January is National Mentoring Month and the focus of this year's campaign is to recognize real life mentoring relationships and thank current mentors. This month at Take Stock in Children (TSIC) we will be sharing information to raise awareness of mentoring and its benefits for our students. We will also strive to recruit individuals to serve as mentors for TSIC. And, most importantly, we will celebrate and thank our mentors. You are truly the heart and soul of the Take Stock in Children program.

, THANK YOU for elevating the mentoring movement through your work each and every day to ensure our students have a caring adult in their life. Because of you, we're able to provide a pathway out of poverty through education for our students.

Please take a couple minutes to watch the video below about the amazing impact of mentoring.
We need mentors who can serve a student at Sunlake High School and a Spanish-speaking mentor would be ideal for an 8th grader at Gulf Middle School . We will also be adding about 8 or 9 students in February from schools throughout the district and will need to match them with a mentor ASAP. If you know any caring people like yourself that would love an opportunity to serve as a TSIC mentor, email Gina Granger at ggranger@pascoeducationfoundation.org or call (813) 794-2134. Thank you!
All of us at  Take Stock in Children Pasco  wish the happiest of birthdays (and many more) to the following mentors with January birthdays:

Kelly Banchak
Rosanne Heyser
Diana Jerome
Kevin Kinsella
Anthony Koubek
Bee Siew Lee
Nikii Lewis
Elliot Lorenzi
Fabien Spence
Attention Mentors of Seniors!
In April 2018, the Pasco Education Foundation awarded 124 scholarships to graduating seniors in all 13 Pasco County High Schools valued at $217,425! The scholarship application is LIVE on the Pasco Education Foundation website. NEW THIS YEAR: Scholarships are now available for students interested in pursuing a trade certificate/degree (like police/fire academies, welding programs) or attending technical schools. Click here to visit the scholarship page for more details. Please encourage your senior scholars to apply before the January 31, 2019 deadline. Food for thought to share with your mentee: Opportunities are never lost. Someone will take the ones you miss.
Report Cards are released on Tuesday, January 15.

On Thursday, January 17, from 6 - 8PM, there is a mandatory TSIC workshop for all 10th grade scholars.*

On Monday, January 21, schools will be closed for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

11th grade scholars are required to attend a mandatory workshop on Thursday, January 31, from 5:45 - 8PM.*

*Mentors welcome! Workshops are held at:
Pasco County Schools
Bldg 2/Oak Room
7227 Land O' Lakes Blvd
Land O' Lakes, FL 34638
By now you should have logged at least 11 or 12 mentor sessions with your student (if matched at or near the beginning of the school year). Here's a look at some of our mentors that are starting off the new year on top!

13 Visits
Derek Kuryliw
Paula Lesko
Nikii Lewis
Cynthia Metcalf
Stephen Scutari
Amber Starkey

14 Visits
Louise Ellrod
Dave Estabrook
Steven Okun
Dick Sanders
Laura Vlahakis
Alan Witt

15 Visits
Don Anderson
Melba Hamilton
Carolyn Higgins & Karyn Moses

16 Visits
Elliot Lorenzi

17 Visits
Cheryl Vinson & Ellen Rose
Thanks SO MUCH for logging your mentor sessions soon after each visit. It really takes less than a minute. :)
During this National Mentoring Month , we pause to say thanks, Mentor , for all you do to support your scholar. You are truly helping shape their future in a positive way!