Guest Opinion: Make a Difference in a Child’s Life

— by David Turnoy —

Several weeks ago, a documentary called “Minor Differences” was shown at our local theater. An Orcas resident made this film, and it tells the story of five different young men who ended up in jail as teenagers The filmmaker kept in touch with these young men, and over the next eighteen years she continued to interview them to check on their progress. It is a fascinating and often heartbreaking study, but also very instructive. The one thing that might have helped prevent the troubles of these young men would have been the presence of some kind of mentor figure, as one of these young men actually stated in the film.

My wife and I first visited Orcas Island in 2001. We fell in love with the natural beauty and dreamed of retiring here. Three and a half years ago we moved up here, building a house and settling in. We are retired school teachers, so we got involved with volunteering in the local elementary school; I have gone on to do subbing as well. In addition, among many other activities, we have been involved in the Orcas Island Community Foundation, both of us on the grants committee, and now I am on the community needs assessment committee.

We would have thought that teaching on Orcas Island would be paradise for educators, but this isn’t really true. Many of our students come from families with significant difficulties in their home lives. As a result, stability and support can be hard to come by. Often an unsettled home life results in children acting out at school.

Following the showing of “Minor Differences,” many of us met in the room just off the theater to discuss the issues raised by the film and to discuss what we could do here on Orcas Island to keep our kids from falling into the traps suffered by the subjects of the film. Our discussion included Rick Hughes, our county councilor, Emilie and Rebecca from the Funhouse, Julie Pinardi from the high school, and many other caring residents of our island community.

We agreed that the best thing we can do to help is to create awareness and to get the many kids in need hooked up with mentors. This can be through the Primary Intervention Program (PIP) at the public elementary school, or it can be through the Funhouse mentoring program. If you have the time to mentor one child, it can make all the difference in the life of that child.

We agreed at the meeting that this information needs to get out to the community at large, and we are hoping that many of you will feel encouraged to think about becoming a mentor.