A group of excited third graders from Green Run and Parkway elementary schools arrived at the Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Training Academy on May 2.
Parkway Elementary student Jaquon Bomar spied Drew Lail.
They enjoyed a lunch of hotdogs and hamburgers at the event celebrating the schools’ mentorship program. During the past school year, mentors visited with their student mentees at least once a month for some one-on-one time.
“He’s the best one,” Jaquon said of his mentor.
The duo enjoyed playing Legos, going to the school library, tossing the football outside and hanging out, he added.
Lail will soon graduate from Regent University with a law degree. He applied to be a mentor to give back and help youth.
At first Jaquon was “kind of shy, but opened up and was easy to talk to,” he said.
Jaquon said he learned a lot. “Drew said do my work and not get in trouble.”
About the Program
The mentorship program for the two Title I schools was organized by Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge Timothy Quick in partnership with VBCPS and the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office under the leadership of Sheriff Rocky Holcomb.
“The idea is for a student to team up with a person in the professional world,” Quick said.
The approximately 40 children were each paired with a volunteer – an attorney, police officer or member of the sheriff’s office.
Nicole Levitt, school counselor for the elementary schools, helped coordinate the mentoring program with the judge and his team.
She said the program is incredibly valuable because students get individualized attention from a trusted adult and receive encouragement and both emotional and academic support.
Third graders are selected based on their need for positive guidance in a variety of areas. “Research shows the biggest impact we can have on young people is at this age,” Quick said.
As an attorney, Quick served as a mentor. He recalled the mentees’ smiles when the mentors arrived at school.
“They’d jump out of their chairs,” he said.
Making an Impact
Parkway and Green Run elementary principals Dr. Katie Catania and Dr. Sheila Wynn, respectively, said the mentorship program has had a meaningful and positive impact on students.
Mentors remember birthdays, read to students and play games, Catania said.
“My mentor helped me be a better student because I look forward to her visits,” one mentor told her. “I talk to her about classmates when I’m having trouble.”
Another said he learned how to behave in school and be nice to others.
The principal has witnessed amazing transformations. One student was resistant to connecting with adults and almost always wore a heavy coat, even in the heat, as if not wanting to be noticed.
He recently came to school in bright colors.
“Later, I watched him board the bus with his mentor, smiling in a way I’ve never seen before,” Catania said.
Wynn said many of the mentors “have gone above and beyond” and offered support to all students in his or her mentee’s classroom.
“One powerful example involves a student who initially felt anxious and uncomfortable around police officers,” she said.
After spending time with mentors in the classroom, she specifically requested a police officer as her mentor. Wynn described her transformation as “remarkable.”
“Her perception of law enforcement has begun to shift in a very positive way,” she said.
Another student who made frequent visits to the school counselor has showed improved behavior and decision-making as a direct result of participation in the mentor program, she added.
Celebrating Relationships
During the end of the year celebration, Quick thanked the mentors for giving time to make a difference in students’ lives and awarded each student a board game, compliments of the Virginia Beach Bar Association.
Ronald Bernard smiled as he showed his mentor Lt. Janine Uzzle his gift, the game Jenga.
Uzzle, who works in the Sherriff’s Office, said spending time with the Green Run Elementary student has been rewarding.
“Every time I get to the school, his face lights up,” she said.
The day also included meeting two of the Virginia Beach Police Mounted Patrol horses, checking out a Virginia Beach Fire Department fire engine and exploring a Special Weapons and Tactics Team(SWAT) vehicle.
Ocean Martial Arts led them in martial arts activities.
The judge announced Sharon Brody as this year’s “Mentor of the Year.”
Brody is a Guardian Ad Litem(GAL) attorney. She is appointed by the court to investigate cases and make recommendations to the court regarding the best interests of a child in a family law matter.
The attorney said she volunteers as a mentor because of the children’s needs. “Some have deficits in their lives,” she said.
Some of these students are put in situations that are no fault of their own, Quick added. The mentorship program “gives them a positive role model and makes the community a better place.”
More Mentoring:
Another opportunity for mentoring at VBCPS is the Making Waves program. Any interested VBCPS staff member or employee may volunteer to serve as a mentor. Students in grades three through eight are recommended for a mentor by their school principal and school counseling department chair. The 2024-25 program had 32 students within 26 schools recommended.
For more information, contact Meredith Hobson, coordinator of opportunity and achievement, at Meredith.Hobson@vbschools.com.
