Walters, as well as his son Jackson and daughter Jessica, left Minnesota in mid-July with plans to reach the nation’s capital by Friday or Saturday so they can meet with legislators to promote mentoring. Then, as the challenge’s Coast to Coast for Kids title implies, the Walters will fly to the West Coast to bike back home, arriving in early September.

Over the previous eight years, Walters has raised more than $120,000 and a lot of awareness for Kinship Partners, the nonprofit youth mentoring organization serving families within the Minnesota communities of Brainerd, Baxter, Crosby, Deerwood, Pequot Lakes, Nisswa, Pine River and Backus.

“Volunteers like Gary and his family have our utmost respect,” said the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota’s Executive Director Joellen Gonder-Spacek. “It is phenomenal that he and his family have devoted so many of their summers to Minnesota’s young people by doing things that bring attention to the positive benefits of quality youth mentoring and rally people nationwide to make financial pledges to the cause.”

Walters’ adventures include walking the length of Minnesota, losing 100 pounds in one year and rollerblading from Minnesota to Washington, D.C. This summer’s bike ride will cover more than 3,200 miles.

To follow Walters’ progress and get more information on Coast to Coast for Kids, visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walters-Wacky-Adventures/89109070891. For more information on quality youth mentoring, go to www.mentoring.org.

Once you have determined the answer find the man on center that has the same last name as the President of the U.S. during that year and give them the answer.

This is just a sample of the types of questions students and mentors had to answer in the STARS Scavenger Hunt this past Tuesday evening.  Volunteers and students were divided into 4 teams and sent off in search of specific staff waiting to hear a correct answer to a trivia question.

They were seen running from various buildings hunting down staff, some times even chasing them. Even those watching were having fun watching the antics.  Teams had to work together and pull all their knowledge together to answer trivia questions and figure out who the correct person was.  The final question of the night was what does STARS stand for and exactly how many stars are in Mrs. Coliton’s office?

The team that gave the correct information and came closest to the number of stars in her room won.  Congratulations to Charlette Smith, Brittney Powell, Jessica Tyler and Michael Tilghman for winning the scavenger hunt.  Each person received a $10 gift card to Walmart!

After the hunt, teams indulged in making their own special ice cream sundaes or banana split, with gallons of ice cream and all kinds of toppings from chocolate sauce to fresh blueberries there was something for all.  A very special thanks to Mr. Butler, Ms. Chin, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Hightower, Ms. Gale Jones, and Ms. Theresa Phillips for all of your help and participation to make it a fun night for all.

So, do you know what year it was?  If you guessed 1964, you are correct; and the President of the U.S. at that time – Lyndon B. Johnson!

Currently STARS has 32 volunteer tutors; 20 math and 12 reading tutors.

On Saturday, July 23^rd STARS mentors came together and were served a wonderful breakfast prepared and served by STARS Volunteer Jim Coliton.  Mentors like tutors shared ideas and discussed successes and challenges they have had over the past several months as well.  The topic discussed was “Building Self Esteem in Young Adults.”  Mentors looked at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and where self-esteem is on the hierarchy.  They talked about situations that can affect a student’s self-esteem as well as ways to help a student build self-esteem.

Tutors and mentors agreed that they love working with the students in the program and that the students they work with have touched their lives far more than they think they have affected their students. Both meetings went very well and everyone walked away with tools to help their students.

morning at the “WIB – Road to

Success” when the event was

ended with a performance by local

actress Kate Campbell Stevenson.

Ms. Stevenson has over 25 years

of experience in music, theatre

and education. She has

performed on Broadway as well

and all over the world. She

performed her show “Women:

Back to the Future.”

Students were mesmerized as

they watched her transform before

their very eyes into three different

women in history. Ms. Stevenson

portrayed “Lucy Stone, a woman

known for her work in the mid

1800’s.

She then transformed into Bessie

Coleman, the first black aviator in

the United States. Students heard

about the challenges Bessie

endured and overcame to achieve

her dream of being an aviator.

The final woman Ms. Stevenson

portrayed was Eleanor Roosevelt.

Students learned Mrs. Roosevelt

left her comfort zone by becoming

a public speaker on behalf of her

husband when he contracted

Polio. It was important for her to

keep his name in the public eye as

he recovered. Ms. Stevenson

ended her show with challenging

the students to not be afraid to

reach for their dreams and to

develop those positive

characteristics that each of the

women displayed. We all have a

story to tell, don’t be afraid to live

it.

Once again a sincere thank you to

the Women in Business

Committee and Rhonda

Tomlinson for making it possible

for Kate Campbell Stevenson to

perform for the students of

Woodland. It is greatly

appreciated. Thanks for making a

difference in the lives of our

students.

Business Committee (WIB) of the

Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber

of Commerce (BWCC) wanted to get

involved in giving back to the community

and what a great day for the female

students of STARS and Woodland. The

WIB “Road to Success” was born. Last

week the 5th Annual event was held

starting with a networking breakfast

prepared by Culinary Arts. Business

leaders from the community, as well as

the STARS women gathered and heard

award winning motivational speaker and

author Marcia Hall speak on the topic

“How are You Perceived?” This

presentation included a “success basics

check-up which included;

 Some of the little things we do

can send the wrong message.

 Do you have a firm handshake?

 Are you making eye contact?

 Where does someone’s personal

space begin?

After the breakfast, attendees moved

to the auditorium and were joined by

the female students of Woodland

along with the men in STARS and

Grad 90 program to participate in a

panel discussion for their “Road to

Success”

The panel consisted of Kora Polydore, Director and

CEO of Immaculate Cuisine in Towson, Maryland, a

full service catering business; Joyce Rhine, Sales

Manager of Homewood Suites in Columbia, Maryland

specializing in Corporate Accounts and Relationships;

Angela Sherrod, Logistic and Facilities Manager for

Dept. of the Army and Ellen Soesbee, CEO/Founder

of Reliable Repairs, known as the Toolbox Tom Girl.

Each panelist shared her “Road to Success,”

speaking about the skills she needed, the challenges

she had to overcome, mistakes she made, and what

qualities she would look for in her successor. All of

the panelists shared the challenges they have had

being women in the business world, ranging from

being seen as weak and inferior to the men in their

field to not being taken seriously because they were in

a “man’s field.” Each challenged the students to

pursue their dreams and to work hard to get them and

never let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. This was

summed up by Jo Ellen Soesbee as she learned that

“I am enough!”

The panelists were asked if there were any

particular books that inspired or helped them

on their path to success. A few of the titles

were “Who Moved My Cheese? – Spencer

Johnson, “Tough Times Never Last, but

Tough People Do!” – Robert H. Schuller,

“See You at the Top,” – Zig Ziglar, “One

Minute Manager” – Kenneth Blanchard and

Spencer Johnson, and “Harriet Tubman” The

Road to Freedom,” – Catherine Clinton.

Each panelist encouraged students to read

as much as possible to expand their minds.

Thanks to all of the panelists for taking time

out of their busy schedule to share their

words of wisdom and stories of success with

our students. A very special thank you to

Rhonda Tomlinson, CPA, of FJ Tomlinson &

Associates, LLC, Josie Thompson of Josie

Thompson Design and Joyce Rhine of

Homewood Suites for making this event

possible.

ended with the announcement and presentation of

awards to Mentor of the Year and Tutor of the Year.

This year, Angela Sherrod was named Mentor of the

Year. She has been a mentor with the STARS

program for almost two years. In the summer of

2009, she joined STARS agreeing to make a nine

month commitment as a mentor to one of our young

women. At that time, she was in the process of

retiring from the Army at Ft. Meade and embarking on

the next part of her career path. In addition to

working full-time, Angela is a mother of four ranging

from pre-school age to college age. Despite her full

schedule, she found time to volunteer. During that

time, she has worked with the same student until the

student completed just a couple of months ago.

Angela has demonstrated a commitment to her

student and the program by going that extra mile.

She not only is a friend to her students, but a person

that guided her student and helped her to prepare to

leave Job Corps. She listened as her student was

facing challenges in her personal life, developing the

skills to be successful, preparing to take on the

challenge of being a full-time mother for her child,

looking at college, a job and moving forward to

learning how to balance it all. Even though her

student has graduated and left Job Corps, her

relationship with her still continues. She keeps in

contact with her student and encourages her as she

walks this next path of her journey. Angela is

passionate about working with young people and

about the STARS program. She has made STARS a

family affair, by recruiting her husband as a much

needed male mentor, and some of her associates.

She is a remarkable woman and STARS is very

fortunate to have her as a mentor.

Stevem Slojkowski joined STARS as a math tutor in

the fall of 2009. Steven is an engineer with a

government contractor for NASA/Goodard. He

quickly put his math skills to work volunteering on

Mondays. He began working with students and

they quickly saw the depth of knowledge and

patience he had with working with them. When the

call for help was put out that more tutors were

needed for Thursday, he stepped up and arranged

his schedule so that he could be here both days.

This truly shows his commitment to his students by

arranging his work schedule so that he can help

them achieve their academic goals.

However, his commitment didn’t stop there. A few

months later when another call for help was put out,

Steven took a recruitment notice and put it in the

electronic newsletter that goes out on a weekly

basis to all NASA/Goodard employees and

contractors. As a result, he is responsible for

bringing approximately a dozen new tutors on

aboard.

Students working with Mr. Slojkowski say that he

takes time to explain things and is very patient with

them. He has helped them make necessary TABE

gains to achieve goals they have set. He is

awesome!

Both Angela and Steven have given their time and

talent to our students and the STARS program.

Both were presented with plaques and an engraved

portfolio in appreciation of all they have done to not

only help our students become successful, but also

in helping the STARS program to continue to grow

and touch the lives of our students. Thanks to both

of you for your commitment.

Last week the annual STARS Volunteer

Appreciation Dinner was held. Culinary

Arts dining hall was filled to capacity with

volunteers, their quest and STARS

students. They were treated to a

wonderful dinner prepared by Chef

Williams and the Advanced Culinary Arts

students.

In 2010, over 100 volunteers served as

speakers, tutors or mentors, serving over

125 students and gave over 3,000 hours

to students of Woodland Job Corps

Center. For the first four months of this

year, volunteers have already given over

1200 hours. “We are well on our way to

surpassing last year,” indicated Gloria

Coliton, STARS Coordinator for

Woodland. “Our students are a

wonderful group of young people, taking

strides to have a successful life. Each

one of them has great potential. Thank

you for helping my kids,” as she fondly

refers to them. Not only were the

volunteers thanked, but spouses and

family members were acknowledged and

thanked as well.

Their support of the volunteer allows

them to take that time away from

family life and help the students.

Without their support, STARS

volunteers would not be able to give

their time.

Acting Center Director, Rodney Butler

shared his appreciation for the time

and effort the volunteers give to the

students of Woodland. As a small

token, volunteers were presented with

Certificates of Appreciation from

Woodland Job Corps saying, “thanks

for sharing your life to support STARS

students. Your time and talents are

true gifts to our students and helping

them succeed. You are an

Inspiration!” In addition, they were

presented with Governor’s Volunteer

Service Certificate in appreciation of

ensuring the vitality of the community

with volunteering. The certificates

were signed by Governor Martin

O’Malley, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown

and Secretary of State, John

McDonough

If you want a good example to share with the students just read up about a young person who did not make an appropriate wardrobe choice, and got in trouble for it, here. Not to say that the student was the only one at fault, but there was enough lack of wisdom to go around.