Lt. Gov. Brad Owen to co-host National Mentoring Month event in Capitol

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen to honor King County’s Outstanding Mentor of the Year

SEATTLE – Washington Lt. Gov. Brad Owen will honor Jennifer Newman, King County Outstanding Mentor of the Year at Key Arena prior to Sunday’s Seattle Super Sonics game. Jennifer Newman with her mentee, Mersadies

Jennifer Newman with her mentee, Mersadies

Newman, a project manager at ZymoGenetics, and her mentee, a Seattle high school student named Mersadies, are with the Seattle organization Community For Youth. They have been matched for over a year. Mersadies nominated Jennifer, saying, “Because of my mentor, I feel like my mind is more focused, my spirit more at peace and when I am feeling down, I know that on my shoulder is that little angel named Jennifer Newman.”

For the past five years, the King County Mentoring Coalition has recognized outstanding mentors in our community by awarding the Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award.

This award is presented to a mentor who has made an extraordinary impact in a young person’s life. This award is sponsored by the Guiding Lights Weekend, the community collaborative organization SOAR, United Way of King County, and Washington State Mentors. Washington State Mentors President Jim Marsh and Harla Tumbelson, the director of SOAR, also will participate in the awards presentation.

This event is part of a series of events in January to celebrate National Mentoring Month, aimed at raising awareness of mentoring. Washington State Mentors is proud to sponsor Mentoring Night with the Sonics. Over 200 mentor and mentee pairs will attend the game and listen to a pre-game panel discussion on mentoring with Lt. Gov. Owen, Seattle Super Sonic Chris Wilcox, Hazel Cameron of the 4C Coalition, and KJR Sports Radio's Mike Gastineau. Mentors and mentees will have the opportunity to watch the team's pre-game warm up and mentees will receive a special gift from Washington State Mentors.

The game is at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28. Pre-game festivities for mentors and mentees begin at 5 p.m. The award presentation will take place at the eight-minute mark prior to the game’s tip-off.

For more information contact:

Debs Gardner, United Way of King County at (206) 461-3771 or dgardner@uwkc.org.

Washington Mentoring Partnership: Peggy Gray (425) 416-2033 or pgray@washingtonmentoring.org