What the Teacher of the Year Wants You to Know - Feature Mentor Lori Horwitz

Lori Horwitz is an expert. She has over 25 years of training, education and experience as a public school teacher. Much of her teaching career was spent in underfunded school districts with a large population of at-risk children. She started in Compton and Watts, California and end up on Native American Tribal Lands. That is where her efforts were recognized and she was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2007. Lori feels her biggest accomplishments were reaching those families and providing a bridge of understanding and respect. 

It’s always been her passion to support people who are in need of understanding and gentle guidance. That is what drove Lori to continuously improve her skills as an educator. But what do you do with 25 years of experience when you retire, when you still have a passion to serve the underprivileged? 

Lori told us, “Those who are misunderstood and underserved are special to me. I want to use my skills to help empower this segment of our community, and that is why I chose to become a Great Life mentor.” 

By getting involved with Great Life Mentoring in her retirement, she says she can finally reach some of the children who she couldn't help before. As an educator, the focus is on educating. But with mentoring, it is more personal. She says, “I want them to know that they've got a friend who is in their corner. Someone who will quietly listen. I want them to know how special they are. I deeply care about that.” 

Lori says becoming part of Great Life Mentoring “allows me to be part of something bigger than myself.” She loves being a mentor because it allows her to make a difference for someone who needs her - but also, “they can make a difference in me because I need them, too.” She continues, “Ok let's face it, as a retired person with disabilities myself, it would be easy to be a couch potato. I've worked and given to Society for so long. Now it's my turn to be selfish and indulge myself! But no! I can't do that. It's not in my nature. I feel that giving back is an important part of life, especially in retirement. So, I feel mentoring is helping me feel good about myself.”

In the Great Life mentor training, Lori says she learned that the effective caregiver will not tell a child, “You are perfect.” But they will empower the child to believe they are worthy of love and belonging.

The weekly routine is something Lori’s friend really looks forward to. When Lori rounds the corner to her friend’s street, she can see the girl in her yard, waving and jumping around. Lori’s response is to smile, every time, and feel her heart beating a little faster. She says her friend was a shy, isolated, and non-trusting child at first, “so the idea that she trusts me to be there and knows that I'm consistently her friend is everything.”

Lori Horwitz urges you to open your heart to a child who needs you. She encourages, “open your heart and your life, and let a young person in.” She says, “It is really such a wonderful thing to touch a life.” 

In Lori’s kind, committed and respectful way, she is making the difference she always wanted to make. This Teacher of the Year says, “Explore, adventure, help, and never stop Learning.” Being a Great Life mentor offers the opportunity for all of that. 

Great Life Mentoring - The Secret to a Great Life Begins With You! APPLY NOW!

Volunteer in Vancouver WA or Volunteer in Portland OR now - Children are waiting to receive a mentor like you to enrich their life.