Tag Archives: Tag: Notre Dame of West Haven

April 29 at 7pm: Virtual Mentoring Panel Discussion

| April 8, 2021

Long time partners, Shepherds and Notre Dame High School have teamed up once again to bring you a dynamic panel discussion sharing the ways mentoring can have a critical impact on youth in your community. To find out more about this event, including our guest panelists, please review our flyer.

To sign up for this free event, please fill out the contact information below. Please note: if accessing via mobile or tablet and you do not see “Submit” button, just hit “Enter” and your registration will be submitted and you will see a thank you screen.

 

 

Career Conversations – Public Sector Jobs

| March 9, 2021

Join a virtual discussion about Public Sector jobs. Shepherds Students and Mentors are invited to join in the breakout discussions with several volunteers to discuss their jobs, the education and skills necessary to do the job, along with what an average day looks like in their career.

First Virtual Career Conversation

| March 3, 2021

Shepherds had to get creative this year with our Career Day due to the pandemic. Mother Necessity is the springboard for innovation, and our first virtual Career Conversation focusing on Healthcare was a smashing success which will impact future Career Days for years to come.

Organized and led by Shepherds Intern, Sydney King, Shepherds Students learned about a variety of healthcare positions, the education and skills needed and what day to day looks like for each career. Using Zoom breakout rooms, students were able to interact with the healthcare professionals in a smaller group.

A special thank you to our volunteers who shared their experiences with our students. Bernie Parks – nurse. Janet Wells – Lab Work. Kara Mather – Sports Medicine. Kathy Colucci – Hospital Pharmacist. Melissa Czajkowski – Nurse Practitioner.

Career Conversations – Business

| March 3, 2021

Join a virtual discussion about Business sector jobs. Shepherds Students and Mentors are invited to join in the breakout discussions with several volunteers to discuss their jobs, the education and skills necessary to do the job, along with what an average day looks like in their career.

Be a Part of the Solution

| November 19, 2020

The pandemic has shined a light on socio-economic disparities in education in Connecticut. Per the CT Mirror, this Spring during the COVID-19 shutdown of schools “In Bridgeport, a full half of the student body didn’t show up regularly for remote schooling during the pandemic compared to 19% who were chronically absent before school buildings closed.” Likewise  in New Haven, public school district leadership told the State Education Accountability Committee, that during the first week of remote learning this fall an estimated 65% of the students participated. As a point of comparison, Fairfield Warde and Ludlowe High Schools had participation rates in the 90+% this September per CT Data.

Now more than ever, inner city high school students have more barriers to accessing a quality, college preparatory high school education. For 22 years, Shepherds has been addressing educational disparities in Fairfield and New Haven Counties. Our track record speaks for itself. 95% of our students graduate on time and 90% attend institutes of higher learning after high school, as compared to their public school peers graduation rates of 65-75% and college entrance rates hovering around 60%.

The needs of inner city high school students in Connecticut are greater than ever. With a donation to Shepherds today, you will be investing in a student’s future and helping solve the education opportunity gap right in your own backyard.

Shepherds Mentors, Student & Family Training

| September 30, 2020
Mentor Training

Mentoring young people relies upon the power of interpersonal connections with their mentors. Maintaining those connections can be challenging during COVID and creating new ones can prove to be even trickier. Shepherds has met these challenges head-on for our new mentors for the students of the Shepherds Class of 2024.

Shepherds has a robust training program for mentors, students and their families which normally takes place in person. COVID has changed our training program to a hybrid of virtual and in-person training which has required some adjustments. We are happy to report that our new mentors and freshman students have begun making solid personal connections.

Zoom meetings kicked off mentor training with a focus on mentoring expectations and mentoring in safe virtual and in-person environments. Our staff was impressed with how engaged our mentors were during these sessions. Up next were parent and student training sessions followed up with in-person meetings for most and a virtual meet up for one mentor, student and parent.

When mentors, students and parents met for the first time, it became clear that it is easy to be social and get to know another and still stay six feet apart. Shepherds Staff witnessed the beginning of new relationships and being physically distant, wearing masks and using hand sanitizer didn’t change a thing.

Who ARE Shepherds Students

| September 14, 2020
I am
For over 20 years, Shepherds has been empowering inner-city Connecticut teens to build a foundation for success by helping close the educational inequality gap in Fairfield and New Haven counties.
Shepherds provides each student the tuition support to attend a college preparatory education, academic and life skills programs, and the positive role model and four-year guidance of a Shepherds Mentor.
Shepherds is repeatedly asked the question, “Who are your students?” We are able to provide the demographics of race, gender, income difficulties, etc., and these are important data points about our students. However, it doesn’t capture who they ARE.
This year, we asked the incoming freshman to write a poem entitled, “I AM.” Shepherds believes these poems are powerful statements about who our students are – what their hopes, goals, dreams and fears are.
To find out how you can be a part of changing a teen’s life, go to www.shepherdsmentors.org or contact Executive Director Dan McAuliffe at info@shepherdsmentors.org.
You can make a difference, right in your own backyard.

July 2020 Update from Shepherds’ Executive Director

| July 27, 2020
director announcement

Dear Shepherds Friends:

Here we are in the heart and the heat of the summer… with not much else certain other than the sun will come up tomorrow and it will probably be warm if it’s not raining.

But here’s what we can tell you:

  • We had an excellent response to our call for mentors and funding for the incoming Shepherds Class of 2024. We are bringing on a total 14 new students in the fall, 10 at Kolbe Cathedral High School and four at Notre Dame West Haven. This will increase Shepherds total population by four students to 65 students for academic year 2020-21.
  • Each of these students and their families were selected on the basis of financial need, academic potential, and most importantly, their demonstrated desire and commitment to be successful. We look forward to them joining the Shepherds family in a few weeks.
  • Most gratifying has been the many inquiries we had from prospective mentors and financial sponsors to make this large new Class possible. The willingness to make a four year commitment to change a young person’s life that has been most inspiring to us. One of the many emails from a prospective mentor captured the thought this way:

“.…Education is the ultimate “equalizer”.  We as a society must ensure that all people have access to quality education and can participate fully in our society.  Recent events have shown that we as a country are still far from where we need to be.  I am moved  to help by potentially becoming a Shepherd and sponsor and would like to learn more about your program.”

 He’s signed up! 

  • Thanks to the generosity of respondents to the spring appeal, the financial commitments made by a great number of our new mentors, and a substantial donation from one very generous family, we were put over the top for our Shepherds Class of 2024 goal of $60,000.

THANK YOU TO EACH AND ALL OF YOU!

What do we see for the last half of the summer?

  • We await information from our partner schools on the details of their re-opening plans.
  • Kolbe Cathedral Shepherds Class of 2024 Cougar Camp is planned for August 17 -21.
  • Most importantly, our students still need the attention of their mentors this summer. Letting them know you’re thinking of them will be a great boost to their morale.

You can also help us expand our network of friends by sharing one of our Facebook posts with your Facebook friends, sharing a Shepherds LinkedIn posting with your connections, or by forwarding this e-newsletter to friends, colleagues, and relatives. Let’s give more people the opportunity to change a life!

Best wishes for a continued safe, healthy and hopefully enjoyable summer.

Dan McAuliffe
Executive Director

dmcauliffe@shepherdsmentors.org
(203) 367-4273