Rest of the story: A Strategy to Draw Attention and Resources to Youth Serving Organizations

How Do We Keep Attention Focused on
Social Organizations Long Enough For
Them to have an Impact? What Roles Might
Youth and Interns Take?
Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present); Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC (2011-present),www.tutormentorexchange.net tutormentor2@earthlink.net
How can this help youth tutor and/or mentor programs in cities like Chicago?

Vision
Millions of people watch a weekly sports event or reality TV show every
day. Our vision is this same number of people will visit web sites like
http://www.tutormentorexchange.net, where they begin to learn about
social issues and become motivated to become directly involved as
volunteers, donors, advocates supporting an entire universe of
organizations focused on a common purpose, such as helping kids born in
poverty areas move through school and into adult lives and careers.
Our vision is that millions of citizens will travel from first exposure to an
issue via NEWS awareness into paths of life-long Civic Engagement as
a result of the ideas we share in the following pages..
The Tutor/Mentor Connection was created in 1993 by Daniel F. Bassill and six other volunteers, to
help volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs grow in the Chicago area. It operated as part of the
Cabrini Connections site based tutor/mentor program, a 501-c-3 non profit until June 2011. It now
operates as a program of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC, which was created in July 2011 to
support the continued work of the T/MC in Chicago and to help similar groups grow in other cities
throughout the world. Dan Bassill continues in his leadership role and author of this essay.
Pg. 2

Challenge:
Youth living in areas of highly
concentrated poverty need
continuous support to move from
birth to work. Volunteer-based
tutor/mentor programs are one
valuable resource. These programs
also need continuous support.
Pg. 3
Maps of big cities like Chicago
show where poverty is
concentrated. Tutor/mentor
programs are needed in all of
these areas...for many years.

Concept:
While print, TV, Radio and Internet news report stories of violence,
poverty, poor schools, etc., civic engagement intends to solve these
problems. While the reporter is an impartial witness, the commentator,
editorial writer, radio show host and TV anchor help shape the public’s
understanding of news and their choices of ways to respond.
However, this does not draw needed resources to all neighborhoods,
nor keep attention focused on a daily basis for many years.
With an internet strategy, media leaders can more consistently link NEWS
with information and solutions so that those who become interested,
enraged or engaged by the first wave of reporting will become informed
and involved by the commentary and internet strategies of the media
outlet.
Pg. 4

New Media:
The Internet and mobile phones with cameras and video recorders enable anyone
to report and comment on the activities going on around them. This creates new
opportunities to follow negative news with analysis, learning, brainstorming and
innovation that generates greater attention to the work being done by social
benefit organizations to solve the problems the media report.
Recent events have proven that social media can be used to bring together large
numbers of people for short term activities. Our goal is to develop social media
strategies that bring large and growing numbers of people together on an on-going
basis to build support for activities that require longer involvement.
We focus on creating a broad distribution of volunteer-based tutor/mentor
programs operating high poverty areas of big cities like Chicago. Such
programs have the potential to involve a growing number of non-poverty adults in
wide ranging efforts intended to help kids born in poverty go more successfully
through school and into productive jobs and careers.
Pg. 5

Challenge:
Adults involved in leading volunteer-based tutor/mentor
programs often are tasked with many different
responsibilities. Few have the time, or the talent, to write
stories about what they do, or that follow negative news
reports with stories showing what others could do to help
them.
Adults who are volunteers, board members, political and
business leaders don’t have the time to dig deeply into
information available on the internet that would make them
more sophisticated in how they use their time, talent and
treasure to support youth serving organizations in different
parts of a city.
Pg. 6

Why Not Involve Young People?
These are two out of dozens of visualizations created by interns working
with Tutor/Mentor Connection and Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC
between 2006 and 2015. View these and others at
http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/definition-of-issues/ideasanimation
Pg. 7
Or visit the Tutor/Mentor Intern blog at http://michaelcnt.blogspot.com/

Youth from many schools could do stories:
These maps show the large
number of public and
private high schools in
Chicago where youth
could be creating stories
that draw attention to non-
school tutor/mentor
programs in their
neighborhoods.
See examples of such
stories in blog articles at
http://tutormentor.blogspot.
com/search/label/violence
Pg. 8

What it might look like:
Follow up stories, might look like this, which is a
story Tutor/Mentor Connection created in 1996
using a map to show where a child was slain in
Chicago, and whether or not there are any
tutor/mentor programs in the area.
Pg. 9
When stories like this appear in
local media they raise attention and
hopefully motivate readers to want
to get involved in solving the
problem. Follow up stories might
look like this.

On the
Following
Pages….
We illustrate what
media, or business web
sites, might look like,
by adding a Rest of the
Story Tab.
This could also be a
blog on an
organization's website.
Research
Solutions
Tutor/Mentor
Programs
Today’s
NEWS and
The REST of
the Story The link in the text leads to this box
If Youth Are Creating Stories
Can we motivate the media to point to them when they do commentary?
Get Informed
Donations
Volunteering
Forums
Pg. 10

Home Page: xx Media
Featured news of the day
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Current Events/Features
Sports, Classifieds, etc.
Special
section
Special
section
Special
section
Help Your
Neighbor
This is the box we want to see on the home page
Pg. 11

Home Page: xx blogger, business, etc
Featured information about org
Commentary on Current Events/Features
Special events related to org
Special
section
Special
section
Special
section
Help Your
Neighbor
This is the box we want to see on the home page
Pg. 12

Message from
Publisher, CEO, Pastor
While we report the news as it breaks, we
also seek to solve problems and meet the
challenges of our community,.
At xx media, we think it is every citizen’s
responsibility to work toward a greater
Chicago. We think it’s our role, as a news
organization, to help our readers be more
informed, and find causes where they can
get involved..
Featured story from Today’s News
Our news section shows how xx was shot and killed in the xx neighborhood
last night. Click HERE to learn more about youth violence and its solutions.
Environment
Education
Poverty
Youth
Development
The link in the text leads to this box
Help Your Community
When This Box is selected, this is where it leads:
Causes
Health Issues
Crime &
Justice
Etc.
Pg. 13

It is everyone’s
responsibility to help
all youth in this
region grow up safely
and reach their full
potential.
Click any box to the left and learn
more
Research
Solutions
Service
Providers
Map showing
where today’s
news occurred The link in the text leads to this box
Youth Development
Get Informed
Donations
Volunteering
Forums
Pg. 14

The media needs to point to
maps, showing where great
programs are needed. Writers
need to emphasis that the city
needs good programs in every
poverty neighborhood, not just a
few great programs in a few
places
Click any box to the left and learn
more
Research
Solutions
Service
Providers
Map showing
where today’s
news occurred
The link in the text leads to this box
Youth Programs Needed in Many Places
Get Informed
Donations
Volunteering
Forums
Pg. 15

Featured story
from Today’s
News
This map shows how xx was
shot and killed last night.
Click HERE to learn more
about youth violence and its
solutions.
Research
Solutions
Tutor/Mentor
Programs
Service
providers in
this area The link in the text leads to this box
The Rest of the Story
Learn what you can do to help raise Chicago’s youth.
Get Informed
Donations
Volunteering
Forums
Pg. 16
These are
examples of
Stories w hope
to see.

Learn to
Make
Your own
Maps
This map was
made using
Chicago
Tutor/Mentor
Program
Locator’s
Interactive map
(2021 - This site
is no longer
available)
Research
Solutions
Tutor/Mentor
Programs
Service
providers in
The Rest of the Story
Learn what you can do to help raise Chicago’s youth.
Get Informed
Donations
Volunteering
Forums
See maps in Tutor/Mentor blog articles at
http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com
Pg. 17

As youth and
volunteers use
videos and blogs to
show what they do
in their own
programs, media
and bloggers can
point to these
stories to help them
attract more
support for their
efforts.
Links in the
Tutor/Mentor library
point to program web
sites and blog articles.
Research
Solutions
Tutor/Mentor
Programs
Service
providers in
Teach Youth Orgs to tell The Rest of the Story
Learn what youth can do to help raise visibility.
Get Informed
Donations
Volunteering
Forums
Find Tutor and/or mentor programs in Chicago
http://tinyurl.com/TMI-Volunteer-Opportunities
Pg. 18

Research
Solutions
Leaders
Local,
National
Resources
These logos are just two of the youth organizations found
at http://tinyurl.com/TMI-ChiProgramLinks
Tutor/Mentor Programs
All Need to Have Teams of Writer/Producers Telling their Stories.
Get Informed
Donations
Volunteering
Forums
Pg. 19
Volunteers from
business, media,
film and training
companies, etc. can
mentor youth to
create and tell
interesting, and
effective stories.
This opens a whole
new range of mentors
and career options for
youth who get
involved.

Learn more about tutoring/mentoring
Profiles of local tutors/mentors
Youth served by local programs
Blog articles, videos of local programs
Events…and
Research
Solutions
Leaders
Local,
National
Resources Including www.tutormentorexchange.net
Tutor/Mentor Programs
When this link is clicked, we just want to be one of the links
Get Informed
Donations
Volunteering
Forums
Pg. 20
The previous slides show
an ideal
strategy of news media,
business, faith groups.

Getting this info on the Web is Step #1
Getting people to look at it is an on-going challenge:
Reporters, commentators, editorial writers, radio and TV personalities
must be educated to weave web references into their personal
journalism. Bloggers and social media volunteers can model this
strategy and teach it to mainstream media.
At any time a talk show host can refer a listener to a section of the
station’s web site where the listener can go to find more information,
and to find ways to be part of the solution.
Stations that do this regularly will teach listeners to go to these sections
of the web site for information even when the news is not focusing on
this issue.
Read how athletes could lead this strategy
https://tutormentor.blogspot.com/2023/02/super-bowl-tutoring-and-mentoring.html
Pg. 21

Use personal and organizational leadership, web site and communications to connect
members of your network to T/M programs in all parts of Chicago on a consistent, on-going
basis, using Internet directories such as http://tinyurl.com/TMI-ChiProgramLinks as
resource for finding programs.
Elected
leader
college
you
faith business media
others
volunteers
dollars
Talent &
technology
Pg 22
Focus Stories on a Distribution of Resources
Volunteers, talent, dollars, technology needed at each location.

Sustaining Momentum is Step #2
Convincing people to write about tutor/mentor programs regularly, and to point to programs
in all neighborhoods, will be an on-going challenge.
As more stories point to tutor/mentor programs after negative news in the mainstream media, more
people will begin to look at the web sites of these programs and learn ways to support them. Key
events organized during the year can provide “topics” for bloggers, writers and social media to focus
on, boosting traffic growth from event to event and year to year. Remember, it takes 12 years just to
go from first grade to 12th
grade.
Pg. 23

Duplicate & Rebuild this Strategy
To create a map-based information directory requires a major sponsor and on-going
revenue. Enlist business and philanthropic partners. Every city needs this.
The Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator was created between 2004 and 2008 and
demonstrates what’s possible using interactive mapping. Since 2011 Tutor/Mentor Institute,
LLC has not found the volunteers and/or investors needed to keep this site available to
Chicago. As of 2021 it's now only available as an archive, which you can view at
https://tinyurl.com/ProgramLocatorMap-archive If you'd want to help rebuild this, or create
a version for your city, connect with Dan Bassill on Twitter @tutormentorteam
Pg. 24
Do you have
something
like this in your city?

Many media platforms now host powerful interactive mapping that
can be used in creating “rest of the story” articles.
Pg. 25

On this concept map we point to many data platforms that can be
used to create “rest of the story” articles”
View this at http://tinyurl.com/TMI-MappingData
Pg. 26

Questions we hope to answer…with your help:
If we can develop some formal programs where youth are writing follow-up stories,
or creating strategy visualizations, we want to learn the following:
•Is this possible? Can we increase reach and frequency of stories focusing on tutor/mentor programs?
Can we increase and measure traffic flows?
•Who already implements such a strategy? Can we connect with them? Can we create an internet
library hosting such information, and build understanding by facilitating learning around this growing
body of knowledge?
•Will cities provide the funds to make a “program locator directory” available? Or to coach youth and
organizations to begin a “Rest of the Story” project?
•How do those who implement this strategy track and measure success?
•What are the positive returns on the social investment of such a strategy?
•What are the profit gains from a capital investment of such a strategy?
Our ability to answer the 3rd
, 5th
and 6th
questions positively will provide reasons for
such strategies to be adopted by a growing number of media outlets in every city in
the country. Note: This could be a university research project!
Pg. 27

To learn more, e-mail tutormentor2@earthlink.net
Connect with Dan on Twitter @tutormentorteam or
Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/TutorMentorInstitute
See social media links at https://tutormentorexchange.net/social-media
To learn more about Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC strategies
and goals, our use of GIS maps, or the Tutor/Mentor
Learning Network, visit the Tutor/Mentor Institute Library
at www.tutormentorexchange.net.
View blogs at
Http://tutormentor.blogspot.com
Http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com
Be T/MI's partner. Let Dan Bassill be your partner, coach
and consultant. If you already have youth telling these
stories, send us a link to your blog or web site.
Join us in turning this idea into a reality.
Volunteer, be an intern, be a sponsor. Invite us to speak to a group in your city or at your business.
Dan Bassill
@tutormentorteam

Rest of the story: A Strategy to Draw Attention and Resources to Youth Serving Organizations

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