George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

Building Futures: How Community Mentors Shape Henderson County Students

• George Real Estate Group

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What happens when dedicated community members commit to guiding students through their most formative years? The Pathfinders mentoring program creates exactly this transformative connection, pairing adult mentors with students from 7th through 12th grade at Flat Rock Middle School and East Henderson High School.

Maggie Gilliam, director of Pathfinders and retired Henderson County educator, shares the program's innovative approach with the George Real Estate Group's Hometown Heroes series. Unlike traditional mentoring that targets specific populations, Pathfinders serves every student in participating grades unless parents opt out. Even more remarkable is the program's continuity - mentors follow their students from middle school through high school graduation, creating relationships that deepen and evolve over six crucial years.

Now in its second year with 96 mentors (many retired educators themselves), the program has ambitious plans to expand across Henderson County schools. These mentors each guide 5-6 students, meeting every other month to discuss academics, attendance, extracurricular activities, and future aspirations. The mentors don't just provide academic guidance - they help students explore potential careers, college opportunities, military service, or workforce entry based on each student's unique interests and talents.

Pathfinders emerged from a successful Rutherford County model and operates through the Henderson County Education Foundation. The program's impact is already evident as Maggie describes the joy when mentors reconnect with students after summer break, their initial awkwardness replaced by genuine excitement and comfortable rapport. This growing connection exemplifies the program's power to influence the next generation's success.

Want to make a difference in a young person's life? Visit the Henderson County Education Foundation website to learn how you can support Pathfinders through volunteering or donations.

SPEAKER_00:

The George Real Estate Group Radio broadcast is celebrating 10 years on WHKP. The George Real Estate Group is celebrating 10 years on the radio live every Thursday morning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7 FM and AM 1450, and streaming online at WHKP.com. Each Friday morning at 845, the George Real Estate Group presents the Hometown Hero Award to someone in our community who goes above and beyond to make our hometown a better place to live. Here's this week's Hometown Hero Show. It's 845 on Friday mornings, and that's always our favorite time to gather with you on the radio and do the uh George Real Estate Group Hometown Heroes Series. And this morning, uh as usual, Noah is joining us. How are you doing, Noah?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh, we're so much to be thankful. Whoop, there we go. So much to be thankful for on this Friday morning and grateful to be here sponsoring the Hometown Heroes series.

SPEAKER_00:

You do this uh every week, and and we just have uh such a good time. We we've met so many wonderful people uh helping us in our community to be the popular place we are, and we are kind of popular around here, you know? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it's it's contagious. People have been coming here from all over the country and continue to do that, and they experience the community and they say, I want to be part of it. And so people are moving here. It's more often people here moving here than than moving out of here. Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_00:

You see that very frequently. You're on the front row. I mean, you really are.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, in real estate, you have real estate agents that can refer, and so you know, we we very rarely are referring people outside of of the area. It's uh it's always the incoming referrals. They have uh friends and family and clients that are moving into the area. So we're getting calls from real estate. We get calls from real estate agents all over the country saying, hey, we have clients that are wanting to move to Hendersonville. Can you help them? And what about that? Yeah, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

So if you're uh thinking about listing your home, don't don't be uh alarmed by any kind of words or news you hear. Uh there's people wanting to move here and buy your home.

SPEAKER_01:

Homes are absolutely still selling in Henderson County. That be careful about the news. I mean, the sky is not falling. In fact, interest rates have come down a little bit, which is uh giving buyers more affordability. Uh the the we're averaging about 126 single-family homes a month selling still in Henderson County over the last two years. I mean, the you know, it's been steady. And so it's not like it's be careful. Again, the the the there's the doom and gloom out there with the news, but even with the pause of Helene, uh, we've had uh just as many homes sell in the last 12 months as we did the previous twelve months.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's been twelve months.

SPEAKER_01:

If you can believe it.

SPEAKER_00:

It's been twelve months uh today and tomorrow since uh we went through that uh storm, and and we've made incredible leaps and bounds of uh of recovery, and in that twelve months, there have been so many people sit in these chairs that are heroes. We really are thankful for this community.

SPEAKER_01:

And those stories are going to continue because I mean that it is ongoing, uh all the efforts.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You say you got a couple of open houses this weekend? Yes, we have uh open house this Sunday, two to four at 89 Victoria Park Drive in Hendersonville in the park place subdivision. It's an incredible home, 2,100 plus square feet, three bedrooms, uh, two and a half baths for$430,000. Great property. Again, Sunday open house. Also an open house in English Hills off of Canooga, one Whitehall Lane uh in Hendersonville. It's over 2,400 square feet for$450, and that house is gonna be open this Saturday uh from one to three. So again, a lot of activity, a lot of uh opportunities uh to come out and see some amazing homes.

SPEAKER_00:

Sounds great. Sounds great. Thank you, Noah. Maggie Gillam is our uh real estate hometown hero this week. And and Maggie, really the the Pathfinder's program is the hero amongst us, I think, don't you?

SPEAKER_02:

For sure. And all of our our volunteers who are mentors. Uh we have 96 this year. So you seriously. They are the true hometown heroes. We couldn't do this without them.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, let's talk about Pathfinders. Uh please explain that program to us.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Yes, so it's a mentoring program. Right now we we have started at Flat Rock Middle School and East Henderson High School. Um, last year we started with seventh and ninth graders, and so our mentors who serve those students moved up this year with their students to serve them in eighth and tenth grade, and then we added a new crop of mentors this year who are going to be paired up with our seventh and ninth graders. So essentially, we are providing adult community mentors for seventh through twelve tenth graders at Fly Rock Middle and East Henderson High School.

SPEAKER_00:

When did this program begin?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh so last year was our first year. First year. We actually had a um our ribbon cutting ceremony the day before Helene hit. So uh yeah, so thinking about that year ago, how much has happened. But um yeah, so we we've been last year was our first year in the schools, and this is our second year of doing this.

SPEAKER_00:

And and how many students have you uh been paired up with?

SPEAKER_02:

So this this is a little it's a little unique. So it's a little different from most maybe mentoring programs that people are are aware of. We serve all of the seventh through tenth graders unless parents opt out. So it is a full-scale. It's not yeah, it's not uh serving you know a certain population of students or anything like that. It is every student. Um and so in order for that to happen, our mentors, it's not a one-on-one. So they have a a uh you know, a caseload of students, if you will. So they will go to the middle school and they have five or six mentees that they meet with there, and then they go to the high school and have five or six or two.

SPEAKER_01:

So no one's left out. I mean, like all the children are impacted into the grades.

SPEAKER_02:

We are reaching every student there. Um and the mentors, again, they follow their students until they graduate. So they really get to develop that trust and the camaraderie and get to know the students and over time really provide them the information over you know that they will need eventually as they're making big decisions about their future.

SPEAKER_01:

That's amazing. What was the catalyst for launching this program?

SPEAKER_02:

So the catalyst was really uh Commissioner Rebecca McCall, you know, she formed a a uh focus group who found out about a mentoring program in Rutherford County through the McNair Foundation. And they've been doing this for a long time. I think they started it way back in 1992 and have adapted it over the years, but they really wanted to bring that program here. Um and just about the time they were wanting to start it, I retired from Henderson County Public Schools, and it just worked out really well with my, you know, kind of skill set and that kind of thing to go ahead and jump in and be the director.

SPEAKER_01:

So and tell us about your career with Henderson County.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Well, I taught most of my career at Flat Rock Middle School, so eighth grade, uh, social studies and some science. I was an a um secondary instructional coach. I taught at East Henderson for a couple of years. I ended my career as an assistant principal at East Henderson High School and then retired. And like I said, it just worked out really well, the timing, and I'm a what's been really neat is I'm able to use all the kind of the knowledge and the skills I developed over the years. And these are schools I worked in, so I know the teachers, most of them, and the administrators, and um I don't know, it's been really neat a way for me to continue also to be continue to be connected with the students and the the community, the school communities, and and have a positive impact.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

How do you uh Maggie, how do you uh recognize in a student what what what needs to happen and what advice to give and how to guide? What how what signs do you see that shows you the way this child probably should go?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, you know, our mentors we provide them with a lot of talking points, if you will. So there every month they come in, there are specific things to talk to the students about. And I always want to reassure every these are academic mentors, meaning they're not tutors, but they're talking to the students about school things. So it is grades, attendance, extracurricular activities, and talking to them starting in the seventh grade about what they might want to do when they graduate. So there are kind of some pat things that we want to make sure we talk to all kids about, but then it's kind of up to those mentors as they get to know the students to to find out what does each student need. That's the value of the program of you you're you're meeting with the same students every other month and over the years, so they really get to kind of cater those conversations based on what each student needs. So you know, by the time they get to be juniors or seniors, you know the kids that are really wanting to, you know, I want to go to uh college, or do I want to go to the military, or do I want to go straight into the workforce, and they're being able to figure out what each student needs and give them that information.

SPEAKER_00:

Invaluable.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean when it's an amazing continuation of care. It's not just you've got an advisor for seventh grade and then you change advice, you know, mentors. I mean, it's a that's a wonderful program. And and I'm sure you guys are benefiting from the experiences that Rutherford County had developing it over the years.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, they were invaluable. We it is so well organized, and I don't take credit for that. They gave us all of their organizational structure, their materials. We didn't have to start from scratch, and I was able to take what they have done and just adapt it. And it's just it really runs like clockwork. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

What a benefit of coming on their coattails. Exactly. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I I can imagine as a parent, you uh you are the parent of uh Well I I'm gonna be asking my own children.

SPEAKER_01:

They're they're at uh uh East, and I'll be I'm curious about I've heard some you know some things of this, but I'm I'm gonna be a little bit more curious about their involvement in it. So I'm I'm I'm I'm one I'm so excited and grateful, grateful for the program.

SPEAKER_02:

We have amazing mentors. We had well, we started with 54 last year. 51 of them were able to continue and wanted to continue. So I kind of joke and say I think our mentors enjoy it more than the kids do sometimes. They really enjoy it. So rewarding. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

It would have to be. Is the vision for all of Henderson County?

SPEAKER_02:

That is the vision. That is the goal. We would love to expand to additional feeder schools. Um, you know, we're you know it takes time. It takes time, and we wanted to make sure we could sustain it and do it well. Um, it is a big endeavor. Um so you know, again, it's we are you know part of the education foundation.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, let's talk about that. You guys are supported through the this is underwritten through the education, Henderson County Education Foundation.

SPEAKER_02:

Right, and grants and donors, so that is kind of key, is you know, we've got to make sure we have the funding and the mentors, of course. But I feel confident, talking about all the people moving in to the I mean I have gotten to we have such a great community to draw mentors from.

SPEAKER_01:

Surely.

SPEAKER_02:

And I feel like that that's not going to be an issue as we continue to get the word out about the program. But yes, that's the goal is we want to continue to expand to all of all of our middle and high schools.

SPEAKER_00:

Amazing. You've had uh uh you you see it, I'm sure NOAA uh retired teachers moving in all the time. All the time. Here's their chance.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and I even know some of the I mean, over the years, I know some of the even some of the leadership in Henderson County were teachers that had retired, they moved here and then they they couldn't stay out of it, and so they're they're back into it.

SPEAKER_02:

We have quite a few retired teachers from Henderson County or from other areas. It's a great way to continue to be connected to students in a way that is totally a different relationship than as a teacher. So but it's still very, very positive.

SPEAKER_01:

Any recent success story maybe to put you on the spot that might capture the hearts of our of the of the program?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, I I have so many little anecdotes um that are just really heartwarming, but I think just in general, you know, this was our second year, and so we we we just finished our fur our first round of this year at East Henderson, but it was my first year of seeing them return. So our tenth graders came back, the men te mentors came back, and just to see the excitement that both the mentors and the kids had to reconnect to reconnect. Oh, yeah. What find out what they were doing over the summer, how are you? And it was it was a different feeling than that first meetings, which are a little awkward at first, yeah, but they they just were at ease, they had smiles on their faces. Just it was just a really neat thing to see and to imagine over time by the time these kids are juniors and seniors, how those relationships will just be really easy and so powerful and powerful, right.

SPEAKER_01:

Was there in your life a a teacher that impacted your life that made you want to go into the teaching career?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh gosh, so many. But my grandmother was a teacher and she was always the one who, you know, I kind of say, I want to do what she does. And I knew from very young that I wanted to be a teacher.

SPEAKER_01:

But I think all all children have that. You can point back on maybe whatever career you ended up in, there was somebody that influenced you.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I can tell by your conversation, Maggie, is the passion you had for uh and have for teaching. Uh and uh I know that it it is the goal to help these students find that passion. Because if you find that passion, uh you're gonna be happy in a career for fifty sixty years of doing your job and uh quotation job. I I've had a job in radio for fifty plus years, and I've never worked a day in my life because I was lucky and very blessed to have found that passion uh at about the age of the student that y'all are dealing with now. So uh that's important work that Pathfinders is doing, and and we sure thank you so much for all of the volunteer hours and and uh and all of the passion that that y'all convey to those students. It's very important and it's very honorable, and we want to thank you.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. Thank you for having me, and again, thanks to all of our mentors.

SPEAKER_01:

I I know we just have a just really quick, but what's the best way for people to to get involved or to volunteer or to even donate? I mean, what's the best way to get connected?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, thank you. So anyone who's interested in any of that, um, we are full of our volunteers for this year because we do have to get those onboarded and all of that prior to the school year. But for next school year, go on the Henderson County Education Foundation website. The Pathfinders program has a page on the website. There is a donate button. There is also a place there to fill out a Google form if they're interested in being a mentor, or my email address is there. I just need you to email me, give me your contact information, and I can get in touch with you. We are definitely looking for more as we move forward.

SPEAKER_00:

Man, that's fantastic. Noah, we got about uh 15 seconds to remind us where you are.

SPEAKER_01:

Again, thankful to sponsor the Hometown Hero Series, the George Real Estate Group. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com or call us directly at 828-3930134, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00:

Join us next Friday for another Hometown Heroes series.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe the house feels a little too big these days. The stairs a little steeper, the pace of life a little too fast. But what if your next move wasn't about letting go? It was about making space for peace, for freedom, for what matters most. At the George Real Estate Group, we understand that real estate isn't just about the house. It's about transitions, timing, and trust. We've helped thousands of families in Western North Carolina make smart, thoughtful moves closer to nature, closer to family, closer to home. So when you're ready to right-size, simplify, or start fresh, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group. Local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828-3930134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.

SPEAKER_00:

The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, North Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygreg.com. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-3930134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, North Carolina. Tune in live each week on Thursdays at 1005 AM on WHKP 107.7 FM and 1450 A.M. or stream online at WHKP.com or download these podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. The George Real Estate Group brings you the WHKP Hometown Hero Series every Friday morning at 8 45.