Here is how GiveBIG will increase your impact:

• A share of every contribution made through The Seattle Foundation’s online Giving Center between midnight and midnight on May 2 will be matched by The Seattle Foundation and GiveBIG’s corporate sponsors, who have put $500,000 into the “stretch pool.”
• During the day, you could be chosen at random to have your charity of choice— INVEST IN YOUTH—receive an additional $1,000 from GiveBIG’s sponsors. This year, the selected donor will also be eligible to win a Starbucks gift card worth $100!

Mark your calendar for May 2 and donate to INVEST IN YOUTH between midnight and midnight on May 2 through our page in The Seattle Foundation’s Giving Center: http://www.seattlefoundation.org/npos/Pages/InvestinYouth.aspx?tab=prog&bv=nposearch

Here are a few things you can do in addition to making a generous gift:

1. RSVP for GiveBIG on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/191022764341420
2. Rally your friends to support INVEST IN YOUTH on May 2 through email, Facebook, Twitter (#GiveBIG), phone calls and  in-person conversations. And be sure to share the link to our profile on The Seattle Foundation’s website: http://www.seattlefoundation.org/npos/Pages/InvestinYouth.aspx?tab=prog&bv=nposearch

Invest in Youth thanks you in advance for your contributions to GiveBig!

Event details

Field trips will be held on the following dates:

• Wednesday, May 30^th – Daniel Bagley and Thurgood Marshall students & tutors
• Thursday, May 31^st – Beacon Hill and Bailey Gatzert students & tutors

Both gatherings will be at the UW Botanic Gardens at the Arboretum from 11:00-1:30. Box lunches will be provided for all registered tutors and students and we plan to eat from 11:00-11:45. The Native Plants and People class will run from 12:00-1:30pm.

IIY will bus students from schools. Tutors are welcome to join students on the bus or can meet the group at the Arboretum at 11:00. An evite with confirmation information will go out in early May, in the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact Meredith Barrett at mbarrett@investinyouth.org.

On an oh-so typical blustery and wet March afternoon, I met with long-time tutor and board member Mona Delgado to gain insights about her experiences as a board member, as a 10 year tutor at multiple school sites, and as an integral participant in our first Annual Golf Classic which was held last summer. By way of background, Mona has tutored with IIY for ten years, works at D.A. Davidson, has volunteered with various service organizations, and raises parrots in her West Seattle home. Here’s what I found out during our conversation:

Meredith: When did you first become involved with IIY and how many students have you worked with?
Mona: Ten years ago. One girl I had for 3 years at Bagley from 3^rd through 5^th grade. Last year I was at two schools – Thurgood Marshall and BHIS. In total I think I’ve worked with about a dozen students. This year I decided to go to Gatzert and I’ve also picked up a student at Roxbury Elementary, which is a different program from Invest in Youth.

Meredith: How did you become involved?
Mona: Harriett Morton, IIY Founder, was visiting brokerage offices to pitch the program and after I listened to her, I thought – this is something I want to do. At the time, I was involved in another community service program which was training my parrots for flight and teaching them to do tricks which I then shared with residents of nursing homes. The residents were also allowed to hold my birds. I’ve always been interested in community service with children so when Harriett spoke about IIY I knew this was the right program for me.  And the firm was supportive.

Meredith: Why do you continue to volunteer with IIY?
Mona: I’m having fun with it! I like the people in the organization- I have a lot of respect for Harriett and enjoy working with the program staff, the kids and the other volunteers. It’s just the right place on so many levels.

Meredith: What is your favorite role with IIY?
Mona: Tutoring. I like being a tutor. I like the kids.

Meredith: What would you tell a prospective tutor about volunteering with IIY?
Mona: I would tell them to have patience. And I would tell them that they might not always see the benefit of their work. It might not even happen the year that they are working with their student. They may not see it but it’s there. It’s like any kind of nurturing relationship, it’s often not about seeing the outcomes immediately, but it’s there and you are giving a child an opportunity to grow.

Meredith: What has been your most challenging experience so far?
Mona:  When the student shuts down. So bringing the child back is the challenge. And that can look different for different kids. Sometimes I have to rely on program staff or the teacher to help me. I’ve learned a lot from my birds and why it’s imperative that I reinforce good behaviors and ignore bad ones. If you punish a bird, it will fly away.

Meredith: Any last words?
Mona: This is so good for people in the financial  industry because it keeps us grounded in  reality. You’re doing something important that improves the  community. I really believe that all professional people should be involved.

When asked what direct benefit IIY receives from this collaboration, Courtney noted that “as Invest in Youth continues to establish itself as a non-profit organization, it’s essential that we build our collaborations and network with other youth serving organizations in the area.  Our involvement with YDEKC is a wonderful opportunity to build collective impact and better serve our students and tutors.” Going forward, Courtney will meet on a monthly basis with the full Advisory Board and she is also a member of the Advocacy Committee. For more information about YDEKC and a complete list of partner organizations, visit https://sites.google.com/site/youthdevexecs/.

Improving on the 2010 evaluation

In addition to the metrics used in 2010, two academic assessments were added to the 2011 evaluation:

• San Diego Quick Assessment (reading)
• Math Facts Count Assessment (arithmetic)

Relative to the 2010 evaluation, available data doubled to include:

• 72 student cases
• MAPS data from 4 schools
• Surveys completed by 100% of teachers
• 50 student survey respondents

Key results

• Internal program assessments indicated substantial improvements in reading proficiency
• IIY students exceeded expected improvements based on their progress rates prior to joining the program
• Significant differences were found between internal measures and school measures

Henry was born in Seattle and enjoys seeing his grandparents who live in West Seattle on the weekends. He enjoys playing with the paper airplanes that he and Jeff made after they read a book about planes.

Henry & Jeff

What is your greatest accomplishment in your work together?

Henry has become a good reader, but has really improved in his writing. Jeff shared an interesting technique where every time Henry didn’t understand a word, they would write the word, look it up in a dictionary and add it to their word list. This process encouraged dialog between them, expanded Henry’s vocabulary and strengthened his writing skills. – Jeff

What has been your biggest hurdle?

It was difficult to find a book that Henry enjoyed. He didn’t have a school book, so through conversations Jeff discovered that Henry enjoyed sports. They found a book called “Two Minute Drill” which strikes an especially poignant chord with Jeff because it is a story about two middle school football players, one of whom is dyslexic. Jeff is also dyslexic and told me that this is one of the reasons he volunteers for Invest in Youth. He wants to help students who may be struggling with reading and writing as he did and the Invest in Youth program is streamlined for tutors and allows one-on-one contact with one student for the entire year. – Jeff

What is the greatest reward you take from Invest in Youth?

The ‘one-on-one tutoring’ experience. – Jeff

“Reading and seeing my tutor” – Henry

Why should others volunteer to tutor?

It’s a great way to give back to the community and a child. It doesn’t take much time and you can make a difference in a child’s attitude toward learning that lasts a lifetime. – Jeff

This fall Invest in Youth will begin its fifteenth school year matching local professionals with elementary school students for weekly tutoring and mentoring sessions.  In addition to being an important anniversary year for Invest in Youth, 2011 also marks the beginning of a new chapter for the organization.

This past year, Invest in Youth hired its first part-time Executive Director to replace Harriett Morton, our inspirational Founder, who had filled this role on a de facto, volunteer basis since the programs inception. During these early years and up to the present, Harriett tirelessly managed much of the day-to-day operations of this no-longer-small program.  In February, the board was able to relieve Harriett of some of this burden when we welcomed Courtney Jones-Vanderleest to Invest in Youth as our new part-time Executive Director. In just a few months, Courtney has deftly mastered our many administrative efforts and volunteer activites, while also providing support to each of our schools Program Managers. We hope that this transition, several years in the making, will provide consistency and continuity for our students, tutors, program managers, principals and parents – all of whom contribute time and support to our tutoring program each week.

Another change for Invest in Youth was our Founder, Harriett Morton, stepping down as Board Chairman. Harriett will remain deeply involved with the organization and currently leads our   fundraising efforts.  As I assume the role of Chairman, I am both deeply honored and humbled to have been chosen to lead the Board through this exciting time.  As the Board and I work together to ensure that Invest in Youth continues into the future, these changes represent the first a vital steps for the organization to become an independent, sustainable entity.

I joined Invest in Youth as a tutor in 2004, shortly after moving to Seattle.  It was a great way to develop roots in the community, while also building a professional network with other tutors.  Over the years, I have tutored at four very different Seattle elementary schools and worked with several delightful and eager-to-learn students.  Over the last two years at Beacon Hill International School, I worked with the same student, allowing a longer-term mentoring relationship to develop.  Watching my student’s academic progress and her determination to succeed and grow during our time together was nothing short of powerful.  I know many Invest in Youth tutors have shared this same experience.

Wanting to become more involved with the program, I joined Invest in Youth’s Board of Directors in 2008. It became clear just how much behind-the-scenes work it takes to keep this seemingly simple program chugging along so smoothly.  I have been privileged to work with and learn from such a talented and dedicated group of fellow Board members.  I look forward to working with them to shape the organization’s future!

With the benefit of a strengthened infrastructure, the 2011-2012 school year promises to be an exciting one for Invest in Youth. Demand for new tutors at each of our four partner schools continues to increase and we hope to fill this need by starting the year with at least 100 tutors, up from approximately 85 last year.  We continue to enhance our curriculum and tutor tools to support our students’ learning, and the evaluation process we developed two years ago is helping shape this effort. We will kick off the fall with our first Invest in Youth Golf Classic on Thursday, September 15^th—it promises to be a fun afternoon for IIY supporters new and old to come together in support of this great program.  If you haven’t already, I encourage you to register for this event right away as spaces for both golfers and the banquet are filling up fast!

While much has certainly changed since Harriett tutored a single student at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School on her way home from work—much has remained the same.  At our core, Invest in Youth remains committed to its mission to enhance the academic abilities, self-confidence and life prospects of struggling learners in the Seattle Public Schools.  As well, the desire to provide a meaningful and rewarding experience for our volunteer tutors continues to be a driving force behind all that we do.  We hope you will join us in these efforts by investing your time, your talents and your dollars this fall!

Best,

Sara E. Hasan
Chairman, Invest in Youth