It’s hard to believe that National Mentoring Month is almost over! We have so many amazing mentors that choosing just a few to spotlight has been incredibly hard. To everyone who donates their time to enrich a child’s life, whether with Communities In Schools of North Texas or not, thank you! You make an invaluable difference. For our final mentor spotlight this month, we’re excited to share the story of an incredibly special couple!
Pam and David Taylor are CISNT mentors at Lewisville High School’s Harmon Campus and have been meeting with their current mentees since elementary school. When Pam and Davd learned about CISNT’s mentoring opportunities in 2015, they signed up! Both have always had a passion for children. David volunteered for many years with the high school youth program at their church, Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church, and Pam volunteered with younger children through their church’s Sunday School, Confirmation process, and Vacation Bible School. In fact, after she retired, she started volunteering at Trietsch’s Enrichment Center preschool. Both jumped at the opportunity to engage with a young person and be a safe consistent adult in their life through CISNT’s established program.
David was matched with his current mentee, Adler, in 2021. The match came at the perfect time for Adler who had recently lost his father who was also named David. This serendipitous coincidence helped for the basis for a wonderful relationship. David spends his 30 minutes a week with Adler, now a 9th grader, listening to him share about his week. It often includes updates on his latest camping trip with his scout troop or activities at school. This is pretty fun for David as he was a Scout leader in earlier years.
Pam was matched with her current mentee, Isabelle, in 2016. Pam spends her 30 minutes a week with Isabelle, now a 10th grader, listening to her share about her online friends, family concerns and school. Pam says she feels very invested in her mentee’s life and is excited that Isabelle has wanted to continue their relationship throughout middle school into high school. Pam is a genuinely caring person and is interested in all that Isabelle does. She always comes in with a great attitude.
Both look forward to seeing their mentees each week and say summer and holidays seem to last forever and they can never wait until they get back together. Susan Barden, CISNT Site Coordinator at Harmon, says “I love that the Taylors are meeting with their students at the same time every Monday now. It’s a privilege to work with them, and their students love meeting with them. I always look forward to getting Pam and Isabelle together every week, and I was so happy to start working with David Taylor and his 9th grade student Adler this year.”
When asked about whether or not to start mentoring, David says, “JUST DO IT, you’ll be surprised how mentoring a student will enrich your life.” and Pam says, “Do it – you will be blessed in a way you can’t imagine. You don’t have to have answers – just listen; you don’t have to provide words of wisdom – just listen; you don’t have to fix anything – just listen. You will be a blessing to your young person in a way that you may never see – but having a consistent, trusted, invested adult will be important to him or her as they grow and in those times of questioning, they WILL remember you!”
