Tag Archives: Tag: Fairfield County

Shepherds enjoyed hearing from a student alumnus at Shepherds Notre Dame Mentor Appreciation Night. Notre Dame West Haven ’14 alum, Jeenn Barreiro embraced the lessons he learned during his time as a Shepherds student at NDWHS.

After high school, he continued his education at College of the Holy Cross, graduating in 2018. Jeenn currently works at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a researcher and plans on attending graduate school in the fall.

While his academic and work successes make Shepherds proud, his impact on his community in Boston brings the lessons learned at Shepherds and NDWH full-circle. At our Mentor Appreciation Night, he spoke about how he is now a mentor himself. Jeenn mentoring and coaching a soccer team of refugees, undocumented and socio-economically challenged youths.

KCHS seniors (pictured) attended workshops with Jane-Ellen Collins at the end of January. Students received a crash-course on what it means to be a freshman in college.

Topics covered included roommate issues, laundry, planning a schedule, balancing studies and fun, where to go for academic help and a lot more! Consistently rated a favorite Shepherds activity by graduating seniors, Jane-Ellen does a great job preparing our KCHS Seniors for the next big step in their academic lives: Being a College Freshman

Shepherds is pleased to announce that we have recently been awarded three grants to support the Shepherds program.

  • Bedford Family Social Responsibility Fund via the Westport/Weston YMCA granted Shepherds $10,000 to expand our capacity and to serve and to help fund the three parts of the Shepherds program.
  • Inner City Foundation has provided Shepherds with $10,000 for the specific purpose of tuition support.
  • Henry E. Niles Foundation has given Shepherds $2,500 to support our student programming and mentoring support.

As our partner schools have started accepting applications for their fall 2020 freshmen classes, Shepherds needs to find mentors and sponsors for these deserving students. To find out more, contact Dan McAuliffe, info@shepherdsmentors.org.

January is National Mentoring Month and Shepherds is so thankful for all the mentors that assist our students.

Our mentors are kind-hearted adults who help bridge the opportunity gap our inner-city students have. A good mentor allows students to see the hope and possibilities within themselves. Becoming a Shepherds is a satisfying way to make a positive impact on a young person in your own backyard.

As the Chronicle of Evidence Based Mentoring states, mentoring is an opportunity not only for the student, but for the mentor as well.

To find out more about becoming a mentor at Shepherds, contact Executive Director Dan McAuliffe at info@shepherds.com or www.shepherdsmentors.org

Four Ways Mentoring Benefits the Mentor

A financial contribution to Shepherds this Giving Tuesday has a tremendous impact on a local high school student. Shepherds students are successful students who continue their education after high school. Our graduation rate is 95% compared to their Bridgeport and New Haven peers graduation rate at 55-60%. Last year, 100% of our students went on to institutions of higher learning. We have a tremendous core group of volunteers, but we still need financial resources to continue providing tuition, academic and social support services to our students.
 
Join us in ensuring Shepherds students can build that solid foundation by donating today.
 

The beginning of school is an exciting time for both mentors and Shepherds students. Last week at Notre Dame West Haven and Kolbe Cathedral High School, Shepherds freshman and their mentors met each other for the first time and had a celebratory meal with upper year students and their mentors. “It was like a family reunion,” claimed Executive Director Dan McAuliffe, “welcoming back our student and mentors and inviting new members into our Shepherds community.”

To see more photos, go to Shepherds’ Instagram.

Shepherds is best known for providing a non-public, college preparatory education and a personal mentor for each inner-city youth in our program. We do so much more. One of the tools we give our students is additional preparation for SAT/ACT tests. Kolbe Cathedral High School students in our program are currently preparing for the October SAT. The extra support students receive from Shepherds will help them achieve their highest scores.

Shepherds staff and Board wish to thank our mentors, sponsors and donors for their generosity. The 2018-19 school year was very successful for our program and, most importantly, our students. Check out the highlights of what was accomplished this year!

Shepherds hosted a festive brunch in honor of f the six Kolbe Cathedral High School graduating seniors. The brunch honored the graduates, their families and the students’ mentors.

On

Join Shepherds Staff and Mentors to welcome Spring on March 28.
Enjoy drinks and heavy appetizers.

Please bring a friend to introduce them to the rewards of mentoring a Shepherds student or just bring yourself so we can thank you!

Thursday, March 28 from 7pm to 9pm
Fairfield County Hunt Club
174 Long Lots Road, Westport

Please RSVP to Amy Chickles, Shepherds Director of Programming at:
achickles@shepherdsmentors.org