And good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome,
welcome time now for community connection. And we've got a very familiar face here
with a kind of a new name for the folks he represents. We have
Michael Sikora in here, and I've been trying to get this right, so
I'm gonna let you do it. So for four years I've been working for
the Low Family Young scholars Program, and they've been around since two thousand and
six, even really kind of the brainstorm started even before that with Karen and
Barry Low, way back before my time, and we've been working to help
support economically disadvantaged children, prepare them for college, and give them a scholarship
in college. And thus to date we have thirteen graduates. But over the
past couple of years, we've been talking with some community members and there's been
a disparity between what they were saying and what our mission is. And so
in order to help alleviate some of these problems like um people thinking that we
were just a scholarship granting organization, which we're not. We prepare students and
that's that's what we do. That's our public nonprofit position where Karen and Barry
that Low name is different than Joe Allen Lowe and is not associated with Lows
the lumberyard down the street. I keep calling it a lumberyard, and so
forgive me Lows. It's not a lumberyard. I mean, it's really is.
But we wanted to um differentiate this is this is a different family,
this is a different organization, UM not related to these companies and um lastly
I'll get there. But we wanted to change the name to help fit the
mission and talking with our families and our students and with the community members.
Our new name is now the Young Scholars of Bartlesville with the tagline low Family
inspired, Community supported good. Here you go that out of clear things up
a lot, we sure hope. So I see you're wearing the brand new
logo on your on your shirt and you give me a nice little notebook because
you know how scatter brained I get, and it's as Young Scholars of Bartlesville.
You've got a new little logo there with a graduation tassel and everything else,
like that little star there, and that kind of reminds us of the
owl the a little bit. Yeah, yeah, so the little owl's gone.
Some people are a little a little tear jerk, a little upset about
that. But a lot of our students really love this. And you know,
for our my standpoint, our standpoint is it puts the student up front.
It's there, it's the reason we're here, the student, the young
scholar, that's why we're here. In the college graduation cap just kind of
puts that mission and goal in frame, even in just a logo, can
say so much. Indeed, No, you're still this is still a mentoring
process as we prepare the youngsters to go to college. These are kids,
like you said, are economically disadvantaged, and in many times they don't know
of any of their family members who've ever been to college. They might have
been, but they don't know them, so they have really no basis.
No how does this work. This is where our mentors come in. Yeah,
so we still are our mission is the same. We are not changing
that, and we're still partnering with big brothers, big sisters. Hey there
you go, so and we started that partnership in two thousand and six,
so we're going to keep continuing as well. The mentors have so much experience,
so much stuff and life and knowledge that can help shape and guide and
and challenge and support and cheer on these students and give them so much more
before when you know, the the paper hits the pen and says, okay,
so what do you want to do? Huh yeah, exactly, I
had them. I'm now prepared because I've had more conversations. So you know,
all the conversations are happening with their parents, with their mentors, with
us, and with other community members. We have weekend trainings where community members
come in talk, communicate and converse with the students. These students are getting
a lot of different opportunities to show them, Hey, you know there's more
than a couple of ways to go. That's great, that is absolutely great.
I really wish this was around, maybe be a couple of decades beforehand,
because there were so many people I've run across in my life. Had
this been or something similar to it been offered to them, who knows how
many times better their lives might have turned out. But you know, it
is where we are, and it's a great time now for people in the
moment to take advantage of this. And we also need mentors because as we
have scholars, we need mentors. So it's got to be it's got to
be parsed out pretty good. Huh. That's right, that's right. We
are still looking for one mentor for a young man, seventh grader who's now
about to become an eighth grader. I guess if you're an eighth grader in
summer, I don't know which way it's. Are you the end of a
seventh grade? You remember? You remember how it goes. As soon as
you know the end of school, you go, yeah, I'm an eighth
grade. Yeah, yeah, you know how that works. Yeah. We
are also interviewing two students this week in one next week, so we've got
and one of them actually already has a mentor with big brothers, big sisters,
so um, that's really great for her. She's already established a great
relationship. And so we'll be we'll be potentially taking on a couple more students.
And the other are two young women. So we've got a couple potentially
lined up for these young women. So we still just need one mentor right
now. And yeah, we're just looking for more students. This is great.
Now we're talking with Michael's core and he's with Young Scholars of Bartelsville and
yeah, the name has changed. Michael hasn't changed at all. Don't worry
about that. Yeah, still, guy, I may have another couple of
gray hairs or two. Well, you've got a daughter now, and she
does it. Yeah, she does it all this snow on the roof.
Yeah. The boys I had, they're kind of like the old man.
Ain't that far out of the cave, you know. The gals who I
just don't anyway. I always thought they were two for Jule and they were
going to break. And so they keep telling me all the kids bounce,
Well, don't try it. Just whwald, don't even risk anyways, Young
scholars of Bartle's wheels, where we're talking about, you're still in the same
location, just right upstairs melodies out there at the RUE building, right.
Yes, yeah, yep, we've we've not changed anything, but the name
still still over there at the RSU building and everything's rolling pretty much the same.
It's just we've clarified the name so that everyone is who's been on board
has the clarity of the mission. And that's really good. And that took
a you know, when you've had a name for so long and you get
to that point where you think maybe this is in order that's a big decision.
I imagine this took a little time. It took a little time.
Yeah, yeah, that's something you just say, Hey, it's Thursday.
What are you doing. Let's change the name of our of our non profit
yep, yep. And Karen now low Alton. She is completely on board
with change your name as being a co founder of this organization. So she
was a part of the process from the very beginning. We've had her in
the studio with you once or twice. Anyway, very nice lady, and
of course this really works well. Now if you want to be a mentor,
maybe you don't know you want to be a mentor, but it kind
of sounds interesting. How do we go about that? Hey, call me
nine eight seven six six six six seven five. You can also find contact
information on our website or Facebook. You can reach out to us on Facebook.
Our website is still low Young scholar dot org. Again, you can
call me at nine one eight seven six six six six seven five, Facebook,
or our email, our website, low Young scholar dot org. That
took a little work, get taken care of working with that stuff. Oh
but anyway, this is great for anyone who's ever seen uh these youngsters,
these young scholars. In a public setting, first of all, you take
a look at him and say, oh, it's just a kid. Well,
no, they present themselves as young men and young women. They're very
very smart, and they're very very aware of what's going on. And of
course those mentors helped them along too a long way as well. So these
are very special young people, and I want to keep referring to them as
young people because they have a level of maturity that's a little bit beyond their
peers. Ye oh yeah, oh yeah. We are so blessed to work
with some of these young men and young women. They show, they continue
to surprise me what comes out of them out as the questions that they ask
and just the things that they get involved with. There are questions and then
there are questions to make you go yep, that's that's right, that's right,
that's right. Now. Now we work with Charlene do who with big
brothers big sisters on the mentoring process. I understand, that's right, that's
right. And can you be both? Can you be both a big brother
or big sister and a mentor? Well technically you would be both. Yeah,
that's right. So so our partnership with big brothers big sisters. It
covers They cover like the social aspects the howard, how's your relationship becoming?
How's it working? How can we continue to help support uh, the integration
between you know, the the mentor and the mentee and and I keep saying
that because that's what we call them, but they call him big brother and
big sister. Uh, and then the little brother and the little sister and
UH. They do an amazing job of making that match happen and blossom and
and really supporting, you know, something that we as humans want to be
in a community, in a thing, and we just have a tendency to
shy away from something new. Well that's where they just shine. They help
peel back the We all really want to be a part of something that when
when two pieces come together, it's just a better picture. And this is
this is really a part of their job and mission, and we just are
so blessed to be a part of them. And we just come in and
say, you know, let's add another goal, not just a goal of
getting to know one another, but let's get another goal of college graduation.
So as we become in community now as a community where we're going, and
so this community, we say, let's let's see if we can train you
a little bit faster, a little bit better, a little bit so that
you can pass it on when you become a big or you become a mentor.
And a lot of our students have now, so those who have graduated,
some of them have families already, So this is just amazing to see.
And they've already when I don't have youngsters, I want to give back
in the same way that was given back to me. So they're already expressing
ways to mentor to get it back involved and coming around circle. This is
just such a blessing. It has to be. And you get a front
row seat, and that's really kind of cool. I want you to remember
folks who has been a bit of a name change, but you're gonna remember
it. It's easier to say young Scholars of Bartlesville. That's young Scholars of
Bartlesville, formerly low family young Scholars. That was a little bit of a
mouthful. Sometime you really had to pay attention and talk slowly, but this
really rolls off the tongue easily. Easy to remember. Young Scholars of Bartlesville,
same mission, same ambition. That's right, that's right, same goals.
The only thing that's change is the name and the logo, and that's
just to clarify things a little bit out with our community partners. I say,
good on you, thank you, thank you. We're really excited.
Well you should be. What's the website? People can go to low Young
scholar dot org. Boy, that's easy. I can remember that. Yeah,
Monday, I can remember that. And you have a Facebook page.
We have Facebook. You can also give me a call seven six six six
six seven five. Well man, that is really cool. Michael. I
want to thank you very much for coming in here and shedding the sharing the
good news with us year because that is really something. It's not every day
that people have a little bit of a name change, and especially kind of
a big one like this, but I'm glad that you shared it with that