Alumni Board

Read another article about this project from the Mason City "Globe Gazette".

Waldorf College Alumni Board joins 50 Days with mentoring project

www.waldorf.edu

For four years on campus, Audra Hovick was everything that’s good about Waldorf College. And no one doubted the 2007 President’s Award winner with the lengthy list of extracurricular activities – Alpha Chi honor society, student senate and softball among them – and outstanding record of service would continue to give after graduating last year with highest honors and a degree in Computer Information Systems.

Surprise, surprise. Hovick, a Story City native now employed as a programmer/analyst at General Mills in Minneapolis, is one of the driving forces behind the Waldorf College Alumni Board’s mentoring project, which begins this week as part of 50 Days of Service. Hovick is one of several Waldorf grads going out of their way to be a positive influence to youths in their communities.

Hovick spends every Tuesday evening in New Hope, Minn. working with Project for Pride in Living (PPL) Youth Development, an organization that strives to empower low-income students to achieve success in school and in life through academic support and hands-on enrichment opportunities. She usually spends the evening with a 6th-grader named Tatyana, and they work on homework or just spend time getting to know each other. The two hours go by so fast, Hovick says, that she’s ready for their next meeting as soon as the previous one ends.

“You can tell all the kids really enjoy the time spent with the volunteers,” she said, “and it is pretty obvious that the volunteers enjoy it just as much.”

Hovick says she believes in mentoring because she knows how important it is to have someone to look up to.

“The kids involved in PPL learn so much more than the homework we work on,” she said. “They are learning how to interact with each other and each of the tutors on a much different level than they may have before.”

Another Waldorf Alumni Board member taking mentoring to heart is Heather Lilienthal (Class of 94, Ankeny). Like most of her fellow Waldorf alums, Lilienthal has plenty to keep her occupied. In addition to her duties with the Alumni Board, she’s a freelance writer, volunteer, parent, spouse and friend. She says mentoring “has really inspired me to do something more; to go outside my comfort zone and to use my skills to help others.”

Among Lilienthal’s service projects are serving as part-time youth services librarian in Bondurant and leading story time for kids ages 2-5, leading a monthly after-school program for kids ages K-6 and mentoring kids to assist at a Kids Against Hunger food packaging event in Des Moines.

“I know that I am so blessed with all that I have and all the opportunities that I’ve encountered,” she said. “I would very much like to help others, especially parents and young people, to find their opportunities.”

As one of the organizers of the project, Lilienthal has been amazed at how many alums were already engaged in mentoring. She hopes those who haven’t tried it will do so and find out how satisfying it is.

“Sometimes parents get so caught up in the daily grind, we don’t get creative and show our kids what we do or what we can do together to make a difference,” she said. “[Mentoring] is an activity that costs nothing but benefits everyone involved in so many ways.”

Rita Gilbertson, Waldorf’s director of alumni relations, has been thrilled by the responses she’s received from those involved. For those who are unable to volunteer as mentors, Gilbertson encourages finding other projects that promote the spirit of giving.

“We know not everyone is able to mentor,” she said. “But anything they can do to participate is great.”

The Alumni Board mentoring project spans 60 years of graduates and ranges from coast to coast. Other projects include:

• Mark Campbell (‘80, Osage) reads to kindergarten children to help them log enough books to earn prizes and work towards their goal as part of the Building Better Readers program.

• Mary Cheddie (‘77, Plantation, Fla.) volunteers her time on an online mentoring forum. Students post questions and mentors respond on an open-invitation basis.

• Lois Tiedemann (‘99, San Clemente, Calif.) attends sporting events and spends time with a 16-year-old member of her church.

• Deb Olson (‘79, Story City) reads to elementary school children.

• Debi Selle (‘82, Minneapolis) mentors a 16-year-old, focusing on homework, projects and reinforcing and encouraging positive options in her life.

• Ben Klipfel (‘00, Grand Forks, N.D.) is performing a play together with high school students – “A Friend like Artie” by Wil Deneson – which focuses on the way special needs students are treated in secondary school by their peers. They are performing in three communities.

• Jeff Barth (‘78, Mulkiteo, Wash.) assists a high school student with homework, focusing not just on completing assignments but on issues that relate to the work, such as economy, giving back to society and having fun.

• Sonia Solomonson (‘61, Chicago) spends 4-5 hours a weekend with six grandchildren, ages 5-13, helping with school projects, baking, talking about faith issues, reading and writing stories, drawing, going to movies, plays or museums or just hanging out.

• Ardis Ellwood (‘47, Forest City) volunteers at Mercy Hospital in Mason City, where she greets families of patients going into surgery, keeping them posted on how surgery is progressing, visiting with them to help calm their fears and escorting them to a conference room after surgery to meet with the surgeon.

• Solvay Twedt (‘54, Story City) reads to elementary school students.

• Kent Stock (‘82, Marion) is working with a student in an after-school mentoring program.