Osmond TeamMates Plants Tree, Celebrates End of School
The Osmond TeamMates chapter celebrated the end of another successful school year on Monday, May 16th. Beth Manzer, Program Coordinator welcomed the group and thanked both the mentees and mentors for their commitment to the program.
First on the agenda for the chapter was planting a tree. With the help of Brian Guenther the chapter was able to acquire a tree and find a permanent home for it on the south side of the football field. Special guest, Norm Lorenz helped the group plant the tree and shared a lot of great information about proper tree planting. Everyone was able to get their hands dirty too!
Next up, the matches were able to build pizzas together. Each match took a pre-made crust and added their preference of toppings. While the pizzas were grilling, the chapter played games outside on the school playground. One of the most entertaining games was the tic-tac-toe relay race using hula hoops. Once all of the pizzas were done, the chapter regrouped in the school lunchroom for their pizza party.
The chapter was lucky to have a special TeamMates guest join them as well for the evening celebration. DeMoine Adams, Post-Secondary Specialist, is from the central TeamMates office in Lincoln, Nebraska. His primary focus is to help high school matches as they prepare and plan for post-secondary education. He enjoys assisting matches in finding scholarship opportunities. DeMoine spoke to the group for about 20 minutes about a variety of topics. He reiterated that the TeamMates program is for all youth, grades 3-12; there are no special circumstances in which you must meet to be able to participate as the mission of the TeamMates program is to positively impact the world by inspiring youth to reach their full potential through mentoring. He reminded the mentees that their mentors are one of their biggest cheerleaders in all that they do. Next, he recognized Osmond’s 8th graders who will be freshman next year and encouraged them to start thinking about their post-secondary education. Finally, he wrapped up by recognizing each of the mentors, mentees, and board of directors individually.
Finally, Leah Orr, Board of Directors President ended the evening by thanking the group for a great year. Special awards were given to mentors and the board of directors. A listing of the awards can be found at the end of this article. The chapter nearly doubled their matches from their first year in the program. Currently the program has 22 matches. Leah encouraged both the mentors and mentees to recruit for the upcoming school year as the goal of the program is to have 50 matches by the end of the 2016-2017 school year. A mentor recruiting challenge will be going on this summer with the top recruiter receiving a prize at the back-to-school kick-off event in August. If you are interested in joining the program or would like more information, please feel free to contact Leah Orr.
Special thanks to:
Brian Guenther and Norm Lorenz for the assistance with the tree
DeMoine Adams for joining our celebration and speaking to the group
Osmond TeamMates Board of Directors and Program Coordinators for planning the event
10 or More Club
* These mentors met at least 10 times with their mentees during the 2015-2016 school year
Todd Schulz, 12 Julie Slagle, 19 Alison Dennis, 21
Scott Morrison, 12 Jim Weber, 13 Leah Orr, 15
Ross Stelling, 11 Gary Schieffer, 10 Amanda, Koehler, 16
Rachael Brugman, 13 Garret Kuhl, 19
24 or More Club
* These mentors met at least 24 times with their mentees during the 2015-2016 school year
Tanya Gallagher, 24 Ryan Gallagher, 31 Patti Ketelsen, 38
Pam Johnson, 46 Melissa Lind, 24 Joan Kumm, 29
Jennifer von Rentzell, 40 Doug Ketelsen, 25 Chris Adamson, 29
Bill Steffen, 29
Board of Directors
Leah Orr, President, 2 years
Jane Brummels, Vice President, 1 year
Tanya Gallagher, Secretary, 2 years
Patti Ketelsen, Treasurer, 1 year
Julie Slagle, 2 years
Ryan Gallagher, 2 years
Justin Orr, 2 years
