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 SHAW
AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –“I built a rocket and I sent if off
when I was 7 years old,” said Master Sgt. Spencer A. Foster
(photo left),
Third Army/ARCENT material readiness branch, aviation
maintenance noncommissioned officer in charge.
“One
day when Cedric reflects back, he will be able to say that
to someone and it will be true,” said Foster.
Although Foster is an active-duty soldier and a father
to four young children at home, he sets aside one day a week
to mentor Cedric Wright, a 2nd grade student at R.E. Davis
Elementary School here in Sumter, S.C. with whom he built a
rocket, May 1, 2013.
Foster said the idea of building
a rocket started out as a motivational tactic to get the
7-year-old more interested in reading but said his tactic
also exposed the young student to something that he wouldn't
do on an average school day.
“I wanted to give Cedric
something to excite him about reading. He likes to read but
it's difficult and that frustrates him at times, so he
doesn't always want to engage it. When he talked to me about
wanting to be an Astronaut and he had curiosities about how
rockets get into the sky, I asked him one day, do you want
to learn how to build a rocket and set it off into the sky?”
said Foster.
The task of a mentor can be rewarding
but one has to be able to inspire as they encourage a
student.
“A mentor is a person who has the
capability of being a good listener, be able to encourage a
student and also have the ability to observe that student's
individual needs,” said Anne M. McFadden, Principal at R.E.
Davis Elementary School.
“Sometimes you can change a
child's everything with just a smile.”
Foster's
tactic to capture Wright's attention helped shape his
mentee's mind to understand that there is adventure in
reading.
“He was really excited about wanting to
build a rocket and it motivated him even beyond our
conversation,” said Foster. “His teacher noticed the
immediate change in his conduct during class because he had
something to look forward to. Stimulating his interest was
something I wanted to give to Cedric but I wanted to do it
in a way that fell outside the norm of playing video games
or watching television. I wanted him to know there is
something else out there that can stoke his interest,
something that can give him an opportunity; that there is
rocket science.”
The mentorship program is a program
which provides a positive interactive atmosphere to students
in need. It strengthens their learning abilities while
exposing them to diversity and various cultures. Although
the program is new to R.E. Davis Elementary, the impact on
the lives it changes is everlasting, said McFadden.
As for Wright he said he likes that his mentor, Foster,
helps him sound out unknown words and pronounce them
correctly.
“At first I would say the word ‘the' like
‘da', I would start it with a ‘d' but my mentor would say
‘no,' then say it the right way and I would say it the way
he did,” said Wright. “I love to read and learn words I
don't know. My favorite part about my education is reading
because when I get older I am going to have to read things
to sign stuff.”
Several students at the elementary
school have mentors and they have helped them to improve in
school and at home, said McFadden and she hopes to see the
continuation of the program and to see it expand.
“Every kid doesn't grow up the same, every kid may not have
the benefits of our more successful youths and if their
disadvantages gets engrained at such a young age then they
grow-up believing they're never going to be anything or
they're never going to have anything, it's best to encourage
children by expanding their mind in many ways,” said Foster.
Article and photo by U.S. Army Spc. Sharmain Burch
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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