Mentor John Hollis relates his experiences as a mentor during the 4th annual Mentoring Works Summit in Dover.
Mentor John Hollis relates his experiences as a mentor during the 4th annual Mentoring Works Summit in Dover.
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Delaware’s statewide mentoring program is honoring the nearly four decades of service a Seaford man has devoted to helping youngsters pursue higher education.
The non-profit, Connecting Generations, awarded John Hollis the Robert A. Kasey Lifetime Achievement Award, Wednesday at the 4th annual Mentoring Works Summit in Dover.
Hollis says his mentoring work evolved in the mid ‘70s when he was approached by the DuPont Company to start a program helping minority students pursue careers in science and engineering. Since then more than 250 of those mentored by Hollis have gone on to earn degrees in higher education.
Hollis says he realized early in his career as a science teacher and athletics coach that helping children required a more well-rounded approach.
“I soon learned it wasn’t just books and scores on academic tests. There was a much deeper success formula there. And probably the best way to share that formula is through one on one relationships,” said Hollis. “It’s roughly, in an adult human, 18 inches from the cortex of your brain to the AV node of your heart. And if you’re strictly doing it from a mental standpoint, it won’t be a total package. If you’re strictly doing it from the heart without some of rigors and responsibilities and so forth, it won’t work,”
Hollis adds that in recent years loosening family ties have created greater challenges in mentoring today's kids.
Connecting Generations was founded in 1990 by retired DuPont executive Robert Kasey.
