Midshipman First Class Natalie Logan, a chemistry major at the U.S. Naval Academy, tutors students on Saturday mornings in math and science. Mike Elliott began mentoring a fatherless teen boy when he was attending seventh grade at Corkran Middle School in Glen Burnie. The teen's now in 11th grade and Elliott's still there.
The Volunteer Center for Anne Arundel County has named Logan and Elliott "Mentors of the Year" for their service, and plans to honor them and several others at its sixth annual awards ceremony this week.
"It highlights the fantastic work that mentors are doing with youth and the great need we have," said Fay R. Mauro, the executive director of the Volunteer Center, which refers about 4,000 volunteers to some 360 organizations county-wide.
Logan has participated in the tutoring program through the Naval Academy's Benjamin Banneker Society, named for the 1700s-era black mathematician and astronomer. The society has run a tutoring program for the past 20 years. Logan, a senior, has participated for the past three years.
Miriam Stanicic, the director of community relations at the Naval Academy, nominated Logan.
"She's really interested in having young people be exposed to an institution of higher education. She tells them, 'The Naval Academy's great, but as long as you aspire to go to school.' She has a very you-can-do-it attitude. And it's almost infectious to some of these kids that are having trouble in science and math. But the attitude on the midshipmen side is, 'Keep at it.' "
Among the other honorees are former Annapolis Mayor Roger "Pip" Moyer, receiving the lifetime mentor award; Deanne Leone, a volunteer at Central Middle School in Edgewater; Catherine Storch, a peer mentor at Severna Park Middle School; and Bailey Falk and Victoria Preston, students at South River High School who volunteer at Central Middle School.
Abraham Shanklin Jr., founder of the New Life Fellowship International Ministries in Hanover, will serve as the keynote speaker.
Mentoring awards
The Volunteer Center for Anne Arundel County is hosting the 2011 Mentoring Awards from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26 at the Roger "Pip" Moyer Recreation Center at Truxton Park on Hilltop Lane in Annapolis.