William Crawford of Owasso Recognized by Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence as Mentor

William Crawford of Owasso is one of 31 outstanding Oklahoma mentors recognized by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and its community mentoring organizations during National Mentor Month in January. 
The honorees were submitted by their respective mentoring organizations across the state, and each received certificates of achievement from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. The certificates are being presented in the communities where the mentors volunteer.
Crawford is a senior architecture major at Oklahoma State University and a success coach with the Architecture Coaching program and has been matched with mentee Paul Johnson for the past few months.
“William has been a very effective success coach, having mentored several freshman in the architecture program,” said Jordan Blackburn, coordinator of Student Retention for the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Student Center. “He has been an encourager and helped them see the bigger picture when it comes to assignments and how to work hard in the major while also taking care of themselves as individuals. William has an infectious positive outlook, always ready with a smile and a question to get others involved.”
Blackburn adds, “Crawford likes to sit down with Johnson to interact while working on homework. He enjoys being one-on-one while Paul works to draw for his projects. Crawford feels that this helps both push and encourage him and his mentee.
“This fall, in William’s second term as a success Coach, I watched as he assisted the new coaches to develop strategies to ensure their own meetings with freshman were successful,” shared Blackburn. “At the end of the Success Team program, William was selected as the most effective coach by the freshman students.”
About the Program:  OSU’s Architecture Coaching program is a seven-week program for all Architecture and Architectural Engineering freshmen, who are matched with upperclassmen mentors.
“We salute these outstanding mentors for the important role they play in helping young people achieve better academic, social and economic futures,” said Emily Stratton, executive director of the Foundation for Excellence. “Oklahoma mentors are truly changing lives!”
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a statewide nonprofit that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. Through its statewide mentoring initiative, the foundation promotes the growth and development of quality youth mentoring programs. The foundation works with school districts and mentoring organizations to promote mentoring as a positive step toward academic success.
“Through a statewide survey of mentoring organizations, we found that the most positive program outcomes were improved academic performance, positive mentor-mentee relationships, improved behavior, increased self-esteem and greater enrichment opportunities for participating youth,” Stratton said. “Mentoring also helps students develop resilience and feel supported as they face difficult life challenges.”
“Mentor in Real Life” is the theme of National Mentoring Month, a campaign sponsored by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership to celebrate the power of mentoring relationships and recruit new volunteer mentors. The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence provides a directory of mentoring organizations across the state seeking volunteers. For more information and a list of this year’s honored mentors, visit www.okmentors.org.