The Up Center

Special Section: Combined Federal Campaign 2009

Navy Pilot Takes Mentoring Program to New Heights

By Mary Rogelstad
Director of Communications, The Up Center

When the Rice family took a trip to Michigan, they brought along someone who had been a part of their lives less than a year. Eleven-year Dennis Jones had been paired with Navy Lt. Luke Rice of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40, and his wife, Aimee last fall through The Up Center’s Team Up Mentoring program. Since that time, they have treated Dennis like a son.

“Dennis talks about them all the time,” said Dennis’ mother Future Johnson. “He loves them to death.”

Johnson signed Dennis up for the mentoring program to provide him with a male role model. Dennis is an only child, and his father is incarcerated. In most cases, youth like Dennis are matched with one adult for at least a year through the Team Up program. In this case though, Rice and Aimee wanted to mentor as a family, including their three-year-old son.

“Time is limited for us, so we thought it would give us more opportunities if we did it as a family,” Rice said. “Plus we have a good stable marriage, which I thought would set a good example for a young person.”

The unusual arrangement has paid off. Johnson said her son is doing much better academically in school since Rice has emphasized the importance of education. Dennis also is experiencing many new things, including tours of the base and time spent in the flight simulator.

“I think the military offers some unique opportunities in the mentorship area,” Rice said. “I show him people working on the base so he sees there are options in life. Our goal is to make him think about his future.”

The military tie has worked so well for The Up Center’s Team Up program that more than one fourth of the current mentors are now active duty military. However, the need for mentors still is great. There are currently 180 kids on the waiting list for the program.

Rice says the Team Up staff is very accommodating of anyone who wants to mentor and considers each request, such as his family’s desire to mentor as a unit.

The result has been a very successful mentoring match that has changed two families.

“We’ve told Dennis he can be a part of our lives as long as he wants to be,” Aimee said. “He is just a fantastic kid.”

For more information on mentoring, please call The Up Center’s Team Up program at 397-2121 ext. 302 or email lindsay.jackson@theupcenter.org.

The Up Center is legally known as Child & Family Services of Eastern Virginia. To support the Up Center, designate CFC #43922.