Photo by: Sarah Otteman
Clevely Leads Emily Shane Foundation Project
12/3/2020 1:37:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Competing With Purpose Blog
Pepperdine women's soccer goalkeeper Zoe Clevely is giving back to her community by volunteering for the Emily Shane Foundation. Dedicated in memory of Malibu middle schooler Emily Shane, who was tragically murdered in April 2010 at the age of 13, the local non-profit aims to help middle school students who don't fit the traditional mold by pairing them up with mentor-tutors through the foundation's Successful Educational Achievement (SEA) Program.
Clevely first got involved with the local non-profit through one of her teammate's friends who knew Emily's mother, Ellen Shane. After their first meeting over Zoom this summer, Clevely said she had an "instant connection" with Ellen, who brought her aboard to help the nonprofit's SEA Program. Since then, Clevely has recruited a group of Pepperdine student-athletes to become mentor-tutors, which will entail Pepperdine student-athletes spending several hours a week tutoring, teaching good study habits and getting to know local middle school students next semester.
We caught up with the redshirt junior to talk about her experience volunteering for the Emily Shane Foundation, raising awareness for the non-profit, and helping her fellow student-athletes become mentor-tutors for disadvantaged middle school students.
Q: For those who are unaware of the Emily Shane Foundation, what is it and how does it help serve the Malibu community?
A: The Emily Shane Foundation is a local non-profit in Malibu that also impacts the greater Los Angeles area. It was founded in loving memory of Emily Shane, who was tragically murdered at the age of 13 in Malibu. She was an eighth grader in middle school and her mom founded this in memory of her.
Initially, the foundation's sole purpose was a "pass-it-forward" website that encouraged the performing of good deeds in honor of Emily's persona. Her mother felt compelled to do more in her memory, so she started an educational initiative called the SEA Program, which stands for Successful Educational Achievement. It's designed specifically for students like Emily who didn't fit the mold, or who risked falling through the cracks. A typical SEA student is in middle school who is either failing or struggling academically, but they don't have resources to get the help they need. The SEA Program provides tutoring and mentorship for struggling students.
I've reached out to a lot of athletes at Pepperdine to sign up and become a mentor-tutor. As a mentor-tutor, you are spending one hour, twice a week, to meet with these struggling students to be a mentor and a role model, and tutor them with their schoolwork.
The Emily Shane Foundation has helped over 800 students feel successful, stop failing and start passing classes. It's just a really awesome way to get involved in the community because you're working with students from Malibu, Thousand Oaks, Santa Monica, and even South L.A. It's hands-on — right now with the pandemic it's through Zoom — but usually mentor-tutors meet with their students in-person to help them out. I am hoping that when normalcy returns, we can do both online and in-person SEA. We'll have to see if that will be possible.
Q: What inspired you to lead and coordinate this initiative with Pepperdine Athletics?
A: Honestly, working with the Emily Shane Foundation fell into my lap. It was founded by her mom, Ellen Shane, who is the executive director of the non-profit. This summer, someone on my team knew someone who knew Ellen, and Ellen was looking for someone who could help with the non-profit. We met over Zoom, and we had this instant connection; we just got along right away.
We were looking for ways to help raise awareness for the Emily Shane Foundation because Ellen wants to expand the foundation in order to have a larger outreach and help more students. Because I'm on Pepperdine's soccer team, it just felt like there was no better way to do this than to reach out to Pepperdine's athletic community. When I think of a mentor-tutor, I think of everyone who was such a major role model in my life — all my coaches and other athletes in my life. I thought that Pepperdine athletes would be good role models for these struggling students because so many of the students have affinities for sports, or look up to other athletes in their lives.
I work as an assistant for Ellen, so I helped her a lot in the beginning by getting some basic information down for a lot of different sites we have throughout L.A. Initially, I was going to help manage the SEA Program, but it's moved to me working on this project to get Pepperdine student-athletes involved with the Emily Shane Foundation. It's been a cool experience; I get to work independently on these projects to start to raise awareness about the foundation.
Q: What does a typical interaction between a mentor-tutor and a student look like?
A: The minimum requirement for a mentor-tutor is to be available for two hours a week. Everyone becomes trained to be a mentor-tutor beforehand; there's an application and interview process. And when they're hired, no one can begin with their student until they are prepared and trained.
The sessions focus on the school subjects that the students are either failing or doing very poorly. In addition, mentor-tutors teach organizational and study skills, help their students set goals and do what is necessary to accomplish those goals.
Q: how important is it for college students to help and mentor middle school students right now?
A: Specifically, I think of how difficult this year has been for everyone with the pandemic. One of the things I talk about with Pepperdine student-athletes who have decided to become mentor-tutors is to know that even though you are struggling right now, one of the greatest things you can do while you're struggling is to reach out and help someone else. This is a huge opportunity to make a difference in children's lives.
These students — without the pandemic and the stresses of online learning — are struggling. When these students have a mentor-tutor in their life, just knowing that someone is there that wants them to succeed means the world to them. It means everything to them. It can really help and inspire them. So many students have gone through the Emily Shane Foundation, and so many mentor-tutors have changed lives.
Q: What feedback have you gotten from student-athletes who want to help out?
A: This is the first time student-athletes have even heard of the Emily Shane Foundation or have considered getting involved. I have a group of 20 people who have decided to become mentor-tutors or to be what I like to call an ambassador — someone who wants to be involved with the program, but doesn't have the time commitment to be a mentor-tutor. Whenever an opportunity arises for them to help, the ambassadors will be on call for that.
I have a handful of student-athletes who have applied to be mentor-tutors, gone through the interviews and got hired, but since it's so late in the semester, they're waiting to get paired up for next semester.
Q: Even though this year has been difficult for everyone, Pepperdine student-athletes have still managed to be involved in service and give back to their communities. Specifically, what do you think are some of the merits in Pepperdine student-athletes taking their time and helping in their communities right now?
A: For me, I think of how much the Malibu community has supported all of us as student-athletes. They've done so much. There are people who always come to our games, all of our local fans — everything the Malibu community has done to support us has been so amazing. The least we can do is to say thank you by giving back to our community whenever we have opportunities. The community gives so much to us, the least we can do is give back once in a while.
Giving back to our community through the Emily Shane Foundation is a great opportunity to do so. We're helping middle school students in our community and beyond; I think that's one of the most impressionable age groups, and those kids look up to us. So how cool would it be for us to get involved in their lives?
Clevely first got involved with the local non-profit through one of her teammate's friends who knew Emily's mother, Ellen Shane. After their first meeting over Zoom this summer, Clevely said she had an "instant connection" with Ellen, who brought her aboard to help the nonprofit's SEA Program. Since then, Clevely has recruited a group of Pepperdine student-athletes to become mentor-tutors, which will entail Pepperdine student-athletes spending several hours a week tutoring, teaching good study habits and getting to know local middle school students next semester.
We caught up with the redshirt junior to talk about her experience volunteering for the Emily Shane Foundation, raising awareness for the non-profit, and helping her fellow student-athletes become mentor-tutors for disadvantaged middle school students.
Q: For those who are unaware of the Emily Shane Foundation, what is it and how does it help serve the Malibu community?
A: The Emily Shane Foundation is a local non-profit in Malibu that also impacts the greater Los Angeles area. It was founded in loving memory of Emily Shane, who was tragically murdered at the age of 13 in Malibu. She was an eighth grader in middle school and her mom founded this in memory of her.
Initially, the foundation's sole purpose was a "pass-it-forward" website that encouraged the performing of good deeds in honor of Emily's persona. Her mother felt compelled to do more in her memory, so she started an educational initiative called the SEA Program, which stands for Successful Educational Achievement. It's designed specifically for students like Emily who didn't fit the mold, or who risked falling through the cracks. A typical SEA student is in middle school who is either failing or struggling academically, but they don't have resources to get the help they need. The SEA Program provides tutoring and mentorship for struggling students.
I've reached out to a lot of athletes at Pepperdine to sign up and become a mentor-tutor. As a mentor-tutor, you are spending one hour, twice a week, to meet with these struggling students to be a mentor and a role model, and tutor them with their schoolwork.
The Emily Shane Foundation has helped over 800 students feel successful, stop failing and start passing classes. It's just a really awesome way to get involved in the community because you're working with students from Malibu, Thousand Oaks, Santa Monica, and even South L.A. It's hands-on — right now with the pandemic it's through Zoom — but usually mentor-tutors meet with their students in-person to help them out. I am hoping that when normalcy returns, we can do both online and in-person SEA. We'll have to see if that will be possible.
Q: What inspired you to lead and coordinate this initiative with Pepperdine Athletics?
A: Honestly, working with the Emily Shane Foundation fell into my lap. It was founded by her mom, Ellen Shane, who is the executive director of the non-profit. This summer, someone on my team knew someone who knew Ellen, and Ellen was looking for someone who could help with the non-profit. We met over Zoom, and we had this instant connection; we just got along right away.
We were looking for ways to help raise awareness for the Emily Shane Foundation because Ellen wants to expand the foundation in order to have a larger outreach and help more students. Because I'm on Pepperdine's soccer team, it just felt like there was no better way to do this than to reach out to Pepperdine's athletic community. When I think of a mentor-tutor, I think of everyone who was such a major role model in my life — all my coaches and other athletes in my life. I thought that Pepperdine athletes would be good role models for these struggling students because so many of the students have affinities for sports, or look up to other athletes in their lives.
I work as an assistant for Ellen, so I helped her a lot in the beginning by getting some basic information down for a lot of different sites we have throughout L.A. Initially, I was going to help manage the SEA Program, but it's moved to me working on this project to get Pepperdine student-athletes involved with the Emily Shane Foundation. It's been a cool experience; I get to work independently on these projects to start to raise awareness about the foundation.
Q: What does a typical interaction between a mentor-tutor and a student look like?
A: The minimum requirement for a mentor-tutor is to be available for two hours a week. Everyone becomes trained to be a mentor-tutor beforehand; there's an application and interview process. And when they're hired, no one can begin with their student until they are prepared and trained.
The sessions focus on the school subjects that the students are either failing or doing very poorly. In addition, mentor-tutors teach organizational and study skills, help their students set goals and do what is necessary to accomplish those goals.
Q: how important is it for college students to help and mentor middle school students right now?
A: Specifically, I think of how difficult this year has been for everyone with the pandemic. One of the things I talk about with Pepperdine student-athletes who have decided to become mentor-tutors is to know that even though you are struggling right now, one of the greatest things you can do while you're struggling is to reach out and help someone else. This is a huge opportunity to make a difference in children's lives.
These students — without the pandemic and the stresses of online learning — are struggling. When these students have a mentor-tutor in their life, just knowing that someone is there that wants them to succeed means the world to them. It means everything to them. It can really help and inspire them. So many students have gone through the Emily Shane Foundation, and so many mentor-tutors have changed lives.
Q: What feedback have you gotten from student-athletes who want to help out?
A: This is the first time student-athletes have even heard of the Emily Shane Foundation or have considered getting involved. I have a group of 20 people who have decided to become mentor-tutors or to be what I like to call an ambassador — someone who wants to be involved with the program, but doesn't have the time commitment to be a mentor-tutor. Whenever an opportunity arises for them to help, the ambassadors will be on call for that.
I have a handful of student-athletes who have applied to be mentor-tutors, gone through the interviews and got hired, but since it's so late in the semester, they're waiting to get paired up for next semester.
Q: Even though this year has been difficult for everyone, Pepperdine student-athletes have still managed to be involved in service and give back to their communities. Specifically, what do you think are some of the merits in Pepperdine student-athletes taking their time and helping in their communities right now?
A: For me, I think of how much the Malibu community has supported all of us as student-athletes. They've done so much. There are people who always come to our games, all of our local fans — everything the Malibu community has done to support us has been so amazing. The least we can do is to say thank you by giving back to our community whenever we have opportunities. The community gives so much to us, the least we can do is give back once in a while.
Giving back to our community through the Emily Shane Foundation is a great opportunity to do so. We're helping middle school students in our community and beyond; I think that's one of the most impressionable age groups, and those kids look up to us. So how cool would it be for us to get involved in their lives?
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