http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/whats_happening/view/service_learning_regional_training_raleigh http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/whats_happening/view/service_learning_regional_training_raleigh#When:13:30:01Z May 18, 2012 - Space is limited please register soon! 2012-04-17T13:30:01+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/who_is_cis_by_justin_cook http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/who_is_cis_by_justin_cook#When:09:54:56Z From Wilkes County to Mecklenburg County to Moore County to Orange County… from Guilford County to New Hanover County to Stokes County to Robeson County… from Lee County to Brunswick County to Clay County… what a year it’s been capturing the faces of CIS! Take a moment and see again the familiar faces of our CIS Family. These are the children, young people, mentors and adults whose lives are changed by being part of Communities In Schools. We hope you enjoy this year-end medley featuring familiar and never-before-seen footage from all of our “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories” videos. Your support of CIS helps kids all across the state overcome all kinds of obstacles and realize their dreams. Their success means a better future for all of us. We thank you. For the past year I have been the man behind the camera who has brought this series to life. I have asked a lot of questions this year. Who are you? What are your fears? What gives you joy? What do you want for these kids? What could have made your childhood better? All these were meant to address the larger question: What is CIS? Or better, who is CIS? This year I have discovered that CIS is the young African-American male who decided that he was tired of seeing his young people swallowed up by the block. CIS is the young woman who was brought up in plenty, but was heartbroken when she discovered that so many deserving young people may never have the opportunities she enjoyed. She decided to act. CIS is the country-strong folk who do what they can with what they have. CIS is all of these people and more. CIS is the answer to the prayers of a young man, who doesn’t have a city bus ticket to get home from school because he stays late at school enriching himself with extracurriculars. CIS is the bread to the girl who sneaks cafeteria food home in her backpack at school so that her family might eat that night. CIS is the five minutes of counsel for a child that can make their world stop spinning and get them back into orbit. CIS is that one chance, or opportunity that connects a promising young mind to the right resources or mentor. CIS is the extra boost of confidence to the young adult who is searching for his or her self-worth. CIS is all the great ideals that came together and founded this country, working together to overcome the inequality that exists on the road to the America Dream. CIS is different people, with different experiences: neighbors, lovers-of-humanity and fighters working together outside of politics to make a difference through small acts of kindness. You do it not for glory, or self congratulation. You do it for graduation. Graduation marks a passage for students on their journey to becoming responsible adults, who can make informed decisions. We hope they can fulfill their civic duties and give back to the communities they came from. The hope is that one day there will be no need for CIS. You are not by any means navel gazers. You are the doers and dreamers and the dream come true for so many. To a child adrift in poverty or puberty, you make all the difference in the world. Thanks for giving me the chance to know you. It is a humbling privilege.     Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories.” His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook’s photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at www.justincookphoto.com. Initiatives, Video Series, 2011-12-21T13:54:56+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/win_a_2012_wall_calendar http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/win_a_2012_wall_calendar#When:10:28:52Z As this calendar year comes to a close, we at Communities In Schools of North Carolina (CISNC) are extremely grateful for your faithful support of our work to keep students of all ages in school, prepared to graduate and to excel in college, career and life. We anticipate a busy and exciting year ahead and invite you to renew your partnership with us as we continue to serve as the leading dropout prevention organization in North Carolina. We want to show our appreciation of you by selecting a winner of our special edition “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories” 2012 Wall Calendar giveaway!  In order to pick a winner at random, we want to know why you love CIS! Click “Read More” below for more details! General, Awards, 2011-12-12T14:28:52+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/reflections_on_cis_of_clay_county_by_justin_cook http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/reflections_on_cis_of_clay_county_by_justin_cook#When:12:36:18Z Travel with us this month to Clay County, on the far western edges of North Carolina.  “The terrain is rugged and beautiful, the people are salt-of-the-earth and kind,” describes multimedia producer Justin Cook in his blog post below.  A well kept secret, Clay County boasts an Appalachian way of living tied to “old ways” of farming, logging and building things from scratch.  To the people of Clay County, the shop class at Hayesville High School, a project of CIS of Clay County, is critically important in preserving their heritage and in teaching vocational skills to young people.  In light of recent U.S. Census data that nearly 1-in-5 western North Carolinians live in poverty in more than half of the region’s 17 counties, this month’s “Overcoming Obstacles” video shows the value of CIS of Clay County’s efforts to tackle poverty head-on with opportunities for young people to develop a marketable skill upon graduation.  Hear what Hayesville High teacher Danny Jones, CIS of Clay County Executive Director Theresa Waldroup and Principal Keith Nuckolls each have to say about Communities In Schools and the “old ways” of doing, where communities work together to raise their children. The people of Hayesville will tell you that Clay County is North Carolina’s best kept secret. I was convinced that North Carolina ended in Asheville but I was wrong. The terrain is rugged and beautiful, the people are salt-of-the-earth and kind. They are proud of their Appalachian roots and have a natural storytelling ability. I discovered that many in Clay County were afraid of losing the “old ways” of farming, logging and building things with their hands. To them, the shop class at Hayesville High School is so important in preserving their heritage and in teaching marketable skills to young people. CIS of Clay County Executive Director Theresa Waldroup glowed about how wonderful these young people are. She told me a story about two students who, through a learn-and-serve grant, worked in Hayesville High’s Outdoor Classroom and were mentored by the U.S. Forest Service. Through their hard work they earned their first paychecks, and Theresa overheard one of them saying he was going to use his money to buy some hunting dogs, and the other an old pickup truck so he could rework the motor. He seemed confident that with the skills he learned in the Automotive Technology class at the high school, he could fix up the truck and sell it to buy a newer one. Theresa’s brother, and Hayesville High School Construction Technology teacher, Danny Jones echoed her view of Clay’s young people. He told me that when his wife passed away almost three years ago, his students were not just sending him cards but calling to volunteer on his small farm. “These kids are great here, they have heart, they love, they care and I’d like to think America is still that way,” he told me. Scott Penland has been the Clay County Schools Superintendent for 30 years and he told me a story about a family from Maine who called him recently. They had hired a consulting firm to scour the Southeast for the best possible school system for their child who has special needs. “Clay met all their needs,” he said proudly. Penland told me that Clay’s schools are typically in the top 20 schools in North Carolina with the highest graduation rates. In 2009-2010 they were 3rd, and in 2010-2011 they were 4th in rank. He attributes much of that success to the quality teachers in Clay County, and also to the great help from Communities In Schools, which he describes as “a powerful tool in the school system.” “There is hardly anything that they want for here that CIS hasn’t tried to make happen… and Theresa certainly makes it all happen. She is relentless. She goes out there and brings people together,” he contends. Penland mentioned that Clay’s recent high graduation rates could be directly correlated to CIS of Clay County’s founding 14 years ago in in 1997. He also said it could have a lot to do with the small town values, the “old ways” where communities work together to raise their children.     Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories.” His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook’s photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at www.justincookphoto.com. Initiatives, Video Series, 2011-11-30T16:36:18+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/reflections_on_meeting_paige_and_brian_by_justin_cook http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/reflections_on_meeting_paige_and_brian_by_justin_cook#When:10:27:34Z Eighth grader Paige Lowery has come along way since the 6th grade, when she missed almost 40 days of school, was written up for “having a mouth,” was suspended for hitting a teacher with a ball of paper and stole a pair of jeans that almost sent her to jail. CIS Success Coach Brian Walker has helped Paige through CIS of Brunswick County’s Peer Court Program, an alternative juvenile justice program where young people who commit crimes at school are tried by a group of their peers and sentenced to community service instead of going to real court, perhaps landing themselves in jail and certainly having a record until they are 18. Watch our October “Overcoming Obstacles” video below and check out the wonderful story of how, with the help of CIS, the course of Paige Lowery’s life has been redirected. “We all make mistakes,” says Brian Walker, “but what you do when you make a mistake is what’s important.” Obviously, Paige Lowery has an attitude, but not the kind that you think. She wants people to stay out of her way if they bring her drama, she wants them to shut up if they are distracting her in class. Paige wants to be a lawyer or a teacher one day but not at the same time. She wants to get her master’s degree, have kids and provide them with all the things she doesn’t have. She has an attitude for success, but first she will need to survive middle school. Pressure Paige is focused, determined, articulate, insightful and funny, but that isn’t always enough. Attitudes that gear a child for success don’t necessarily make them cool in school. The drama of middle school acts like a pressure cooker and sometimes she is ready to explode. She hates being picked on and when her peers sometimes “act stupid.” “They are just immature… They don’t know what they want in life or anything,” she tells me. In science class Paige and her classmates learned about estuaries and why fish travel in schools. No one seemed to know the answer, so I answered that they did so because there is safety in numbers. Moments later, she passed me a note. I opened it, and it read “Don’t talk so much!” I guess I was distracting her… But Paige wasn’t always so focused. Not in the 6th grade when she missed almost 40 days of school, not when she was written up for “having a mouth,” or when she was suspended for hitting a teacher with a ball of paper. She has come a long way since she stole a pair of jeans and almost went to jail. Peer Court Brian Walker was a cop for 20 years in Maryland near Washington, D.C. He retired in 2007 and he has seen it all. He worked patrol, narcotics and as a recruiter for a while, but the job that impacted him the most was his time working as a probation office in a juvenile dentition center because he got to interact with young people. He would wear plain clothes on Fridays at the schools when he took part in the D.A.R.E program in hopes that the children would realize he was just a person. “I think they thought I slept in my uniform,” he chuckled. Brian hung up his badge and gun a few years back, but when he saw the job posting for his current job as a success coach for CIS of Brunswick County at Cedar Grove Middle School, he said he claimed it. “This is my job. I want this job because it is an opportunity to give back to the kids and the community,” he says. He met Paige in the 6th grade after she was charged with misdemeanor theft and destruction of property after she took a pair of jeans from another student. Brian coached Paige through CIS of Brunswick County’s Peer Court program, an alternative juvenile justice program where young people who commit crimes at school are tried by a group of their peers and sentenced to community service instead of going to real court, landing themselves in jail and having a record until they are 18. Choose To Be Positive According to Brian, Paige was angry, defiant and argumentative. She would be quick to smart-mouth her teachers and other adults, he said. But with his help, and with the help of the staff at Cedar Grove, Brian says he has noticed a huge difference in Paige’s attitude. She hasn’t missed a day of school so far and made the cheerleading team where her popularity has risen. Paige tells me that when she is around positive people she has a positive attitude, a fact that illustrates how much children are a litmus test of their environment. A toxic environment can make a child already struggling with puberty, identity and daily life have a toxic mind, a toxic tongue and a toxic outlook. She looks up to Brian as a second father, as someone who understands her, as a positive example. “He’s perfect,” she tells me. “Well, I’m not going to say perfect, he’s just not good at math,” she says with a smirk. Brian is an example of what it takes to be a CIS mentor. While his background as a police officer no doubt informs how he helps young people, at his core he is a compassionate but firm person who once was in middle school himself. He knows how hard it can be. Brian tells me that he had a rough upbringing at times but he firmly believes that no child should be a victim circumstance. “Just because where you came from isn’t the best, that doesn’t give you an excuse to not do well. You can do any thing you want… if you put your foot forward and strive and do the best you can. Good things will happen,” he says. But Brian and the staff at Cedar Grove Middle School in Supply, NC, prove that a little help from your friends and the CIS family never hurts.   Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories.” His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook’s photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at www.justincookphoto.com. General, Initiatives, Video Series, 2011-10-27T14:27:34+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/help_for_bullies_and_victims_by_cis_national http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/help_for_bullies_and_victims_by_cis_national#When:12:34:24Z Today’s blog post comes from CIS National Publications Director Maureen Salamat. October is National Bullying Prevention Month. The National Education Association estimates that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. Most of us have a bully story from our school days. Why else would there be such universal appeal in watching Ralphie, in the movie “A Christmas Story,” finally crack and beat up Farkus, the neighborhood bully? But bullying is no laughing matter. In my son’s first year of high school, he had his locker broken into and his backpack thrown down the aisle of the school bus. He also witnessed a fellow student’s altercation with a bully on the bus. Though unsettling, these are small incidents compared with some of the horrific headlines in recent years about young people being killed or driven to suicide at the hands of bullies. General, Initiatives, 2011-10-18T16:34:24+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/save_not_just_one http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/save_not_just_one#When:12:17:00Z October is National Crime Prevention Month.  Check out how one CIS staffer is helping guide the lives of youth already involved in the criminal justice system. What is the true definition of insanity? Some say it’s the outcome of one’s pre-determined manifest destiny. Others say it’s knowing a negative result will occur and despite our better judgment, we decide to travel that path because we can. One writer suggests that insanity is the fisherman that continues to go fishing at the same pond, with the same bait with the expectation of catching a different fish.  My personal definition of insanity is using the continued adage if we save one or two then we’ve done our job as a society…. INSANE!!! I believe if we continue to adopt this philosophy, then jails will continue to increase, student/teacher/family relationships will decrease and the pursuit of happiness as we know it will be pronounced deceased. My name is Reginald Hester, Re-Entry Coordinator with Communities In Schools in Charlotte, NC. My position is very unique and untraditional. For one, I’m housed in the jail (though not as an inmate!). Secondly, I represent all 35 high schools within Mecklenburg County and hold a position that is a collaborative effort between Communities In Schools, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office. In North Carolina you are considered an adult at 16 years, not to be confused with a juvenile delinquent (15 or younger). As a result, these inmates, known as “youthful offenders,” are housed within a maximum-security facility where they are schooled, literally. While in custody, they have an opportunity to continue their education because we have CMS teachers on site. They receive all four core subject areas and PE/health education. These students remain in school from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. before being released back to their pods or housing units. Education and programming is mandatory with these youthful offenders. Simply put, we have zero attendance compliance and zero uniform compliance issues. While in custody the youthful offenders’ attendance is not affected during their incarceration. Once released, their grades and attendance is forwarded to their home school and the student is tracked. The greatest reward of this position is the opportunity to build healthy/productive relationships with my students. Dr. Milliken, founder of Communities In Schools, coined the phrase that it’s not programs but people that make education enjoyable. During this time of incarceration we attempt to get the youthful offender refocused, rekindle their flame and let them know how important they are. We try and tug at their heart strings that it’s ok to get knocked down but to never allow yourself to get knocked out. Upon their release, we link them to CIS coordinators within their identified home schools. We link them to community programs/agencies within their communities and we identify if they have young siblings, who we link to CIS. We track the youthful offender to ensure they are following their commitment to change and laying tracks to earn their high school diploma. We recently celebrated our inaugural graduation celebration honoring our 2011 graduates. This event was well received by the community. In attendance was the Sheriff, county commissioners, CMS personal and the former Executive Director of Communities In Schools–Charlotte-Mecklenburg, who initiated this endeavor. All students that participated in this event will be attending college, which is the icing on this cake. In closing, I feel I have the best position in the entire CIS community, not because of the job itself but because limitless possibilities that present themselves daily. With hard work, fostered relationships and stick-with-it-ness these youthful offenders will become who they were designed to be.  Reginald Hester serves as the Re-Entry Coordinator for Jail North/Jail Central.  He enjoys reading, playing basketball and has discovered a newfound love for running. He also enjoy traveling, fashion and working with today’s youth! Check out this piece that aired on Charlotte’s WSOC-TV featuring Reginald and graduate Davon Davis. General, Initiatives, 2011-10-07T16:17:00+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/reflections_on_backpack_pals_by_justin_cook http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/reflections_on_backpack_pals_by_justin_cook#When:12:39:09Z This month’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories” video explores the “hidden issue” of childhood hunger and showcases one of the most critical programs offered by CIS local affiliates around the state (and country), upheld by the manpower and generosity of volunteers each week—The BackPack Pals Program. Heather Little, Executive Director of CIS of Lee County, works with volunteers and guidance counselors like Audrey Stone to provide underprivileged children with food to eat on the weekends through the highly successful and desperately needed BackPack Pals Program. “Heather, Audrey and the volunteers that make BackPack Pals a success are proof that a little compassion can go a long way, and that ordinary people can—in Mother Teresa’ words—‘do small things with great love’ that help people who are struggling against extraordinary odds in unimaginable ways,” says multimedia producer Justin Cook below.  Special thanks to Denise Blanco-Durán for her assistance with Spanish translation. Heather Little is petite but by no means little, and by no means are her goals, nor her vision for helping others and certainly not her heart. She has one little wish. She wishes that the fortunate would have to walk in the shoes of someone less fortunate for a week. Then maybe all the cranks, the critics, the naysayers and those lacking compassion would understand how so many make due with so little, so often. Touched Heart Heather’s motherly instincts are strong. She has two kids of her own so she knows how hard it is to run a smooth ship and make sure everyone is fed, clothed and ready for school. She brought the BackPack Pals program to CIS four years ago, which provides food in backpacks that low-income children can discreetly pick up from their guidance counselor each Friday and take home so they have enough food to make it through the weekend. Heather says she volunteered with a similar program in Moore County, which is home to Pinehurst, lush golf courses and vacation homes. She saw an overwhelming need at the schools for basic food and her heart was touched. “I started thinking that if it there is that much need in a county that is presumed to be wealthy, right here it’s gotta be needed!” she told me. She said the process that followed was eye opening for her and the community. She told me a story about a businessman in Lee County who doubted there would be 25 kids at every school who need food on the weekend. “I said to him, ‘You’re right! There’s more!’” She went to principals and guidance counselors in the local schools and the answer was always the same: “Yes, we absolutely need this program.” She began interviewing parents and students who applied for the program, and through their stories she realized that the need was shocking. In one interview she discovered a family was eating dog food on the weekends. “They instantly qualified,” she told me Powers Combined At Greenwood Elementary School, a short drive from Sanford in Lemon Springs, Heather met Guidance Counselor Audrey Stone who shares her concern and compassion. Their care for others united to help many families, including Esperanza Bustamante Marcero, mother of 1st grader Alan Calixto, 6, and his sister, 4th grader Stephanie, 9. Audrey’s job is to remove barriers that prevent children from learning. An obvious barrier affecting Hispanics in North Carolina is language. Hispanic children, as young as 6, who are immersed in English at public schools often have to translate for their parents and help them navigate the complicated systems in our country so they can get the resources they need to survive. The one barrier that Audrey and Heather know they can help children hurdle is access to food. “For a child to get excited over food is just incredible. You have kids out there who aren’t excited unless a new video game is in front of them, but you have some that are excited over food and easy to prepare snacks,” she tells me. Once that barrier is removed, a child’s mind and body is ready to learn and learning can break down any other barrier. Audrey and Heather ultimately want the children they serve to feel normal, like the average child. By helping others, especially low- income families, have better access to food, parents can save money for other things that can help make their children feel normal. Esperanza told me in her native Spanish that because of BackPack Pals she and her husband (who works long hours) are able save money for Christmas presents for her five energetic children. Heather, Audrey and the volunteers that make BackPack Pals a success are proof that a little compassion can go a long way, and that ordinary people can—in Mother Teresa’ words—“do small things with great love” that help people who are struggling against extraordinary odds in unimaginable ways.   Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories.” His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook’s photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at www.justincookphoto.com. Initiatives, Video Series, 2011-09-29T16:39:09+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/for_hungry_kids_backpack_clubs_try_to_fill_gap_by_the_wall_street_journal_2 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/for_hungry_kids_backpack_clubs_try_to_fill_gap_by_the_wall_street_journal_2#When:10:43:45Z This month, CISNC’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories” video explores the issue of childhood hunger, showcasing one of most critical programs offered by CIS local affiliates around the state (and country)—The BackPack Pals Program—made possible by the manpower and generosity of volunteers each week. Below is an article that appeared in the June 14, 2006, edition of The Wall Street Journal about the Backpack Pals Program. “For hungry kids, ‘backpack clubs’ try to fill gap” Wednesday, June 14, 2006 By Roger Thurow, The Wall Street Journal TYLER, Texas—Seven-year-old Cody Lozano and his 9-year-old sister Cherokee hurried into their house on a recent Friday afternoon and emptied their school backpacks. On the kitchen table, next to a family Bible and a pile of bills, each child laid out a box of Special K cereal, a carton of milk, a package of peanut-butter crackers, a cup of fruit cocktail, a bag of animal crackers, a carton of apple juice, a pull-top can of beans and franks and one of rice and beans. It wasn’t a weekend homework assignment. It was their weekend breakfast, lunch and dinner… General, Initiatives, 2011-09-28T14:43:45+00:00 http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/reflections_on_meeting_dencie_rose_and_sequoya_by_justin_cook http://www.cisnc.org/index.php/blog/view/reflections_on_meeting_dencie_rose_and_sequoya_by_justin_cook#When:10:40:12Z Meet mentor/mentee pair Rose Locklear and Sequoya Tucker, who stand out as enjoying a wonderful relationship beyond just the mentoring program run by CIS of Robeson County, which has its focus on serving middle school students and primarily at-risk Native American students. Rose and Sequoya do all sorts of things together: they play tennis, go bowling, go to church together. CIS of Robeson County's mentoring program kicks off with the new school year, though Rose and Sequoya have seen each other all summer long. Meanwhile, CIS of Robeson annually operates one of the most successful back-to-school supply drives anywhere in the state. It’s called “Stuff The Bus!” and this year, it was accompanied by the statewide back-to-school drive called “Build A Backpack,” involving every single Walmart store in North Carolina. Check out this month's video below and also multimedia producer Justin Cook's blog post below to get to know Rose and Sequoya and more about the role of CIS of Robeson in the community of Lumberton/Pembroke, NC. Dencie Lambdin is a steel magnolia. Rose Locklear is a rural rose. Dencie, 61, is poised, polite and polished. Rose, 20, is rowdy, she’d "rather drive a Chevy" and is chocked full of country grammar. Serving as CIS of Robeson County’s Executive Director was Dencie’s first job since she majored in education years ago. Before that she was a homemaker. Rose, a junior at UNC-Pembroke, is a mentor because she knows what it is like to "have nobody" to look up to. Both are sharper than barbed wire and determined to make a difference in the life of a child like Sequoya Tucker. Up the Road Rose’s sister left for college in New York when she was 12. She remembers so well because she was going through puberty and needed someone to talk to, someone close to her age who understood. When she was 13 her older cousin stepped in as her big sister, while her real sister was "up the road." She wants to make sure that Sequoya, a 12-year-old rising 7th grader at Pembroke Middle School, has someone else to lean on, besides her adopted grandmother. For the summer, Rose has mentored Sequoya through CIS. They "church" together, too, and Rose drives her all over Robeson County where they play sports and get into mischief with other mentor-mentee pairs. Their mentoring relationship is atypical and awesome. It goes to show you don’t have to be a wealthy philanthropist or rocket scientist to be a mentor. You can be a normal person, with extraordinary love for others. Their mentoring relationship is supposed to close by the end of the month, but you couldn’t tell if you watched Rose go with Sequoya to Pembroke Middle’s open house the day before school started. Rose will tell you she is looking “up the road” and is planning to continue the friendship past the expiration date. “I am gonna get her every week because I enjoy it. I don’t believe in doing something and ending it like it never happened, especially if it involves another person,” says Rose. Passion Dencie’s passion is connecting people, and by connecting people she can help people make choices that help students. She connected with Walmart in Pembroke to participate in the statewide “Build A Backpack” campaign that gathered donated school supplies for local children this summer. The rest of the 137 Walmarts across the state are participating, too, and Dencie hopes that between the supplies pulled in by the drive and the “Stuff The Bus!” campaign, now in its 7th year in Robeson County, there will be enough supplies to lower the burden on parents and teachers who often pay out-of-pocket for school supplies for their students. "This is a way to not only to impact the students in our county but also for teachers to feel good about what their community is doing to support their roles in the classroom as teachers, mentors, surrogate mothers and fathers," says Dencie. Denice loves her job and lives to give back to others. "There is always something that I can say ‘if CIS was not here, this wouldn’t be happening.’ That is what keeps volunteers going," she says. She call’s the people of CIS "astounding" and they are. They are diverse, selfless and a reflection of all the things that make North Carolina great.     Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina’s “Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories.” His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook’s photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at www.justincookphoto.com. Initiatives, Video Series, 2011-08-31T14:40:12+00:00