PROFILES IN MENTORING

Andrew Levine

Occupation: Screenwriter/Webmaster/Graphic designer/Amateur nuclear physicist

Years with YSF: 11

Most Recent School: Canfield Avenue Elementary
LA Neighborhood Where You Live: The slums of Beverly Hills
Entertainment Industry Affiliation: Card-carrying member of the AMC MovieWatcher club
Favorite Movie: The Big Lebowski
Favorite Book (or book recommendation): I’m a Lebowski, You’re a Lebowski
Name of your favorite teacher growing up: Angus MacGyver
Why do you mentor? Two reasons: 1) Graduating with a degree in screenwriting, this really is the best way I can give back to schools. 2) The kids are a constant reminder of why I love writing. They don’t think about how commercial their story is or if they have a cast-able lead or if they can advertise their movie on the side of a bus. They just write for the sheer pleasure of writing and a desire to entertain their audience.
What was the last script you mentored? What was it about? I’ve been the 11th mentor the last two semesters, so I’ve been the floater, filling in when one of my mentors is absent. Before that, I worked with a creatively ambitious girl on her poetic masterpiece “Rhyme Time” about twin sisters who – much to their chagrin – live in a town where everyone speaks in rhyme.
Is there a moment that stands out to you in your experience as a mentor? One of my favorite moments was working with a girl who was exceptionally tall for her age. She told a deeply personal story about a lonely girl who is too tall to ride the swings for her feet always dragged on the ground. She pines for a boy, but her father always embarrasses her in front of the boy. In the end, the boy tells her that his mom always embarrasses him and then he shows the girl how to make the swing higher by looping it around the top bar a few times. The story ends with them riding the swing set side by side as the sun sets. Just magic!
What would you tell others about YSF? Stop worrying if you are qualified or if the kids will like you. Of course you’re qualified and of course the kids will like you. All you have to be is present. Everything else just works out… it’s a mystery really… but everything is going to be okay!
How does YSF affect you, and how do you think it affects other mentors? I get an extraordinary sense of perspective every time I sit in a miniature child-sized chair and then listen to a limitless child-sized imagination. There must me some scientific correlation. The smaller the chair you sit on, the bigger your imagination. I’m quite certain that every mentor I’ve ever worked with has come away from Young Storytellers with a deeper reconnection to their own inner-child. As adults, it’s too easy to allow ourselves to get overwhelmed by the daily grind. But Young Storytellers unfailingly provides a swift spiritual kick to our heads – it’s the Shakeout for our lives.
What advice/trick of the trade would you offer other mentors? Delgate. Delegate. Delegate. While there is a lot to do in each session, there are 10 mentors to lend a helping hand. It’s too hard to do it all by yourself. Plus, each kid swells with pride when it is their mentor leading the group in some game, lesson or activity.

PROFILES IN MENTORING

Andrew Levine

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