TeamMates hold recognition night, present scholarships

TeamMates Mentoring held a recognition night
April 26  at Chase County Schools for mentors and mentees involved in the local program.
“Due to a last minute scheduling of a track meet, we had a smaller than usual crowd of around 40 to 50 people. But it was still a nice event,” said Sheila Stromberger, program coordinator.
Two “matches” were recognized for reaching the goal of meeting at least 24 times during the school year.
Mary Wilson and her mentee Hope and Trent Herbert and his mentee Dominic were presented gifts from the TeamMates board.
Janae Solomon, TeamMates Regional Coordinator for Western Nebraska and TeamMates Mentoring Post Secondary Specialist, was in attendance and spoke briefly on the opportunities for TMs pursuing post secondary education.
There are 10 seniors in TM who are graduating Saturday and four were present last week.
All received a gift and a medal from the TM board, she said.
“All 10 have been in TM since we started the program when they were in the 5th grade,” she added.
Scholarship winners were Markenna Terryberry, Jolee Schoenholz and Lucy Spady, each receiving a $500 TeamMates Mentoring of Chase County scholarship.
Delaney Krutsinger received a $1,000 scholarship from the TeamMates Central Office given by Dr. and Mrs. Larry Stuckey.
Herbert and Cathy Hanna were presented gifts in recognition of the years they served as TM Mentoring Program Coordinators.
Hanna will continue to serve as building coordinator, Stromberger said.
A meal was served by TM board members Chris Lee, Ashley Holscher, Carrie Terryberry, Jill Mays and Mary Wilson.
Board members Tanna Hanna and Pat McNair were not able to attend.
“We did an activity recognizing the unique qualities of our mentors and mentees. Prizes were awarded to the person who could guess who most had those qualities,” said Stromberger.
There are several new mentors who have joined TM, but they are always looking for more adults to mentor students at CCS, she said.
Mentors and mentees are matched based on similar interests. Mentoring is done at school usually during the student’s lunch period.
“Time commitments are only about 30-45 minutes a week during the school year,” she added.
Interested adults can contact the school or Stromberger at 308-882-8177.