Mentoring a way to connect --

One of the great things about the new semester, especially before classes begin, is the ability to reconnect with colleagues around the Coker College campus. This morning Dave McManus, who is a technical theater guru, asked the normal question, 'How was your summer.' That got us started on the Selling Hartsville project and as we talked, I found that last semester he had answered a call for mentors. Dave went to Thornwell Elementary School for the Arts here in Hartsville and met Jeremiah, an eight-year old that he began meeting with weekly. Not long after they began meeting, the youngster's teacher asked Dave -- what he had done or said, because apparently the change in the third grader was positive and noticeable almost immediately. "We play Monopoly," said Dave. And as he discussed the mentoring experience, you quickly find they also talk. Dave pays attention to Jeremiah, who seems to also connect with Dave. When we talk community building and making a difference, we often think in terms of the big programs, but then you hear the mentoring experience and understand that the most significant changes are made one-on-one by people willing to reach out and give each other the most precious of treasures -- their time. Dave says he'd be glad to answer any questions about mentoring if there are Coker people who might be interested.