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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
The Line of Fire: Fifth-graders Tyler Fiores (left) and Casey Sparling quiz San Jose Police Captain Scott Seaman on his duties as a cop. The students met the police officer through an H-P mentoring program.
Hewlett-Packard's email mentoring program helps students to 'connect'
Youngsters meet their mentors--and sometimes their idols
By Jessica Lyons
San Jose Police Captain Scott Seaman sits at a miniature table in the middle of a classroom at Schallenberger Elementary, eating a sandwich and drinking soda from a can. On his right two boys bombard him with questions.
"Do you carry a pepper spray?" 11-year-old Tyler Flores asks.
The police captain's answer is a very serious "yes."
"How about magazines" Tyler continues.
Again Seaman nods his head. "Teen, People and Newsweek," he says. "I carry all types of magazines," he jokes and continues to eat his lunch at the table with seven fifth-graders and six adults--seemingly out of place amidst the small furniture. The adults are teachers and Hewlett-Packard employees, visiting Schallenberger today as part of the H-P Email Mentor Program, which connects fifth- through twelfth-graders with H-P employees. Students and adults are paired off, and email each other every week. The goal is to motivate the students to excel in math and science and improve their communication and problem-solving skills.
"We try to pick students with some at-risk characteristics, kids who are unmotivated, struggling with school, need an extra self-esteem booster, social problems, home problems, things like that," explains Jill Miller, a learning resources specialist at Schallenberger. "It's a very positive program. The students start out not having a clue how to write a letter to someone or how to handle email and by the time they get done, they are pros. The biggest part of the program is that it can be done just a few minutes a day at [H-P employees'] desks. Without having to go anywhere, they can still make a difference in a child's life."
This year, mentors and students have been working on a project to identify the students' dreams.
Ten-year-old Anivar Larios wants to play football for the 49ers.
Andy Valdez, 11, says his dream is to become a graphic designer.
Ten-year-old Amanda Nielson, a "big Jewel fan," wants to be a singer.
And one boy wants to be a cop.
That's where SJPD Captain Scott Seaman enters into the picture.
Eleven-year-old Casey Sparling, a small, energetic boy with blond hair and hazel eyes has a long-time dream of being a cop. He emailed this dream to Pat Thomas, his email mentor, and said he had some questions about becoming a police officer. Thomas set off to find someone with answers. She headed straight to the web and posted a message on Cyber Cop. Seaman responded.
"The first time Casey emailed me it was a zillion questions," Seaman says. "There wasn't a single statement in there. He wanted to know how soon you can ride in a police car, how long you have to wait to be a police officer, he wanted to know how many police officers I work with and he really did want to know how important education was to becoming a police officer. And when I told him it really was important, he made the comment that he would try to work harder in school."
Today is the first day that the three have met, although between mentor and mentee, "we've traded pictures on the Internet," Thomas says.
When Casey was struggling with math earlier in the year, Thomas emailed him math-oriented websites. She sends him police sites on the Internet as she finds them, too.
"I wanted to help children within my job scope and this seemed like a good way," Thomas says. "There's a of energy here today from one child's question. We've all sorts of ideas for future growth between kids and cops and the community and H-P."
But for Casey, meeting his mentor pales in comparison to meeting his idol.
Clad in a white T-shirt with a San Jose Police Department patch sewn on the chest, Casey beams as Scott talks. When Scott gets up from the table, so does Casey.
"He's fun to talk back and forth to and he's cool because he's a cop," Casey says, referring to Seaman. "But he's not how I pictured him to be. I pictured him to look a little more Scottish because his name is Scott."
Casey gets a serious look on his face when he starts talking about wanting to be a cop.
"I started to want to be a police officer around the age of seven or eight," he says, lifting his head toward the ceiling and covering his face in concentration, trying to remember that far back. "I was watching police shows, so I thought it would be fun."
Over the course of their email correspondence, Thomas has seen a distinct improvement in Casey's letter-writing skills, she says.
"When he first started emailing me messages, it was very hard for me to understand his messages," she says. "They were very disjointed, spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes," she says. "Now it's a lot easier. He doesn't misspell words, and his thoughts are always complete even though I know he has to struggle to put his thoughts down in writing."
And Casey's learned something, too.
"I've learned that if you really want to be something you should go for it and keep your dreams."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
