Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 2, 1993 TAG: 9304300070
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-18 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RANDY UDAVCAK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Through two programs, Mentors in the New River Valley and a recent offshoot, the Black Organization of Mentors, more than 50 students are providing role models for children in distressed communities in Roanoke and Dublin.
Once a week, students in MINERVA head for various sites in Roanoke and Dublin and students in BOOM make the trip to inner-city Roanoke to meet with children ranging in age from 10 to 15.
Meeting in small groups, the children and their mentors pore over homework, conduct science experiments, read, talk about problems and generally have fun.
Started three years ago by retired engineering Professor Morton Nadler, MINERVA's original aim was to promote math and science education for female and minority elementary school children who might otherwise be sidetracked in school. Since then it has evolved into a three-credit independent study course at Tech, expanding into other curricular areas in the process.
Stacy Zell, a graduate student in the department of education who teaches the MINERVA class, said the original program has undergone substantial changes.
"As the program grew, what happened was we realized that in the inner city, we need to promote children through their self-esteem a lot more," Zell said. "It's not just an awareness thing. It digs much deeper."
Students must have a 2.0 grade-point average to enroll in the MINERVA course, but any student is eligible to volunteer in both MINERVA and BOOM.
In January, a group of MINERVA students led by senior physics major Alicia Wells formed BOOM in an effort to add more We're showing them that we care, and we're taking some interest Linette Hillian Member of MINERVA and BOOM minority students to the roster of mentors.
"We worked with the kids, and they see one, two or three of us at a time," Wells said. "And we used to tell them, `You can make it, you can do this, keep in school, blah, blah blah.' But to me, the proof is in seeing . . . we have a lot of black organizations that are set up, anyway, for the purpose of promoting the uplifting of our people. So I figured what better way for all of us to come together and try to help out."
Linette Hillian, a junior and a member of MINERVA and BOOM, said, "We kind of branched out to encompass a whole lot of people who might have different perspectives."
Toward that end, BOOM held an Awareness Fair on April 16 and 17 at which students and student organizations set up booths to introduce the children to their major or field. Other events included a trip to the observatory, seminars and a trip to a play, with tickets donated by the women's studies department.
The children's reaction to the event and the mentoring programs was positive, though often for different reasons.
"We do experiments; they help us with our science projects, with our homework," said Ebony Stephens, a fourth-grader from the Roanoke Academy of Math and Science. "It improved a lot of our grades this nine weeks."
Ruffner Middle School eighth-grader Ralph Nemo was particularly impressed by Virginia Tech. "This is a nice campus!" he said.
For fifth-grader Deena Thompson from Highland Park Middle School, the benefits went beyond academics.
"It's fun. We get to do exciting things; we get to come up here - " (pausing, her face lighting up with an large grin) " - and go to restaurants and get free food!"
Wells said one little boy told her, "`I don't want to go home.' And I said, `Why?' and he said, `I like it here.' And I said, `Well see, now you have something to work for.' "
In the eyes of Ralph Nemo, however, it doesn't seem like work.
"Lots of people say `Math - ugggh!.' But when it really gets down to it, it's actually fun."
Hillian said she thinks BOOM's biggest benefit will be to provide positive role models.
`'We're showing them that we care, and we're taking some interest," she said. "And we understand what they're going through because we are black students and we've been through a lot, ourselves. So we can show them that there is a way to get out of going down the wrong track, and that we're willing to extend ourselves as much as possible to help them."
Wells agreed, saying she thinks the interaction is a key to both programs' success so far.
"Some of them weren't doing particularly well at all, and some of them still aren't now," Wells said. "But they're starting to take an interest in doing well. I say, `Now you know, I come all the way down here. I care, but its gotta be a two-way street. We gotta care about one another. And the way to make me happy is that you do well in school.'"
by CNB