Hello Kris,

The greatness of a nation is measured in part by how it prepares its next generation to succeed. Ours is a great Nation, and together, as mentors, we can each change a young person’s life for the better — and with it, help guarantee our country a future of unlimited possibilities.

~ President Biden, A Proclamation on National Mentoring Month 2024

January is National Mentoring Month, an annual campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the power and impact of mentoring. With titles such as coach and tutor, our volunteers are really serving as mentors, continually showing up for our students with commitment, patience, encouragement, and love. From all of us at YPIE, thank you for your unwavering support!

We are diving headfirst into a new year with a month jam packed with volunteer events!

• All Volunteers: Our third mentoring workshop, Effective Conversations About Change, offered on January 9th, 17th, and 25th, will focus on a style of communication designed to help motivate young people to make choices that are consistent with their values.

• New Graduation Coaches: The required training for Graduation Coaches, Fundamentals of Listening, Connecting, and Mentoring, will be offered on January 10th or 22nd (the second date is new). Attendance at one session is mandatory for volunteers who have never served as a Graduation Coach and for those who last served in that role before 2023. Please note - the in-person Matching Ceremony will occur on February 7th.

• 11th Grade Graduation Coaches: Please plan to attend a Kickoff to College workshop on either January 11th or 16th to learn more about the college application process and your role in supporting your Scholar.  

• All Volunteers: Volunteers interested in helping students and families navigate the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) will attend a training session on either January 11th or 17th, with the opportunity to assist in nine FAFSA events at schools and YPIE this month.

• All Volunteers: Come connect with your fellow coaches and share best practices at the Coach Meetup on January 17th.

• All Volunteers: Looking ahead to next month, we will offer a Summer Opportunities for Students workshop on February 8th and 13th to help equip you with tools and knowledge necessary to assist your students in planning how to make the most of their summers..

Please see below for more information about each of these events. I look forward to seeing many of you on Zoom in the coming weeks!

May 2024 be filled with wonder, gratitude, and blessings for you and those you love. ❤️

Stacy Winitt

Senior Director, Volunteer Engagement



UPCOMING EVENTS

Effective Conversations about Behavior Change Workshop via Zoom

• January 9th from 6:00pm-7:00pm OR
• January 17th from 2:00pm-3:00pm OR
• January 25th from 10:00am-11:00am
• Open to all volunteers; based on Chapter 11 of Becoming a Better Mentor

Attendees will learn how to avoid potentially harmful behaviors when having conversations about behavior change, and how to encourage young people who experience ambivalence, or the competing motivations for and against behavior change.

Fundamentals of Listening, Connecting, and Mentoring Workshop via Zoom

• January 10th from 12:00pm-1:15pm OR
• January 22nd from 3:00pm-4:15pm
• Required for new Graduation Coaches and those who last served prior to 2023 (and open to any current Graduation Coach looking for a refresher)

Kickoff to College Workshop via Zoom

• January 11th from 12:00pm-1:00pm OR
• January 16th from 3:00pm-4:00pm
• Required for Graduation Coaches of 11th Grade Scholars

FAFSA Training via Zoom

• January 11th from 3:00-4:30pm OR
• January 17th from 10:30am-12:00pm
• Required for FAFSA volunteers

Coach Meetup via Zoom

• January 17th from 6:00-7:00pm
• Open to all volunteers and led by members of the Volunteer Advisory Board

Matching Ceremony in person at YPIE

• February 7th from 5:30-7:00pm
• Required for Graduation Coaches and Scholars matched in January 2024

Summer Opportunities for Students Workshop via Zoom

• February 8th from 3:00pm-4:00pm OR
• February 13th from 12:00pm-1:00pm 
• Open to all volunteers

Please see the YPIE Volunteer calendar at ypie.org/ypievolunteer



STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

1-ON-1 TUTORING AVAILABLE!

We have a cohort of volunteers who provide 1-on-1 tutoring in the College Zone after school Monday through Thursday. If your Scholar is struggling with any academic subject (especially math and science), and can commit to attending tutoring sessions in person at the College Zone, please have them complete the YPIE Tutoring Request Form.

VOLUNTEER NEWS

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a variant of the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) language model developed by OpenAI. Specifically, ChatGPT is fine-tuned to perform well in generating human-like responses in a conversational context. It is trained on a diverse range of internet text and is designed to understand and generate coherent and contextually relevant responses in a chat-like format. (This paragraph was written by ChatGPT in response to my prompt asking for a definition.)

At the volunteer Coffee Klatch on December 6th, attendees discussed Chat GPT: the ways in which it has infiltrated our (and our students’) daily lives, the potential pitfalls, and ways in which it can be harnessed for good. Some volunteers left that event encouraged to experiment with Chat GPT for the first time, similar to how I felt when this topic was presented at a YPIE staff meeting in December.

I’m sharing 2 resources for anyone interested in exploring this corner of the artificial intelligence world: How to Use Chat GPT: Complete Beginner Guide and Applying to College? Here’s How A.I. Tools May Hurt, or Help.

SCIENCE JUDGES NEEDED

The Westchester/Rockland Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS)

• When: Saturday, January 20th, 8:00am - 2:00pm (lunch provided)
• Where: Yorktown Jay High School (2727 Crompond Rd, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598)
• Who: Anyone with any background/experience in STEM (a bachelor's degree, some work/teaching experience)
• Next Step: Email Jake at jschofield@ypie.org to register

Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (WESEF)

• When: Saturday, March 16th, 8:30am - 3:00pm (lunch provided)
• Where: Somers High School (120 Primrose St, Lincolndale, NY 10540)
• Who: Science professionals (Masters/PhD, are enrolled in a degree program, or have a bachelors plus 2+ years of experience; more details here: wesef.org/for-judges)
• Next Steps: Set up an account and register at www.wesef.zfairs.com (put YPIE as your affiliate school) and then email Jake (jschofield@ypie.org) to let him know you registered

FAFSA VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was revised this year and opened on December 31st. We will train volunteers to help families complete the FAFSA. If you haven’t already signed up to become a FAFSA volunteer, please email me to inform me of your interest. Then please complete the FAFSA Volunteer Survey to tell me which training session you will attend and indicate your availability for various FAFSA events at the high schools and YPIE.

AFTER SCHOOL TUTORS NEEDED: Now through June

We are seeking after school science tutors (mainly biology and chemistry) to work 1-on-1 with students in the College Zone. The days are flexible (Monday-Thursday) and the times would be in the range of 3:30pm-5:30pm. If you are interested in this volunteer opportunity, please email me.

MENTOR NY Workshop: Attuning to Young People

January 17th from 10:00-11:15am

This workshop offered by Mentor NY is a great opportunity for any volunteer who missed the YPIE Attunement in Mentoring workshops in November. This highly interactive session offers guidance on how to enhance connections with young people. Learn how strong relationships are rooted in "attunement," and explore intentional ways to integrate it into your mentoring approach. Register here for this workshop.  



VOLUNTEER REMINDERS

SCHOOL & YPIE VISITS

Essay Coaches and Graduation Coaches can meet with students at school during their lunch/free periods. Please read and adhere to the YPIE Volunteer School Visit Policy, schedule your visits on days when YPIE staff will be at the schools, and email them in advance to let them know your plans. If you need the email addresses of the YPIE Readiness Managers and College Advisors, please refer back to last month’s newsletter (linked at the bottom of this newsletter).

If you are meeting a student at the YPIE College Zone, please email me the date and time.

FIELD TRIPS WITH STUDENTS

Volunteers are permitted to take field trips with their students provided that they arrive separately at the destination or use public transportation. Volunteers should never transport students in their personal vehicles. If you wish to take a field trip, please fill out this YPIE Coach Permission Slip, have your Scholar’s parents/guardians sign it, and keep the signed copy. Please take selfies of you and your Scholar enjoying your adventures and send them to me!

GRADUATION COACH REMINDERS

Please reach out to me if you have experienced any difficulty in maintaining continual contact with your Scholar. You should be meeting at least once every 3 weeks. Please submit an Exit Ticket for each Scholar meeting.

• A meeting is defined as taking place in-person or via phone/video call. Text messages and emails do not count as meetings.
• Try using the Mood Meter at the start of your meetings as a routine way to check-in with each other.



ESSAY COACH REMINDERS

The Essay Writing Fall Season has officially ended. If you did not share with me your student’s final draft, please send that ASAP.

The Essay Writing Spring Season will open in April, with training sessions held on Zoom in March. Stay tuned for more information in next month’s newsletter.

VOLUNTEER RESOURCES

Honoring Youth Voice & Building Power Presentation (Dec 2023)

Attunement in Mentoring Presentation (Nov 2023)

Listening, Connecting, and Mentoring Presentation (Sept/Oct 2023)

Volunteer Kickoff Event presentation (September 19, 2023)

Becoming a Better Mentor (full 135-page guidebook)

Previous Newsletters: December 2023, November 2023, October 2023, September 2023

Thanks for reading all the way to the end! 😃