Students get schooled by studio employees

Molly Shore

Every other week, five Warner Bros. Studios employees take two hours

out of their workdays to make the short trip to the Community Day

School on San Fernando Road. At the school, they have lunch and spend

time with five troubled students in a mentorship program that began

there in September.

At last week’s session, mentor Lisa Rawlins, senior vice president

of studio and production affairs, visited with 15-year-old Hollie

Roth.

“We’ve been together since just before Christmas. We’re still

getting to know each other, and then we’ll hit the town,” Rawlins

said.

Hollie will be invited to the studio’s lot, Rawlins said, and she

plans to take Hollie to some of the community events she attends.

Hollie said she looks forward to her visits from Rawlins.

“Lisa tries to get me involved and to talk a lot more,” the teen

said.

Although Lisa is not shy, she and the other students in the

program have problems communicating with adults, Principal Christine

Krone said. Often their problems stem from adults in their lives who

are overbearing and judgmental, Krone said.

Tony LoRe, president of Youth Mentoring Connection, coordinates

the mentorship program between Warner Bros. and the school.

“The kids live by the ‘Youth Miranda’ rule,” LoRe said.

“Everything they say will be used against them, because that’s been

their experience with adults. Students who have mentors are more apt

to take advantage of the opportunities around them.”

He said that students who are mentored ask for tutors more often

because they do not want to let their mentors down. Additionally,

they have better school attendance, are more apt to stay away from

drugs, and are less likely to be teen parents, LoRe said.

“The kids need consistency in their lives, and the mentors provide

that just by coming every other Wednesday, said Gisele Moncure,

Warner’s Employee Initiatives Manager, who coordinates the program at

the studio.