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Dr. Maria Vazquez: It's National Mentoring Month. So today one of our students is here with me to tell us how helpful having a volunteer mentor has been to her in school. That's coming up next on Mondays with Maria.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Monday's with Maria, brought to you by the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools. Here's OCPS Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Hi everyone. Joining me today is fifth grader Jaylana. She is a student at Sally Ride Elementary. She's joined by her Principal, Khalil Ortiz. Welcome to both of you. I am so excited that you are here with us today, especially because one of the mentors at Sally Ride, Mr. Ray Malatino, was just surprised that he is one of our volunteers of the year.
Jaylana: That's amazing,
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Isn't it? Great. Let's take a look.
Pam Carson: Hi, how are you? Are you Ray?
Ray Malatino: No.
Pam Carson: Yes. So Ray, I'm Pam Carson with the district office. How are you doing today?
Ray Malatino: Good. How are you doing Pam?
Pam Carson: I'm doing amazing.
Ray Malatino: You know, I'm under the federal witness protection?
Pam Carson: And, and because you are, I think Principal Ortiz has something to say to you first.
Principal Ortiz: Sir, thank you so very much for everything that you're doing for our students. We have set up this fake meeting just to, and we know you do. And what we'd like to do is we'd like to recognize you on behalf of the district for all of your work.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: What a wonderful experience for the students at Sally Ride Elementary. Jaylana, I understand that you really, really like math and science.
Jaylana: Yes. I love it.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: And that Mr. Malatino is a retired engineer and he also started the Rocket Mentors Program at Sally Ride.
Jaylana: That is right.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: So tell us, how does it feel to be able to talk and be mentored by a retired engineer?
Jaylana: I feel very happy, grateful to have a retired engineer as my mentor since he teaches us very well. It's very flowing how he teaches us, easy understanding, and it helps me a lot.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: So do you think you might want to be an engineer somewhere down the road?
Jaylana: I might want to be an engineer for like building the rockets maybe.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Oh, wow. That's wonderful. So speaking of rockets, do you see your principal socks? Look at that. He's got what, astronauts?
Jaylana: Those are super cool.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Aren't they super cool?
Jaylana: Those are nice.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: So the support right, that the schools are able to get from the volunteer mentors is so important. How does it help you with your schoolwork?
Jaylana: The mentoring helps me with my schoolwork a lot because during math class I might get like stuck on a question, but then those strategies that Ray teaches me helps me in the problem. Like, oh, what's happening? But then I remember, break down the problem, do the steps, and then I could like finish the problem. And since we mostly do work together, sometimes we have independent work. And that helps me a very lot.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Wow. So I'm so thankful that Ray is not only there to help inspire you as maybe you want to become an engineer, but he's also helping you with some of your math strategies. Yes, that's fabulous. Principal Ortiz, would you tell us what does it mean to have these volunteers on your campus helping our students?
Principal Ortiz: Sure. Mr. Malatino is a blessing to have on our campus, a real true asset. He works really hard to bring his experiences of engineering and also as a former serviceman. He brings those things to, to allow mathematics to come to life for a lot of our third, fourth and fifth grade students he really engages our students in authentic learning of math concepts and as Jaylana attests. It's just fun and they get to breathe free a little bit and really connect. And it's, it's a very authentic experience for our students. He's actually talked to me just recently about potentially partnering with some of the neighboring high schools so that our high school students can become mentors to our elementary students. So he's really always thinking ahead in, in ways that we can further enhance our program.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: What an incredible opportunity for the students. And we know that educating our students is a collaborative effort. Our teachers are critical, but the extra support that we receive from mentors and volunteers is, is critical to the work. And Jaylana, you are just so lucky to have that experience and I want all of our students to be able to have that same experience. Thank you. And see math as something that they love. And as you said, it comes alive for them. If you're interested in becoming a volunteer, please go to the Foundationforocps.org or go to ocps.net and look for the quick links and click on volunteers. You truly can help change a child's life. Thank you both for joining me today. It was a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for us to hear about the value of mentoring. It's so important for our district and for our students to have volunteer mentors. Thank you for watching, and I will see you next week On Mondays with Maria.
Speaker 2: Mondays with Maria has been brought to you by the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, investing in our children today to strengthen our community tomorrow. For more OCPS news and information, visit theslice.ocps.net.