THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 17, 1995 TAG: 9510170262
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Adults who want to volunteer for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters school-based mentoring program may call 490-KIDS.
Every day when she goes to work, Peverly Yelity looks into the faces of society's failures.
Yelity, a Norfolk deputy sheriff who works in the city jail, said most of the inmates she encounters share a common trait - a scanty education.
That's no coincidence, Yelity believes. Many of them, lacking direction or positive role models, dropped out of school and turned to crime for easy money. But it added up to hard time.
To prevent other children from straying, Yelity has volunteered for a new school-based mentoring program sponsored by Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of South Hampton Roads.
The United Way agency is seeking volunteers to work one-on-one with elementary or middle school children considered at risk of failing or dropping out.
Yelity thinks the one hour a week she would be required to volunteer is the least she can do to give back to her community.
``If there's anything I can do to help children with their self-esteem or to just become a better student, I'd like to do so,'' Yelity, 29, said. ``I do believe that by reaching them at an early age, you let them know they have other options by getting an education and that they don't have to turn to drugs or crime.''
The five schools selected to pilot the program - two in Norfolk, three in Virginia Beach - draw heavily from neighborhoods identified by police to have high rates of crime, juvenile delinquency and drug traffic.
The goal is to match up volunteers with 150 children, most who are from low-income or single-parent families, to improve children's self-esteem, academic performance, classroom behavior and attendance, and to prevent a slide into delinquency.
``That's a tall order, but I feel if adults get involved in role modeling, mentoring and advocacy that it can make a significant difference,'' said Peter S. Viele, executive director of the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters agency.
Unlike the regular Big Brothers /Big Sisters program, in which adult volunteers spend time with children on weekend outings or after school, the school-based mentors would meet with a child only at school.
The one-hour sessions would be set aside for tutoring or for talking over problems. It's important for children to have an adult outside the family they can talk to and look up to, said Johnna Coleman, coordinator of the mentoring program.
``A lot of our kids are being lost in the classroom, because a teacher can't mentor 30 kids, and principals are saying, `Test scores, test scores, test scores,' '' Coleman said. ``Society has changed a lot. Even when I grew up, there was a community effort in the neighborhood to raise children; now we've become more isolated, and children are feeling that.''
In Norfolk, the schools involved are Monroe Elementary in Park Place and Ruffner Middle off Tidewater Drive. In Virginia Beach, the schools are Seatack Elementary and Plaza and Landstown middle, which draw students who live in the pockets of poverty hidden in the resort city's landscape.
Norfolk native Sean Mitchell, a junior at Old Dominion University, said he signed up to volunteer because he was reared by a single mom without much money and has seen the pitfalls. School has given him a ticket toward success, he said.
``A very good place to start is to ask them what they want to do in life,'' Mitchell said. ``If they tell you they want to be a doctor or a lawyer, you ask, `Well, how you gonna get there?' ''
Monroe Principal Barbara Hargrave-Higgins said she hopes the program will reach at least 25 of her 479 students.
``Kids are bombarded with so many messages and images that are negative,'' Hargrave-Higgins said. ``They need many adults to help them sort through these chaotic times.''
Fifth-grader Brandon King, 10, said he is excited about the idea of having a Big Brother.
``I think it's kind of fun, because that's something I've never had,'' Brandon said, adding that he could use help on school projects. ``Fifth-grade science is really hard and you need to know it to get out of fifth grade.''
Derek Edwards, 10, said he wants a brother ``so we can talk about man things. I'd have somebody to look up to.''
Adults who want to volunteer for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters school-based mentoring program may call 490-KIDS. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by L. TODD SPENCER\The Virginian-Pilot
Peverly Yelity, a Norfolk deputy sheriff, joined the pilot program
to help kids in her community.
by CNB