SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — Legendary football coach and politician Tom Osborne is coming to Sioux Falls on Friday.
Osborne will speak at the kickoff event for TeamMates, a school mentorship program he co-founded that is expanding to Sioux Falls. The event starts at 11 a.m. at the Instructional Planning Center.
Osborne won three national championships coaching the University of Nebraska before being elected to the U.S. House in 2000. He and his wife Nancy founded TeamMates in 1991.
The organization now serves more than 10,000 students in five states. The Sioux Falls School District announced a partnership in October.
“Kids that have somebody in their life, that cares about them, that gives them hope for the future, they do better in school, better behaviors, and better outcomes all the way around,” said Lora Hayes, the executive director of Teammates Sioux Falls.
Supporting mentoring programs is a priority for the city of Sioux Falls. Mayor Paul TenHaken teased “a large-scale mentorship push” during his end-of-year address Tuesday, saying he wanted Sioux Falls to be known as “a city of mentors.”
Hayes said Sioux Falls is particularly well suited for the TeamMates program.
“The acceptance from the schools, the wanting it of the kids, is huge in this area,” she said. “We just know that with that kind of top-down support of mentoring we’re going to see great things out of it.”
People interested in becoming a mentor can find more information at SiouxFallsTeammates.org.
(KELO.com’s Mark Russo contributed to this report.)
