Jennifer Veria and Maria Benavides
Landrum MIddle School

 

Jennifer and Maria are the ultimate volunteers. Little did they know how Maria's little sticky note on her Texas Scholar's volunteer registration form a year ago saying, “I'm interested in becoming a mentor” would change not only their lives, but the lives of close to 20 GEAR UP students at Landrum. Following a meeting with GEAR UP and Landrum leadership, the pair willingly offered to recruit a cadre of co-workers from Paragon Engineering to serve as mentors for seventh graders and to personally serve as the mentor liaisons for this amazing group of volunteers.

Maria and Jennifer both give up time on their half-day off from work to spend time with their mentees. Jennifer not only mentors, but now tutors struggling math students at Landrum as well. Maria mentors two students – her original mentee who now attends Spring Woods Middle School, and a new mentee at Landrum. Together, they organized a mentor/student fund-raiser car wash, a mentor/student field trip to Astroworld, and mentor/mentee participation in constructing and riding on the Paragon floats in the Spring Branch Multicultural Parade.

As a result of Maria's commitment to Landrum and the Texas Scholars program, she successfully recruited Paragon volunteers to present all Texas Scholars presentations at Landrum this year, arranging the scheduling and training as well. Upon learning that 59 Spring Woods High School students were at risk of not graduating because they'd not yet passed the exit TAKS test, Maria said, without second thoughts, “Well, we have to be there…we have to help.”

Jennifer Vera and Maria Benavides show a true commitment to our students. For this and so much more, it is our pleasure to jointly honor them as our January 2005 Volunteers of the Month!