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Musician and Recording Artist Andy Grammer Inspires Students at Power Center Academy

On Tuesday March 27, the Grizzlies Foundation hosted an exclusive event at Power Center Academy with S-Curve Records recording artist, Andy Grammer. Andy spent time talking with the 9th grade students and discussed his rise into the mainstream music scene, the importance of service and creativity,  and how a burning desire to succeed can make your dreams come true. His charisma, sense of humor and humility won over every student and adult in the room.

View photos of the event on our Facebook page!

Fan loyalty was permanently secured when he performed his two hit songs, “Keep Your Head Up” and “Fine By Me.”

Andy was joined by Dan Pearson, VP of Marketing and Promotions for S-Curve Records. Dan opened the program by talking about his journey through the music industry and the grind it takes to make it to the top. At the end of the event, the two –both superstars in the music business—fielded questions from Power Center Academy students.

Also present were the volunteer mentors who spend time each week at Power Center through the Grizzlies TEAM Mentoring program. Andy met privately to shake hands, take pictures, and sign autographs with all the mentoring teams following the event. It’s safe to say that he earned himself a new crop of fans in Memphis, Tennessee!

Follow Andy on Twitter at @andygrammer and the Grizzlies Foundation at@grizzliesteamup.

Andy Grammer to Visit Grizzlies TEAM Mentoring Program

Memphis, Tennessee – As part of the Grizzlies TEAM Mentoring program, S-Curve Records recording artist Andy Grammer will make an appearance at Power Center Academy on Tuesday, March 27 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. Media is invited to attend.

Grammer will perform an acoustic version of his debut hit “Keep Your Head Up” and will speak to over 200 8^th and 9^th grade students from the Academy about his rise into the mainstream music scene. Dan Pearson, Vice President of S-Curve Records, will also speak to the students about his journey into the music industry, and Grammer and Pearson will both engage in a Question & Answer session with the kids. Grammer will also be introduced to fans in attendance Tuesday night as the Grizzlies take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Grizzlies TEAM Mentoring is a youth mentoring program administered by the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation. This program is school-based and matches three volunteer mentors with nine students to form each TEAM. Teams meet for 70 minutes each week and participate in activities that correspond with a chosen theme and weekly objectives. Each mentoring session allows mentors and students to develop relationships with one another while providing students with new skills and experiences. The program was piloted during the spring of 2011 and is currently in its first full-year operation at two public charter schools in Memphis.

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Making a Difference: TEAM Mentoring Program Serves Local Homeless Shelters

Saturday, February 25th was the annual Grizzlies TEAM Mentoring Community Service project. This year’s event was hosted at the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) where the mentoring teams were set to make brown-bag lunches for local Memphis homeless shelters.

Over 90 volunteer mentors and students participated in the project and ended up assembling over 1,000 lunches. “It was very enjoyable to see the kids so excited about helping,” said Carly Knight, a TEAM Mentor at KIPP Memphis. It was evident that everyone at the event seemed to have a great time serving their community. The relationships between mentors and students were also strengthened as a result. “I feel that this project brought us closer together because it put us on the same level as far as helping people in need,” Knight added.

When all was said and done, the lunches provided Saturday afternoon meals for four homeless shelters: Memphis Union Mission, Salvation Army, Memphis Family Shelter, and Calvary Rescue Mission. “It was great to see the kids so positive and enthusiastic to serve their home community,” says Grizzlies Foundation Coordinator, Joel Katz. “When you’re able to get a bunch of people working together for a common cause, great things can happen. We witnessed that on Saturday!”

Following the Service project, the Grizzlies TEAM Mentoring program will then shift gears and engage in five-weeks of Health and Wellness themed activities.

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Grizzlies Giving Back to Memphis

On November 1, the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation announced the donation of $370,000 in new grants to Memphis nonprofit organizations. The awarding of this year’s grants takes it to a total of more than $28.3 million awarded to local nonprofits since 2001.


Grizzlies Foundation team (From left to Right): Eric Bleier,
Jenny Koltnow, Joel Katz, Alayne Shoenfeld


Present at the event were many nonprofit leaders as well as Foundation Board Members Elliot Perry, Lionel Hollins and Pete Pranica. The Memphis Grizzlies have been providing grants to local profits since 2001 and in 2004 the Grizzlies Foundation was chartered to support Memphis youth through education and mentoring. During the event, Jenny Koltnow talked about how the scope of community involvement has evolved throughout the years.

Starting primarily as a grant maker at the inception of the Foundation in 2004, the Grizzlies Foundation is now dynamically serving the community. The Foundation houses the Grizzlies Mentoring Alliance (formerly known as Memphis Mentoring Partnership), a local network of nonprofit mentoring organizations. Since late 2010, the Foundation has coordinated TEAMmates, a mentor retention program that gives active volunteer mentors unique opportunities and offers including passes to local attractions, events, and games. The corporate community is also involved in the mentoring movement, encouraging employees to serve as mentors and recognizing them for doing so. Finally, Koltnow spoke about Grizzlies TEAM Mentoring, a new program administered by the Grizzlies Foundation that matches 3 mentors with 9 students currently at two public-charter schools.

Those in attendance were encouraged to learn more about the investments the Memphis Grizzlies have made into their local community and find ways for their organizations to “team up.” Koltnow stressed that everyone has a role to play, and success will be determined by the input and participation of many.

There are certainly few professional sports franchises in the world that do as much for their city as the Grizzlies do for Memphis. The unique role the Grizzlies Foundation plays is that the focus isn’t just on mentoring, but on “quality mentoring.”

All mentors are carefully recruited, screened, matched, and trained. Each volunteer is thus educated and prepared for fostering a relationships with their mentee. The Grizzlies Foundation is an affiliate of MENTOR/ The National Mentoring Partnership, which offers guidance on quality-based standards and program management. Through this network, the Grizzlies share a wealth of resources and on-going support for partner programs and mentors.

As a result of the increase in awareness and growth in volunteer opportunities, more kids in Memphis are given the chance to meet and develop relationships with positive adult figures. These bonds create new experiences and exposure and open many new doors.

The Grizzlies Foundation is proud to continue supporting the present and future of Memphis by being a local hub and enthusiastic champion for mentoring.

Corporate Mentoring in Memphis Promotes Medical Careers

The Memphis Grizzles Charitable Foundation has been working with Smith & Nephew, the global company that creates products for orthopedic reconstruction and trauma, endoscopy and advanced wound management, to launch a youth mentoring program for students wanting a career in medical technology and business.

A key component to the Smith & Nephew launch has been their beta testing this past summer of a new product developed by MENTOR and Viacom, the world’s leading entertainment content company, which provides step-by-step guidance for corporations on how to start a quality mentoring program for young people.

Smith & Nephew’s state-of-the-art initiative is called the Smith & Nephew Scholars Program, which pairs middle- and high-school students with mentors from the Memphis-based Orthopaedic Reconstruction and Trauma division for five years, until the students head to college.

Mentees come from three local public charter schools: the Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering, the Memphis Academy of Health Sciences and the Knowledge Is Power Program. The adult/youth mentoring pairs meet several times each month, and when the students reach their junior and senior years, they can have paid summer internships with the company. Smith & Nephew also will pay for their SAT and ACT preparation classes, mentor them through the college application process and maintain a relationship into their higher education years.

“What makes this program unique is that once these students are in the program, unless they have significant deficiencies in meeting our expectations, they will stay in the program from grade 8 until they enter into college,” said Mark Stephens, senior vice president of human resources for Smith & Nephew, the executive in charge of the Scholars Program. “Smith & Nephew is a large part of the community here, and we’re always trying to do things to help improve the lives of those around us.”

Jenny Koltnow, executive director of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation and leader of the Grizzlies TEAM UP Youth Mentoring initiative, said, “We believe there is an immense opportunity here for young people who are interested in an exciting career. This program provides a caring adult to help bolster their academic achievement, but it also opens doors for them to receive training, real-life work experiences and a leg up in getting into and succeeding in college.”

“We also hope that this kind of mentoring will encourage students to come back to Memphis after they graduate to live and work here,” noted Koltnow.

Dr. Larry Wright, MENTOR’s president and CEO, said the Viacom guide that Smith & Nephew used in their beta testing will be launched publically at next January’s National Mentoring Summit in Washington, D.C. “This product will allow corporations across America to establish new mentoring programs or enhance existing mentoring efforts to a level of quality that will continue to make a real difference in the lives of our young people,” he said.

For more information on the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation/Memphis Mentoring Partnership, visit www.teamupmemphis.org.

Article credit: mentoring.org(http://www.mentoring.org/news_and_research/news_releases/corporate_mentoring_in_memphis_promotes_medical_careers)