Johns Hopkins HealthCare Connects with
North Glen Elementary

Mentor Temekia Butler with student Patti Brown, JHHC president and mentor to North Glen 3rd-graders Jackqueline Meadows reads to her mentees

Hopkins Hospital is not alone in its commitment to mentoring students in local schools. At the Anne Arundel County headquarters of Johns Hopkins HealthCare, more than 20 employees are serving as mentors to 46 3rd grade students at North Glen Elementary, a Title One school with many students from economically challenged backgrounds.

Regina Passwaters is a teacher in one of the two North Glen classes that mentors visit every two weeks. "Every Tuesday morning, the first thing my students want to know is, is this the day the mentors are coming?" she says. "They've established a real personal connection with their mentors, and another good role model is just what some of them
really need."

On a recent Tuesday, the students gathered in small groups-two or three to a mentor-in the school's bright, spacious gym. In each group, students and mentors took turns reading aloud from an oversize paperback titled Brother Eagle, Sister Sky. The book, like this year's social studies curriculum at North Glen, is devoted to Native American culture. Crafts and a lively discussion followed. Students were asked to tell about an important lesson taught to them by a family member. Hands shot up. The first girl called upon had this to share: "Never run with scissors in your hand."

The mentoring program is part of a larger "community partnership" established last year between JH HealthCare and North Glen. Hopkins employees conduct guest readings in all classrooms at the school, help plan and support the school's annual fair, and organize a holiday gift-giving program delivering Christmas stockings and presents to more than 250 North Glen students.


"We're really just getting started, but already it's been so much fun," says Maura Walden, director of training and performance improvement for JH HealthCare and part of the three-member team that coordinates the program.

"There have been so many opportunities to really connect with these great kids. Each year we will focus our programs on the changing needs of the children. We anticipate being there for years to come."