TEAMMATES MISSION

To positively impact the world by inspiring youth to reach their full potential through mentoring!

ABOUT TEAMMATES

TeamMates celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021! Tom and Nancy Osborne founded the TeamMates Mentoring Program in 1991 in an effort to provide support and encouragement to school-aged youth. It began with twenty-two Husker football players mentoring students in the Lincoln Public School system, and has expanded to serving about 10,000 youth per year in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

The goal of TeamMates is to support youth in graduating from high school and pursuing post-secondary education. To reach this goal, youth are matched with safe and trustworthy adults who serve as mentors. Mentors are volunteers from the community who have dedicated themselves to making a difference in the lives of young people. By meeting with their mentees once a week at school, mentors give youth a sense of hope, purpose, and vision. 

“Our young people face different challenges today that affect them personally. If we are going to make a difference, we have to get involved with them as one-to-one mentors. We thank you for your support and we know that one student at a time, we can make a difference, not only in this generation, but for the generations to come.” -Dr. Tom & Nancy Osborne

CORE VALUES

• Commitment to Youth: We keep the students we serve as the primary focus of our work. We are committed to doing what is best and safest for students.

• Safety: TeamMates safeguards matches, local chapters, and our organization as a whole by providing purposeful policies and procedures.

• Integrity and Trust: By following the best practices of TeamMates, we uphold the integrity of the entire program. 

• Inclusion: We have and seek diversity amongst our mentors and mentees. Within TeamMates, we bring together two people who otherwise might not cross paths and allow them a safe setting to show up for each other with their unique gifts and talents. 

OUR PROGRAM

We are lucky to have a TeamMates program right here in Elwood! We are even more lucky to have the unconditional support and generosity of our community. As of January 2022, we have around 30 matches and are constantly growing. Here is a small glimpse of what it is like to be part of our amazing program: 

• Our matches meet once a week at the school. Together, they play games, make crafts, engage in physical activity, and more!

• We have three annual parties where all of our matches get together to enjoy a meal and activity.

• We provide a seasonal craft for our matches to make together, and we donate these crafts to our local senior center and care home. 

• We run at least one concession stand per year and recognize our matches in front of our community. 

• We do various fundraisers throughout the year to keep our program running strong.

• We take our matches to the Husker spring game in April every year we can!

Interested in becoming a mentor? Apply online at teammates.org!

Any questions? Please reach out to our program coordinator, Kilah Oaklund, at kilah.oaklund@elwoodpirates.org or by calling the school!

2021-2022 TeamMates Board

Jenna Roberts, President

Gwen Stoll, Vice President

Deb Arends, Secretary

Ed Houlden, Treasurer

Katy Weissert

Lori Knoerzer

Miranda Stoll

Kelly Gydesen