Talkin' With a Partner: Nikki Troutman of PENCIL Foundation

Shilpi: Tell me about the organization.
Nikki: PENCIL Foundation’s mission is to link community resources with Nashville public schools. Our flagship program, PENCIL Partners, pairs more than 530 businesses and organizations with a Metro School to provide additional resources. These partners can be small mom and pop shops or large corporations. Partners provide a variety of resources, including volunteers, tutors, mentors, in-kind donations, monetary donations, landscaping and student incentives. PENCIL also coordinates tutoring programs that bring volunteers in to work with students on Reading or Math and launched a pilot mentor program this year that pairs caring adults with freshman at two high-needs high schools. In 2005, PENCIL started LP PENCIL Box, a free school supply center for teachers. Our Jobs for Tennessee Graduates program helps middle and high school student’s transition from school to work or post-secondary education. We connect students to real-life experiences with our Saint Thomas Science Scholars program, where sophomores enjoy Saturday sessions with medical professionals.

Shilpi: What are the five most significant accomplishments in the history of this organization?
Nikki:

• We have surpassed 500 businesses and organizations linked with one or more schools through PENCIL Partners.
• Since opening in 2005, the LP PENCIL Box program has distributed over $1,000,000 in school supplies to disadvantaged students.
• Our Jobs for Tennessee Graduates program has consistently graduated 95 percent or more students each year.
• Reading Partners has served over 17,000 elementary students with volunteer support since 2000.
• Math Partners has served 2,331 middle school students with group tutoring sessions since 2000.

Shilpi: What do you look for when getting volunteers?
Nikki: We believe there is a place for everyone who wants to volunteer and we really try to match volunteers with their interests, location and time availability. What we do look for, however, in our tutoring and mentoring programs is consistency. When you tutor, it needs to be weekly and for a minimum of 12 weeks so that we can track progress. We also know how attached a student can get to their volunteer and missing sessions breaks that trust that is built.

Shilpi: What skills and qualifications are essential for success in this organization?
Nikki: We want our volunteers to be enthusiastic about helping children or young adults succeed in the classroom.

Shilpi: How much do you expect from anyone in such important positions?
Nikki: As I mentioned earlier, we need a commitment with our tutoring programs. On the partnership end, we want our schools and PENCIL Partners to keep the lines of communication open and really determine the best use of the resources that business or organization can provide. Effective communication is key to a successful partnership.

Shilpi: Why would people want to help and promote PENCIL in the community?
Nikki: Students today are our future leaders, business owners and employees so making an investment in their education now is imperative.

Shilpi: Is there additional training necessary?
Nikki: All of our volunteers take part in an hour-long training. There trainings for PENCIL Partners and schools to learn how to make a great partnership but these are not required.

Shilpi: What freedom would someone have with as a volunteer?
Nikki: Volunteers have a lot of freedom as to what they work on with students. We understand that many of the students being tutored have a number of needs and if a tutor strays from Reading one day to help with homework, it is just as helpful. We want our volunteers to build relationships with their students.