Nancy Carlson, who has devoted 20 years to Williston Central School’s mentorship program, is retiring. OBSERVER PHOTO BY KARSON PETTY

After 20 years captaining Williston Central School’s mentorship program, Nancy Carlson has stepped ashore to let it sail on under new leadership.

“I’ve had an amazing run and it feels like the right moment to move on,” she said, adding later, “I feel that I’ve been a part of the magic sauce that helped create a really beautiful program that is woven into the heart of the school.”

Becky Martell, a Williston Central teacher of almost 30 years, will take the helm this fall.

The Connecting Youth Mentoring Program began as a pilot at Williston Central in 1998 and now operates across the Champlain Valley School District.

The program pairs Williston students grades 5 through 8 with adult volunteers to meet once per week for an hour of quality time.

Mentoring time is completely student led, said Carlson. They can choose to learn a new skill, do arts and crafts, go for a walk, bake cookies, read or just chat with their mentor.

She said mentors and mentees alike benefit from participation in the program, and she wishes everyone in the community could experience it.

“This is what every human being needs to thrive,” she said.

Carlson is confident in Martell’s ability to foster new relationships between students and mentors while keeping the program on a steady course.

“(Becky) is a champion of inclusion, loves kids and is loved throughout the (school) community,” Carlson said. “She is taking on a new mission and bringing everyone’s trust with her.”

Carlson knows that mission like the back of her hand.

Before she herself volunteered as a Williston mentor in 1999, she held an administrative role at Essex Community Health Initiatives and Programs for Students, often called CHIPS.

After mentoring for three years, her passion for people led her to take the director position as soon as it opened in Williston. She said she never looked back.

Her main duty as director was matching students with their ideal mentors, but she also organized community dinners, put on an annual students’ trip to the Williston Edge, coordinated Scholastic book fairs and gave prizes and merchandise to the students with help from the Williston-Richmond Rotary Club.

Perhaps most importantly, Carlson grew the program from a handful of mentoring pairs to 50 at Williston Central, and kept those relationships going through the Covid-19 pandemic.

No matter what stage of her career she was in, Carlson gravitated toward working directly with people.

“A guiding theme of my career has been amplifying people’s strengths, gifts, passions, dreams and their best qualities,” she said.

To her, the program provides something special for students: Through a mentor’s support, they discover their own greatness, capability and self-worth, she said.

Carlson added that the program was never hers: It belongs to everyone at Williston Central and beyond.

Peggy Stowe holds the newly minted “Nancy Carlson Room” sign in front of the mentoring program space at Williston Central School.
OBSERVER PHOTO BY KARSON PETTY

Peggy Stowe, mentor for nine years and Williston Central School bookkeeper for 12, said Carlson first approached her to work together on purchasing supplies, toys, games and furniture for the school’s mentoring space.

Stowe was wary of overstepping boundaries with her first mentee, but the relationship blossomed under Carlson’s gentle guidance.

“Being that constant friend is really quite special,” Stowe said, “and that’s what Nancy taught me: how to just let go of all the (external) stuff.”

Incoming program director Martell described Carlson’s people-first approach, too.

What’s now an inviting and engaging mentoring program room began as an unused satellite kitchen that expanded into an adjoining closet, then into a sunroom facing the school’s entrance.

School officials decided that room should bear Carlson’s name when she retired in June.

“She is so good at making human connections, understanding who people are and accepting everyone,” Martell said.

She and Carlson both emphasized that the program carries no stigma.

“It isn’t an adult on high working with a student who needs fixing,” Carlson said. “It’s a relationship of reciprocity and friendship.”

Carlson said earning the trust of teachers — and then negotiating an hour of their classes mentees could miss — posed a challenge in the program’s early years.

Carlson wanted to step down at a time when both she and the program were going strong.

“I care too much about the program to overstay and get tired,” Carlson said. “I think the program is ripe for a fresh perspective and new directions.”

Carlson plans to continue giving back by working with people as a retiree and looks forward to going backpacking with her two sons.

Martell said she has big shoes to fill, but plans to maintain the program’s success with fresh ideas.

Her first goal as director — after she gets to know each student and mentor — is to add more diversity to the mentor pool.

“I think (the program) will be a little bit different with me,” she said, “but (Nancy and I) share the same philosophy and the same desire to build the program and keep it vibrant.”