October 2015 - Aurora Youth Options

Fall 2015
Aurora Youth Options (AYO) works with middle and high
school-aged youth and their families to navigate, connect and
provide positive individualized resources to help youth thrive.
Nominate a Youth
Mentor a Youth
Tutor a Youth
Navigation of Community Resources, Mentoring, Tutoring, Substance Use Prevention and Youth Leadership.
Aurora Youth Options is now on Facebook. Please click here and like our page!
View the new AYO video that honors the stories of several AYO participants, by clicking
here. The video was shown at the Aurora Mental Health Center Spring Luncheon.
Mentor Happy Hour Thursday, November 5
CLEATZ (8336 Northfield Blvd. Suite 1600 Denver, CO 80238)
Free Wings!!!! Gift card raffle & Free event tickets for matches!!!
Drink Specials, Delicious Appetizers and Entrees
Presentation, Men and Mentoring by: Christian Herrera
RSVP with Langston Jacobs 720-474-6185
Middle Man
Hey fellas’ what comes to your mind when you hear the words great
middle man? If you are a sports fan like myself, NBA centers who
dominated the paint come to mind. Names like Kareem, Olajuwon,
Shaq, Russel and Chamberlain were certainly dominant champions
at their position. If you are an NFL fan, names like Vince Woolfolk,
Haloti Ngata, Joe Klecko and Jamal Williams were dominant nose
guards. None of these bruisers you want to see in a dark alley.
I’m just a fan and have nowhere close the athletic ability of stellar
professional athletes. However recently, I have become a prominent
middle man. You won’t see my name in lights, nor will I wear a gold
Hall of Fame Jacket, but I have found a way of positively effecting my
community.
Before I reveal to you my new status, let me tell you a little about my
background. As a youth, I grew up without a father or a real positive
role model in my life. Later in life, I connected to a mentor who
changed my life. That mentor, Ken, was non-judgmental,
Langston and Ken
understanding, funny and wise. You see, mentoring especially for us
men, is more of subtle side-by-side leadership that has far reaching
benefits. On wildlife reserves in Africa, rangers discovered that young male elephants were extremely violent
and destructive. These massive beasts where documented to charge and trample other wildlife, vehicles and
even members of their own species. The solution to this
problem was quite simple. Park rangers introduced mature
elephants into the park, something remarkable occurred. The
mature elephants, came alongside the robust juveniles and
subtly with nudges and sounds calmed them down and made
the juvenile males more calm and sociable. This is the
experience that recently happened to me. My mentor had a
very positive effect on my maturation process into manhood.
Now, I am a middle man. A father of two boys, I recently joined
the mentoring program at Aurora Youth Options. I have
enjoyed this experience tremendously. Recently, I felt like I
was inaugurated to the middle man club. I went to a Denver
Bronco game with my mentor and my mentee. Hence the term
middle man was attached to my resume. I am being mentored
while mentoring a youth. This experience brought a full-circle
connection to my life. To mentor a youth, there is no need to
be famous, rich or of high influential community status. A
mentor only needs to be available. Mentoring at Aurora Youth
Options has enhanced
my life. I look forward to
Chauncey and Langston
time spent with my
mentee.
We meet on average of twice a
month. Activities can range from sporting events to homework
assistance. You see it is not about the money. Mentoring is about
reaching back, making a key connection for our community. Mentoring
is life changing. I am a product of mentoring. Join me.
If you would like to learn more about becoming a mentor contact
Langston Jacobs at 303-617-2388 or [email protected].
Chauncey, Langston and Ken
The Importance of Collaborating
The Mentoring Enhancement Partnership (MEP),
which consists of three mentoring agencies, Aurora
Youth Options, Denver Urban Scholars, and Goodwill
Industries of Denver, have been collaborating together
for the past three years. The goal of the MEP is to
improve mentoring through the implementation of
advocacy and teaching functions into mentors’ roles by
enhancing the matching process, enhancing mentor
initial and ongoing training, and by enhancing mentor
support. The MEP has learned many valuable lessons
during this collaboration and we wanted to share our experiences with other mentoring agencies throughout
the nation. How does one go about this you may ask? Each year, the National Mentoring Summit, held in
Washington D.C., hosts about 65 workshops for 1,000 attendees. The MEP decided it would be beneficial for
us to apply to host a workshop on the topic of collaborations. Our workshop, Collaborating: Walking into the
Unknown, focuses on the following three main objectives:
 How to connect and initiate conversation with external partners in order to start forming a collaboration
 How to create a framework/model that supports and accommodates different programmatic structures and
nurtures a sustainable collaboration.
 Lessons Learned: how the collaboration evolved and adjusted as needed along the way.
On July 24th, The National Mentoring Partnership notified the MEP that our proposal was accepted! We will
be presenting our workshop this upcoming January 28th at the Summit. This will be an amazing opportunity
for the MEP Collaborative to share our success story and the lessons we learned along the way with other
mentoring staff throughout the nation. Thank you to all of the amazing volunteer mentors as well as youth and
families that participated in the MEP, we could not have done this without your ongoing support.
AYO’s PACT Program Builds off Momentum from Last Year
AYO’s Prevention Awareness through Core Training (PACT) Program wrapped up its first year in June, 555
Aurora Public School students were taught life skills to help them avoid substance use. The PACT Team will
be using that momentum as we launch into the new school year with the goal of serving 1,000 APS students.
PACT facilitators will strive to get to know each student in their class by using student driven personal
touches derived from staff training on the Thrive Model of Positive Youth Development. Facilitators will
individually welcome students to class, create short term goals for each class with students input, and help
students learn skills by encouraging them to practice within their peer group.
PACT Facilitator, Derek Chavez recently started PACT’s first class of the year at South Middle School. “I’m
excited to bring PACT back to South Middle School this year, teaching students skills that will benefit them at
school, home and in their community.”
Welcome Back To School and AYO’s Homework Help and Tutoring Program
School is back in session and so is AYO Homework Help and Tutoring. This year Homework Help and
Tutoring is meeting on Wednesday night from 4:00-6:00pm at the AYO office. The AYO Office is located in
the Hoffman Building, 1298 Peoria Street, Aurora, CO, 80011. Our entrance is on the south side of the
building on the garden level. Tutors are available to help middle and high school-aged students with their
homework in all subjects. Other resources in the Hoffman Building include an Aurora Public Library and an
Aurora youth recreation center. Please note Homework Help and Tutoring is on the same night as AYO
Drop-In night allowing for easily access to other AYO services. We look forward to seeing you at Homework
Help and Tutoring throughout the school year.
Ropes Course Extended Event- October 3rd, 2015; AYO mentors and mentees enjoy a full day of ropes
course and team building activities that help bring them closer together as a match. This is our annual event,
so make sure to sign up while spots are still available! Contact your Mentor Specialist for more information.
Mentor Happy Hour– Thursday, November 5 at Cleatz @ Northfield (8336 Northfield Blvd Suite 1600
Denver, CO 80238)Free Wings, gift card raffle & free event tickets for matches! Drink Specials, Delicious
Appetizers and Entrees. Presentation, Men and Mentoring by Christian Herrera. RSVP with Langston Jacobs
303-617-2388.
Mentor Friendraiser Event- January 21st, 2016; If you’re looking for a way to serve your community, please
consider becoming a mentor! This event is a great place where you can meet mentors and their youth and
learn more about making a significant impact through mentoring! Please bring your friends who might also be
interested in becoming a mentor!
Homework Help and Tutoring- Every Wednesday from 4:00pm-6:00pm in the Hoffman Building; AYO offers
free homework help and tutoring every week at our office location, 1298 Peoria Street Aurora, CO 80010.
Bring your homework and come on by for some tutoring and a snack!
Aurora Youth Options - Aurora Mental Health Center
Physical Address: 1298 Peoria St. Aurora, CO 80011 (entrance on the South side garden level)
Mailing Address: 11059 E. Bethany Drive, Suite 200, Aurora, CO 80014
P: 303.617.2660 | F: 303.617.2669 | [email protected] | www.aurorayouthoptions.org
Click here to email us and be removed from our email newsletter list.