Travis County Commissioners Court
January 18, 2005
Item 4
Now, let's go back to number 4. And it is to approve proclamation recognizing the month of January as mentoring month in Travis County. And we have some proteges with us today.
>> judge, we have very special guests who -- their coach from aisd has just arrived and very special visitors that leroy nellis our mentor of the year last year is going to introduce shortly, but if it's already, i'll go ahead and -- roy, do you want me to start with the proclamation? All right. Whereas January 2005 is national mentoring month. And whereas students with mentors are 75% less likely to drop out of school, 46% less likely to start using drugs, 27% less likely to start using alcohol, and 33% less likely to hit someone. And whereas schools with mentoring programs report a 76% increase in student attendance rates and 84% increase in students passing classes, a 58% increase in students achieving higher grades, and a 60% decline in suspensions from school. And whereas one-hour orientation sessions have been scheduled for Thursday, January 20th, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., And Wednesday, January 26th, from noon until 1:00. Each of those sessions will be conducted at the gardner betts juvenile justice center training room located at 2515 south congress. Now therefore be it resolved that the Travis County Commissioners court proclaims the month of January as mentoring month in Travis County, Texas. And we encourage Travis County employees to participate as mentors to Austin Travis County area students. Be it also resolved we the members of the Commissioners court encourage Travis County department heads and supervisors to allow work flexibility to enable employees to participate in this very worthy opportunity. And I would move approval.
>> second.
>> would you help us with introductions?
>> I'm leroy nellis, your Travis County budget manager. I have with me a lot of exciting people that are involved with the mentoring program. We do have ms. Marsh no. And ms. Mailen's third grade classes. These children have had Travis County mentors involved with their classes since they've been in kindergarten. I'd like to remind you that allen elementary's third grade class last year reading scores improved with one other elementary school the highest in the district. We're very proud of the principal, the -- all the faculty members at allen for working very hard with these children. I'd also like to introduce our Austin partners in education, marjon and irene guzman.
>> good morning.
>> I would like to say thank you for all of your support, encouraging employees to mentor. The performance measures, the two that just are unbelievable is that one hour per week, according to the national dropout prevention center, has an effect of the students with mentors are 75% less likely to drop out of school. They are also 46% less likely to start using drugs. Those two performance measures more than justify our involvement. And a lot of us have a lot of very strict schedules. If we can't mentor, I encourage you to contact someone else. I mean retirees, it makes an excellent opportunity to be involved with the school children. During last budget cycle, you approved funding for the allen elementary 4-h club. And I can tell you that through the coordination with our criminal justice planning, kimberly pierce, Travis County was able to coordinate the building of the pens that the goats are in and the rabbits are going to be in through inmate labor. That is a perfect opportunity to coordinate through the resources that are already available. I know that each of you received a letter from pam gray, the principal of allen elementary school, thanking you for the contribution for the 4-h club. I would like to read one sentence out of that letter. Indicating caring for live animals not only teaches students about feeding and nurturing but fosters empathy, understanding compassion and team work. And those are so important characteristics that these children are learning. The fifth grade students are teaching the younger students in this 4-h organization how to care for the animals. I would like to say that all of Travis County, and we have a number of independent school districts, we have manor independent school district, we have del valle, we have Austin independent school district. There's actually about 11 school districts that have some part of their territory in Travis County. All of these schools need additional mentors. And it's very easy. All that's required to mentor is to complete a criminal background check, and you can go to the website, Austinisd.org, click on community, and you will go into the Austin partners in education website and there's an online background check. There's one-hour orientation training that's required. And then the Austin partners in education, irene and marjohn and the rest of the staff work with getting you teamed up with a student at the school that you indicate. So at this point I would like for each of the students just to walk by very quickly and tell you who they are because these are the future leaders of Austin. And I'm glad to present to you mismarjohn and ms. Malin's third grade class.
>> [inaudible].
>> melissa sample.
>> justin phillips.
>> say your name a little louder. Got a million people watching you. Don't get nervous.
>> brad castillo.
>> it was two years ago the last time you saw all these students. And now they are big third graders.
>> [inaudible].
>> edward luna.
>> erin esparza.
>> [inaudible].
>> this is frederick.
>> manny juarez.
>> michael brown.
>> alberto martinez.
>> [inaudible].
>> edward Davis.
>> [inaudible].
>> jesse [inaudible].
>> alexis baker.
>> [inaudible].
>> nicklaus simpson.
>> [inaudible].
>> [inaudible] shea [inaudible].
>> joseph rushy.
>> I don't think they heard.
>> joseph rush.
>> dan srel villas.
>> chelsea martiz.
>> nicholas lazaro.
>> wesley frye.
>> [inaudible] espinosa.
>> jacob martinez.
>> the other thing I want to mention is all these students are going to be going to explorer u.t. On March th 6th. Cooperative agreement and working very hard with dr. Forgione, dr. Rocha of aisd. All of the element principals and these faculty at allen to coordinate that open house. So thank you very much for your support.
>> thank you.
>> thank you. [applause]
>> do you have any comments? Don't let reroy Monday tphop lies the microphone.
>> I would like to address you and thank you for that partnership that we have with the county because as Commissioner Gomez brought out earlier, it's these kinds of partnerships that reach the maximum number of people in our community, and we, partners in education, we want to thank each and every one of you for the incredible support that you have given us and more leroy because he's been with us for some time as a mentor. We just want to make sure we know we appreciate you. Thank you very much.
>> thank you.
>> do you want to get a picture?
>> sure. I'll always take a picture.
>> could you all shoot a quick picture?
>> do we need to come down front?
>> if you would come out here.
>> thank you. [applause]
we did not vote on the previous item regarding number 4, a proclamation regarding metro. We did have a motion and a second. All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
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Last Modified:
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 8:11 AM