| Governor
Jeb Bush is presented a "Special" Temple Grandin Award |
 |
| Future Horizons
President, Wayne Gilpin, presents a "Special Temple Grandin" award on
April 15 to Governor Jeb Bush for his achievement in creating an
"exemplary" mentoring program and to Matt Ross, a student who has
Asperger's and has made significant achievements this past year.
Among many other accomplishments, Matt won the Special Olympics District
Tournament Golfing Regionals and is the first page with autism who
has served in the Florida legislature.
Future Horizons President Wayne Gilpin presented Governor Jeb Bush a special Temple Grandin Award certificate on April 15th "for his contributions to the Mentoring Program of Florida that has encouraged children with special needs." This year, Governor Bush awarded more than $900,000 mentoring grants to programs in the state which was an expansion on the prior years' programs. The funding is being used to create new programs as well as assist in the continuation of existing programs. "There is real momentum in the mentoring movement throughout the state," Governor Bush said. "Each year we see more competition for funding, more creative programming, and a real desire by schools to have trained mentors to be a core part of the learning process for their students." The program has been called "phenomenal" by Education Commissioner Jim Horne. The Governor' Mentoring Initiative grants are designed to provided incentives to schools and non-profit organizations by increasing both the quality of mentoring programs and the number of mentors in Florida's public schools. Additionally, several leadership projects are included, including local funding to support teen reading mentors, a program to train volunteers and mentor coordinators, a statewide e-mentoring program, and an evaluation programs for the mentoring efforts. Governor Bush announced the program in August 1999 in an effort to help Florida's students to excel in school. Last year, over 135,000 Floridians served as mentors in Florida schools. Governor Bush also personally mentors some students both formally and informally. Because Temple Grandin strongly advocates the role of mentoring in its impact, both her life and the lives of autistic children, Future Horizons recognized the role that Governor Bush has played in the creation of a mentoring program in Florida. The support that Governor Bush has given to
the program was pointed out to Future Horizons through a Temple Grandin
Award winner Matt Ross. |
|
Future Horizons, Inc. Phone.800.489.0727 * Fax.817.277.2270
|