Wednesday, June 25, 2003

SRHS employee makes a difference in local school

Between work, volunteering at health fairs and caring for her family, Cardiology's Non-invasive Manager Janice Bush, CCT stays busy.

And this past year - thanks to her seven-year-old daughter, Ja'Sharee - Janice added one more important item to her "busy" list: she became a mentor to a ten-year-old student at her daughter's school, West Clayton Elementary School. And this year, Janice earned the Mentor of the Year award for her efforts with the Adult Role Models for Students program.

"It's true," Janice said. "I was drafted by my daughter and her teacher. The school sent letters home, asking parents if they would like to mentor a student for the year."

Thinking she didn't have time for one more thing on her plate, Janice didn't think the mentoring program needed her help. But her daughter did.

Janice remembers, "A few weeks later, I received a letter, stating that I needed to attend a luncheon. I didn't know what the luncheon was about, so I called the school." And that's when she found out that Ja'Sharee had volunteered her name.

With the help of her director and Human Resources, Janice was able to fulfill the mentoring program requirement of spending time with her "mentee" each week. Her "mentee" had a truancy record and was having behavioral problems in school.

"The first thing we did together was set some goals for her. I made it really simple. If her goals weren't being met, I could not come to see her," Janice explained.

Goals included improving her attendance record, maintaining her grade point average, respecting her teachers and asking for the teacher's help when she had conflicts with other students.

"I wasn't sure if I was making a difference at first," Janice said. "But I kept getting feedback from the teachers who had noticed a change in her. Sometimes we had setbacks. But we just continued to work to get past them." Pretty soon, even the principal noticed the improvement.

Ja'Sharee never showed signs of jealousy and was always looking out for her mom's new friend. "Whenever Ja'Sharee and I were shopping, she would always see something nice and say, 'Mom, you should get that for your mentee!'"

At the end of the school year, the school held a special presentation for parents and other citizens in the community who help out. Janice's student spoke about her friendship with Janice and thanked her for being a good friend.

"Well, I didn't know she was going to speak and I just cried through the whole thing," she said.

Janice was presented with a certificate of appreciation, a gift bag, pin and a plaque that proclaimed her the "Mentor of the Year."

According to school officials, because of Janice's "moment" with her student at the presentation, other parents have signed up for next year's mentoring program.