Our History Founders SOSMentor was founded by Dr. Robert Donahue and Carole Donahue, who have a combined 70 years of experience as educators. Robert, SOS Mentor’s Executive Director, has served as Principal at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Carole is the Coordinator of family literacy programs for LAUSD and recently developed a series of workshops on nutrition literacy for 100 schools. Carole has been active in Rotary, first Woodland Hills Rotary and then Los Angeles Rotary, for over twelve years. Bob joined LA5 Rotary a year ago, after he retired from a lifetime in public education. Rotary is an important base of support for SOSMentor, supplying financial support and mentors who participate in the organization’s ShapeUp and College Knowledge Programs. SOSMentor began as a college readiness program. The first project of the organization was to tour 50 colleges and then create CDs of virtual college visits which were distributed to local high schools, libraries and community colleges. Workshops were designed to provide students with information about financial aid and other issues related to preparing for college. In addition, several Rotary Clubs contributed a total of $25,000 that was used to conduct academic mentoring programs in three elementary schools. FoundersCarole Donahue has over 27 years experience as a classroom teacher and program coordinator, and has been recognized for her work in developing mentoring and other support programs for at-risk youth. In 1995, she founded the largest school-based mentoring program in California, which has served as a model for programs in other schools nationwide, earning her national recognition for her innovative approach. Dr. Robert Donahue has a doctorate in higher education and school finance, Robert recently retired as a public school principal, after serving as a teacher, counselor and administrator for 38 years. He is currently leading SOSMentor and developing curriculum for the programs. ShapeUpIn March of 2006, working in collaboration with A World Fit for Kids! After-School Program, SOSMentor developed and conducted an after-school nutrition education program for 10 students at Belmont High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). This was in response to the students identifying childhood obesity as their primary concern. The Belmont program consisted of a Registered Dietitian and a group of mentors who met weekly with students to promote optimal nutrition and fitness. The program was modeled on "The Academic Mentor Program" initiated by former Governor Pete Wilson. Due to the success of the Belmont effort, SOSMentor developed a more structured 12-week nutrition and fitness program in the fall of 2006 called ShapeUp: Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives. ShapeUp is an after-school nutrition education and fitness mentoring program that addresses childhood obesity and other health-related issues among at-risk elementary and high school students in the poorest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The ShapeUp Program consisted of high school students attending six hours of training sessions after school for one hour per week for six weeks. During each workshop, a Registered Dietitian and/or graduate student(s) teaches nutrition concepts, and the students develop solutions to nutrition and physical activity-related questions by working interactively with volunteer mentors (graduate students, business professionals, and certificated teachers). The mentors encourage the students to make healthier food choices and be more physically active. With the help of mentors, students are empowered to become advocates for healthier lifestyles and to teach their family and friends to adopt the same positive behaviors. During the next five weeks, the trained high school students become healthy lifestyle mentors to younger students, utilizing information they learned from attending the ShapeUp workshops and working with adult mentors. This tiered-mentoring approach provides the high school students with an opportunity to learn and demonstrate leadership skills that encourage healthier lifestyles, and provides younger students, friends, and family with positive role models to emulate. As proof of that influence, parents have asked that ShapeUp include a series of nutrition and cooking classes so they can learn healthier ways to prepare traditional meals. In January 2007, ShapeUp was offered as a pilot project at Santee Education Complex where an informal survey revealed that 85% of the participating students had family members who were diagnosed with diabetes and were experiencing related problems such as amputation, blindness and kidney failure. Santee is an inner-city school located in an impoverished area of South Los Angeles. Median family incomes range from $18,533 to $23,857. According to the California Department of Education’s Physical Fitness Report, only 12.9% of 9th Graders at Santee met all 6 criteria for physical fitness. Thirty-six percent met 3 or less of the criteria. The ShapeUp Program conducted at Santee was similar to the one at Belmont. In this pilot project, a Registered Dietitian and a high school health teacher functioned as facilitators, while adults from the community, teachers and college volunteers served as adult mentors. The results were as follows: 33 high school students were mentored by adult mentors and after 6 weeks of nutrition training those high school students mentored 77 San Pedro Elementary students and 79 extended family members ranging in age from 7 to 67. Based on weekly food diaries and journal comments at the end of the six weeks, high school students were shown to be making better food and exercise choices because of information learned in the workshops. Additionally, due to the information provided by ShapeUp, 15% of the students lost weight and moved out of the "obese" category on the BMI chart. As a result of the popularity of the ShapeUp Program at Santee Education Complex in 2007, students and staff requested that the program return in 2008. In the fall of 2007, a team of Registered Dietitians from the USC Keck School of Medicine contacted the Dr. Robert and Carole Donahue to partner with them to provide the ShapeUp Program in an East Los Angeles High School in 2008. Working with the USC Keck team, the Donahue’s updated the curriculum to include more hands-on activities. The revised curriculum was delivered in 2008 at both Santee Education Complex and Garfield High School where students followed up on the six-week nutrition and fitness training by becoming nutrition mentors in local elementary schools. During 2008-2009, the ShapeUp Program was implemented in 7 LAUSD high schools and 7 LAUSD elementary schools. The high schools included Santee Education Complex, Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, Los Angeles High School, Canoga Park High School, Garfield High School, Birmingham High School and Belmont High School. The elementary schools included San Pedro Elementary School, Evelyn Gratts Elementary School, Queen Anne Elementary School, West Valley Boys and Girls Club, Fourth Street Elementary, Lemay Elementary School and Union Avenue Elementary. Over the years, the SOSMentor ShapeUp Program has become very successful and is constantly in demand by other schools and venues. As a result, the ShapeUp Program will follow the same general model in future programs. |
