Four weeks from today

Tutor/Mentor Connection will host its 32nd biannual Tutor/Mentor Leadership & Networking Conference on Friday, November 19th at U.S. Cellular Field where the Chicago White Sox play. We expect about 100 program leaders, volunteers, and stakeholders at the conference, but the average White Sox game draws 27,000 people!

Though we won't have that many attendees at the conference, I know we have that many fans. Thousands of youth in this city benefit directly from tutor/mentor programs and all 2.9 million of us benefit indirectly from a more educated, healthy, and prepared workforce. Tutor/mentor programs teach academic skills which lead to educational success, but they also teach intangible skills which create better human beings. To view Cabrini Connections' 2009-2010 Student Character Report, click here. It shows some of these outcomes I speak of.

Some of the topics we plan to cover at the conference include marketing & branding, evaluation, volunteer recruitment & retention, university partnerships, and fund raising. We plan to close the conference with a panel discussing the documentary Waiting for 'Superman' and how non-school programs fit into the discussion about public schools and education reform.

For up-to-date information about the conference, please visit our web site and check this blog as well as Karina Walker's blog for regular previews of what is to be offered. If you are in the Chicago area, we hope you will consider attending (register here), but even if you cannot, you can always join the conversation on our Ning forum. We physically come together at the conference twice a year, but our goal is to remain connected online throughout the year.

Thanks for reading. Have a good weekend!