Teammates Banquet Held in Pierce
The Pierce Teammates mentoring program hosted a recognition dinner and silent auction on Friday evening, May 12, at Pierce Jr.-Sr. High School.
The purpose of the event was to recognize current and former mentors as well as current student Teammates. The second objective of the evening was to raise money for the Teammates Scholarship Fund, a fund established at the onset of Pierce’s Teammates program in 2001.
The Pierce Teammates mentoring program matches caring adult mentors with Pierce Public School students in grades 5-12. Mentors meet once a week during school hours with their student Teammate to visit, eat lunch, play games, set goals, or simply to enjoy each other’s company.
Husker memorabilia and other items were auctioned to raise money for the scholarship fund. The highlight of the evening, though, was the attendance of Tom Osborne, founder of the Teammates program and former UNL head football coach, as guest speaker for the event. Coach Osborne stressed how important it is for adults to get involved in the lives of young people within our Nebraska communities and encouraged those in attendance to become or remain mentors.
Mark Brahmer, the junior-senior high school principal who has coordinated Pierce’s program since its inception, said, “The entire evening was a success and, I believe, was enjoyed by everyone. It allowed us an opportunity to thank our mentors, both past and present, and to encourage our student-teammates to continue to make positive strides in their academic and personal lives. We were quite fortunate to have had the opportunity to host Coach Osborne and listen to him speak.”
Anyone interested in donating to the Pierce Teammates Scholarship fund or anyone interested in becoming a mentor should contact Mark Brahmer at Pierce Jr.-Sr. High School (402-329-6217).