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Blog of Kip McGrath Education Centres - Holdfast Bay

Mentor Junkie

August 12
by Annie 12. August 2013 14:13

There was a time when I knew everything, or at least I thought I did. And what I didn’t know didn’t matter, or could wait until later. I think it was roughly between 5 years old and my mid-twenties, that golden age when everything was possible. And I was going to take full advantage; watch out world!

Then a curious thing happened. I discovered these strange things call ‘challenges’, and with challenges came these equally unfamiliar things called ‘doubts’. Those little cracks in my armour worried me, and I found myself working harder and harder in the mistaken notion that I had to do it all myself. My great fear was failing others and being found wanting against my peers.

If I am honest, it took me a few years to realise that sometimes asking for help is a positive step, not a sign of weakness. The concept of ‘mentoring’ entered my life, and I have never looked back. From tentative beginnings, I have become something of a mentoring junkie! Once you start looking you soon realise that help is at hand in pretty much every facet of your life!

Far from a weakness, I now realise that seeking out the best advice possible is a practical and efficient method of improving yourself, not to mention a great way of connecting with interesting people.

Most of my mentoring is unofficial, and often casual. My husband Mark for instance, has mentored me on numerous occasions throughout our years together (10 years this week in fact). He is a natural ‘big picture’ thinker, and I value the perspective that he gives me when I am ‘nutting’ through a challenge and in danger of ‘disappearing down the rabbit hole.’ Equally, his big picture thinking sometimes ignores important details, and I am able to mentor him in return by reminding him of the importance of those pesky little bits and pieces that actually get things done.

I have many good friends who are also my mentors, and this provides me with a wider pool of resources when I am making decisions. They also act as sounding boards when I am trying out new concepts, especially for my business. I also have specific business mentors from a wide range of specialist areas, who help me to streamline my thinking, try out new ideas and concepts and catch me when I am heading off in the wrong direction.

And of course, never one to shirk responsibility or pay a debt, I have also taken up the mentoring baton, and try to provide practical support for friends, work colleagues and others. Mentoring is a natural part of who I am now.

During a recent chat with a friend, she advised me that I should be charging for my advice.  But, and here I may sound a little ‘holier than thou’, it really is not about monetary reward for me. In fact, it is quite the opposite; I gain a far greater reward from mentoring than money. It really is a chance to ‘give back’, to let others gain from my (sometimes painful) experiences.

When we tutor at the centre, it is never just about the facts and figures. There are plenty of services out there based around memorising and strict discipline, but we firmly believe that learning should be an enjoyable and positive experience and that education is a composite of concepts and knowledge, but also personal growth, communication, interpersonal skills, confidence, pride and a myriad of other factors.

Mentoring is an implicit part of how we work, and watching the maturing process of a disengaged learner in to a smiling and happy learning adventurer is an absolute pleasure and something that money cannot buy. The parents of those students know what we mean, as do the teachers who watch their progress in the classroom.

I would encourage anyone to mentor and be mentored; open yourselves up to the possibility of not knowing everything, but enough to help others and you will find life much richer for it.  

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General

Gratitude

August 05
by Annie 5. August 2013 11:04

 

For many years now I have kept a journal. It is a private thing, not for sharing, and records my daily musings, rants, quirks and amusements. I don’t write in it every day, but when I do, I usually include a section for things I am grateful for, like the ‘wagging tale’ of our puppy that I have mentioned before. It is a simple process that grounds me and puts life’s priorities in their right order.

This past week I have again included two things for which I have been grateful many times in the past. The first is my involvement with Tutti, a choir of mixed abilities associated with Minda. Many of the choir members have severe physical and mental challenges, and you could be forgiven for assuming that my gratefulness is for not being in their position. But you would be wrong.

My gratefulness is for the opportunity to spend time with these amazing people. This includes the helpers, volunteers, the Tutti team and my fellow able-bodied and minded choir members, but I reserve special mention for those choir members who face challenges every day that would bring most of us to our knees.

They arrive by themselves as well as in the care and support of others, from a diverse range of backgrounds and all of them with individual tales of hardship and sadness, resilience and triumph against adversity. But they will not tell them, not here, not in this place where they join us to make the music that has raised audiences to their feet with clapping hands and tears in their eyes. Here they are performers, just like the rest of us, and they need to learn their lines and get their timing just right.

When I joined Tutti, several years ago now, I had been singing with a ‘normal’ choir in Port Adelaide for a couple of years, and it was confronting at first. At least, it was for about the first 5 minutes, and then we began to sing, and this disparate group, drawn together from all quarters, came together with one unified purpose. By the end of the evening I was hooked, and it is now a highlight of my week, complete escapism. And so I am grateful, for their company, for their inspiration and for the opportunity to be part of something that creates happiness.

My second gratitude is for my lovely Helen, who I have been delivering library books to as a volunteer for more than 6 years. In that time we have shared our loves of reading, travel and teaching, laughed and cried together as we talked through our lives, loves and experiences. Helen has been the grandmother I never knew, and I like to think that I have added something to her retirement.

Sadly, Helen passed away suddenly last week at the age of 93. I was, and am, bereft, suddenly cut off from someone who has been such an important part of my life. Mark and I had been away for the weekend, and by the time I heard the news, her room had been cleared and someone new had taken residence. Even her library books had been cleared away, and no one knows where they went.

Thankfully, within days Helen’s daughter had called me. We had a long and heartfelt chat, and she shared with me how much my visits meant to her Mother.
  
These days, surrounded by all that money can buy, we can lose sight of what is important. Singing with Tutti and volunteering with Helen are entirely selfish acts; I have gained far more from them than I could possibly give. My perspective on life, my sense of what is really valuable, my awareness of the fragility of our existence, my willingness to forgive others, all of these are directly influenced by my contact with these wonderful people.

Okay, long story short, this piece is about education, but in the broadest possible sense. It is about getting out there and doing something different that has real value. Try it, encourage your children to try it. No matter how small it may seem, the personal impact can be extraordinary. Please share your stories with us, we would love to hear from you. Enjoy your week.

 

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Happy Birthday

August 05
by Annie 5. August 2013 10:59

 

You will have to excuse my somewhat indulgent blog this week, but I do have genuine cause to celebrate and I want to share it.

It always amazes me how quickly time flies when we are having fun. According to my trusty smartphone calendar, it is 2 years nearly to the day since I first opened the doors to the Kip McGrath Holdfast Bay Education Centre. So many wonderful things have happened since then that it seems like yesterday!

In that brief time I have had the absolute pleasure of working with nearly 200 children, their parents, teachers, my tutors and supportive husband Mark. What started out as a new venture driven by my passion for helping kids, has become an all-consuming way of life that makes me smile each and every day. Let me share why.

Quite simply, we make a difference. We have had children arrive years behind in their reading who bring tears to their mum’s eyes when they voluntarily open books for the first time to read for pleasure, a senior maths student struggling to keep up who is now an ‘A’ student planning a teaching career in maths and sciences, a primary student missing basic sounds who is now happily working through our reading program, a student absent from school for long periods who is outpacing her peers in maths due to the Kip system. There are many, many more stories, each as heart-warming as the next. 

It is the small things that make me smile the most. When children are assessed there are often tears, and this can still be the case when they arrive for their first lesson. But they soon realise that they are part of a place where everyone works at their own pace, where no one is judged, and actually, it is fun. The tears are soon forgotten and without realising it they re-engage with the learning process. Parents often say that whilst their kids may not be having a great time at school, they can’t wait to get to Kip. Even our nieces are part of the mix, and what a wonderful thing it is to help them on their way through their education.

Along the way we have become part of the fabric of our community, sponsoring local events and sports teams, and attending school fetes. We have appeared in the Glenelg Christmas pageant twice now, on each occasion with an army of Kip kids following behind the Kip car, challenging the crowds with times tables! We have also worked with a local not for profit to provide tutoring for young carers, including offering scholarships so that this important work can continue when funding has run out.

When the Advertiser ran their annual business awards last year, we were proud to be runner-up to a large national real estate group, a measure of the connection we have made with our kids and parents. We have also been lucky enough to appear in the press a few times, and the kids have become used to photographers dropping by for a quick ‘photo shoot’.

Every week brings new ‘lightbulb’ moments, when kids suddenly ‘get it’, and the smiles are worth all the effort. I am immensely proud of the fact that many of our ‘graduates’ have dropped by simply to say hi and share with us their achievements since leaving Kip. This is an extremely personal and emotional business, and it is not surprising that we sit right alongside their parents, enjoying every little success along the way.

Since Mark joined me in the business last year, so inspired by what we do that he gave up his well-paid corporate career to ‘make a difference’, we have grown significantly (which he of course attributes to his influence!). Nevertheless, we are committed to the small group approach, and have simply increased the number of sessions each week to enable us to help more kids achieve their goals. We have also recruited in some excellent tutors, including Noelia and Laura, who apart from being qualified teachers, are just as passionate as we are about helping kids.

At times it is exhausting, particularly emotionally, and like all small businesses the hours go way beyond any reasonable forecast, but it is so, so worth it, and I have absolutely no regrets. There simply is no better feeling than helping a child to achieve their absolute best. Thank you for allowing me this indulgence, time for a bottle with bubbles to celebrate!

 

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