Looking Forward

Each year since 1976 I've started January with two goals in mind. One was to keep the current group of youth and volunteers involved through the end of the school year. The second was to enlist some of the students and volunteers as leaders who would work with me and other volunteers to help the program improve, and grow, as it moved into the next school year starting in late Augusts.

This is a business process, based on Total Quality Management. We learn from what we are doing at Cabrini Connections, and what others are doing in their own programs. We learn from our network, and the ideas that are all around us.

I use graphics to illustrate these ideas this one can be found in this blog article

In 1976 I did not have the Internet as a resource, and frankly, I did not know nearly as much, or have as much sense of purpose, as I have today. I've learned this over many years, one year at a time. I've learned from my experiences as a retail advertising manager with Montgomery Ward, from three years in Army Intelligence, and from my college years in the 1960s. I've learned from our students, and from our volunteers. I've dramatically expanded what I've learned from using the Internet to expand my network and the range of ideas that influence my actions.

I'm trying to help our students and volunteers expand their networks, and learn from the same library of resources that I learn from. That's why I point to www.tutormentorconnection.org as a resource.

Thus, if we can keep most of our students and volunteers involved through June 2010, and have some become leaders who provide time, talent and sweat-equity to help improve the program, we'll start the 2010-11 school year with even more hope for helping our kids to careers than we have in the past.

I share this planning cycle on the Internet, along with these blog articles, so other programs in Chicago and in other cities can learn from our experience as they build their own programs.

Read the "strategy" articles on the Tutor/Mentor blog and add your own talents to the work of sustaining, and constantly improving, the quality and impact of Cabrini Connections

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CABRINI MADNESS has begun!
Read more about Cabrini Madness

Support one of these teams with a donation and help us continue to share what we're learning with our own students and volunteers, and with leaders of other tutor/mentor programs.

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Thank you all for your help.

Contact El Da Sheon Nix or Dan Bassill
Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection
800 W. Huron, First Floor
Chicago, Il. 60642
312-492-9614