Northbrook Middle Principal Laura Schuhmann and Wyn Norris

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are known for delivering tough lessons on the football field. At Northbrook Middle School, the alumni of this famous American university rank No. 1 as student mentors.

Under the leadership of business consultant Wyn Norris, the Notre Dame Club of Houston has recruited more than 75 alumni, their spouses and friends over the past 2 ½ years to mentor dozens of students at Northbrook Middle, 3030 Rosefield.

In recent months, Wyn and the alumni club have been joined by 30 middle school mentors from St. John Vianney Catholic Church on Nottingham Oaks Trail. More adult volunteers are needed to mentor SBISD students.

“We never stop recruiting,” Wyn says. “Our goal is to create as many new mentors as possible. The Notre Dame alumni community has a tremendous culture of service. We’re paddling as fast as we can, but we’re still not supporting all the students that we might.”

“Wyn Norris has been the most committed mentor recruiter and coordinator that any school could ever hope for,” Northbrook Middle Principal Laura Schuhmann says. “His perseverance in recruiting mentors has been a passionate journey in order to make certain that any student that wants a mentor, has a mentor.

“His commitment to working within our system to support and enhance our students comes without question or judgment. We are fortunate to have him at Northbrook.”

Notre Dame Club of Houston’s Wyn Norris and Northbrook Middle seventh-grader Stephen Lewis

For his leadership, Wyn, 64, and the Notre Dame alumni, also known as the “Golden Dome Alliance Mentors,” earned a Crystal Award for community partnerships in January from the Texas Association of Partners in Education.

The alumni club earned Spring Branch Education Association’s Red Apple Award last year, and Wyn was named SBISD January Volunteer of the Month. The club is a founding member of the district’s 2-year-old Good Neighbors program, which encourages business and individual partnerships with Spring Branch schools.

A Nottingham resident for more than three decades, Wyn retired from the pipeline construction equipment business. He and his wife, Carolyn, raised three children, all of whom attended SBISD schools.

International competition is one of the reasons that the alumni club has taken on mentoring as group activity. “I really believe that if we don’t raise the education level in this country and in Texas, we will be in serious trouble in the future. We want to help motivate students, especially disadvantaged students, to stay in school and finish high school, and to believe that they can do more, much more.”

Mentoring is a highly rewarding volunteer activity that requires no more commitment than an hour or less each week with a young person, he says. Northbrook Middle has been a successful outreach for the group, and the principal strongly supports the alumni group.

“When Northbrook Middle students were asked to list some of the best things about their schools, students overwhelmingly said ‘mentors.’ This came from some students who don’t even have mentors. The difference that mentors have made for students at Northbrook Middle is amazing, and the best part is that the enthusiasm for mentoring spreads to other students,” Principal Schuhmann says.

“We’re convinced that what we’re doing is important,” Wyn says. “We’ve seen personal improvement, and we are told that our mentors on campus have contributed to an enhanced school atmosphere.”

To learn how you can be a mentor, please contact the SBISD Community Relations Dept. at 713-464-1511, ext. 2287, or email partner@springbranchisd.com. Volunteers are also needed in many other areas.