Believing & Achieving

Born out of one alum’s experience with another mentoring group while at Luther, Believing and Achieving is an organization aimed to help mentor K-3rd graders in the Decorah area.

Erik House (‘09), the founder of Believing and Achieving, first thought of the mentoring program after he spent the summer at Luther working for Upward Bound.

“I was inspired by Phyllis Gray, Scott Zierath and the students of the Upward Bound program to continue to work with young people,” House said. “After a couple of long discussions with a friend, I decided to pair college students with elementary students for mentoring in the subjects of academic achievement, behavior, teamwork, healthy choices and physical development.”

The process was not without some obstacles along the way. Questions arose about how to train the mentors in how to properly interact with elementary school students,. Also, the time commitment for college students to dedicate themselves to the program without pay and questionable means of transportation brought their own problems.

“By the end of the day, I had experienced extreme excitement and discouragement,” House said.

However, these fears were soon allayed when House approached Dick Varney, the principal at John Cline Elementary School, a month later.

“I joined his company and began telling him about my idea, expecting to be met with a million reasons why a mentoring program would not work,” House said. “Conversely, Mr. Varney was more excited than me about the prospect of having a mentoring program.

Dr. Sheila Radford-Hill, faculty advisor for Believing and Achieving, agrees.

“Mr. Varney was so enthusiastic and connected immediately around the need for this program,” Radford-Hill said.

According to current President Eloise Hoegh (‘11), Radford-Hill has been no small help either.

“Our advisor has gone above and beyond in every way as far as support and suggestions for our program,” Hoegh said. “It’s easy to run a great program when you have a great connection within the faculty.”

This official Luther program is now entering its fourth semester here at Luther with over 50 full-time members, including 30 mentors divided between the two area elementary schools, an Executive Council and a number of committees.

The organization also boasts a Web site, http://believingandachieving.org, steady fundraising and a possible expansion.

Hoegh says that this would not be possible without the help of the Luther and Decorah community.

“The principals and teachers have been open and receptive of Believing and Achieving,” Hoegh said. “The parents have become more enthusiastic as well, and the support and involvement of the student body is outstanding.”

The program is constantly on the lookout for new mentors and will hold elections for next year’s Executive Council soon.