to mentor.

“It's made people understand that everybody can be a part of the community,” said dentist Charles Boettcher, board president of the town's TeamMates. “You know, everybody can do something.”

To be sure, the small town in the west-central part of the state faces recruiting challenges different from those in metropolitan centers like Omaha, which has multiple programs competing for adult role models.

Douglas and Sarpy Counties together have about 75 mentoring programs, including TeamMates. The Midlands Mentoring Partnership was recently formed as a sort of umbrella advisory agency for programs in the two-county area. The partnership's goal is to double — to 6,000 — the number of mentors by 2012.

The secret behind Hershey's success?

Topping the list, observers agree, is the retired school marm, Munsen.

After more than 25 years of teaching and meeting with parents, she has a keen sense of who would make a committed mentor. And she tracks them down.

Steve Koch, a farmer and cattle feeder, remembers the phone calls.

“I put her off awhile,” he recalled, laughing. “She kept calling. She won't take no for an answer.”

It didn't take much convincing, though.

Koch, 61, has had success on the job and with his own family. His youngest child was away at college; Koch wanted to give back.

When it comes to enrolling the kids, some have been referred by teachers. Others ask to join. But Munsen invites all. That, she said, eliminates the stigma often attached to mentoring programs that target only troubled kids.

Justin Garrett, 17, said the TeamMates program has become such an accepted part of high school that his friends view it as no different from going to math class.

“It's like, ‘Oh, you're meeting with your mentor? That's cool.'”

In fact, even with a high proportion of mentors in town, a waiting list of kids has formed. Currently, about 22 percent of students in the third through 12th grades participate, said Mike Cunning, superintendent of the 500-student district.

“The kids are spreading the word to other students,” he said.

The payoff is known, TeamMates leaders say. Mentoring leads to less truancy, improved grades, higher graduation rates, less drug use and less teenage pregnancy.

So impressed is Cunning that he signed up to mentor. He just finished training and visited last week for the first time with the 12th-grader with whom he was paired by Munsen.

She does not take that match-up process lightly.

Adults and youths fill out forms listing hobbies, dislikes and other personal information that helps identify people with like interests.

“I've never matched anyone just to make a match,” Munsen said. “We're looking for mentors that will stay with a student for their school career.”

Garrett, a hunter and proud owner of a Chevy S-10 pickup, was pleasantly surprised at how much he had in common with his mentor. Rod VerHagen, a 44-year-old diesel mechanic who also hunts, is among the diverse group of mentors that Munsen sought out from different professions and backgrounds.

Occasionally, VerHagen and Garrett talk about grades, welding and shop classes. Mostly, though, VerHagen follows Garrett's lead: They discuss whatever is on the teen's mind.

“You're not trying to change the kid,” said VerHagen. “You're just there for him.”

Under TeamMates rules, participants meet on school grounds once a week for about an hour. Sometimes they get together over the lunch period. Sometimes the student is released from class.

The idea, said Munsen, is for the kids to have another caring adult in their lives besides a parent. Mentors provide guidance that encourages the youths to reach their full potential.

What sticks in the mind of 16-year-old Wes Layton, for example, is the work ethic of his mentor, Koch, who also is school board president.

“His goal is never quit,” saidLayton, who lives with his aunt. “He never does anything halfway.”

Between life lessons, of course, the two talk about a common love: sports.

Kim Baxter, a North Platte optometrist who is on the state TeamMates board, knows the difficulty in maintaining mentors. His city's chapter has lost about 25 since its peak.

He attributed Hershey's success to the “dynamo” Munsen who is tireless and who handpicked an advisory board with a range of talents and the ability to sell the program to companies and community members.

TeamMates also has become an anchor in Hershey's schools. The school board formally endorsed the program, and the administration tries to accommodate mentors' schedules.

Small communities like Hershey have certain advantages in organizing a mentoring program, most observers agreed. Residents know each other. They view producing successful graduates as a wise investment in their town.

In larger cities, Munsen suggested, recruiting efforts can be focused on certain segments of the community, perhaps faith-based and education organizations.

“Once it becomes a mainstream program,” said Baxter, “it takes on a life of its own.”

TeamMates uses the same basic model for chapters, whether urban or rural, big city or small. Hince believes that success is most dependent on how well leaders quell an adult's fear of commitment to mentor. Also, it helps when employers give employees time off to mentor.

More often than not, Hince said, adults say they got more out of the relationship than the kid did.

Koch recalled a thank-you letter he received from Layton.

“I want to frame that one,” he said. “It about made me cry.”

Wes said that he never knew his biological dad and that Koch was like a father figure.

“My hope is to graduate — and that he stays a part of my life after that.”

Contact the writer:

444-1224, cindy.gonzalez@owh.com

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