Youth Mentorship Program

Buck Burshears spotted various opportunities to further the education of his Scouts by recruiting adults to help mentor. One of the best stories of Buck's mentorship program occured back in 1957, when he arranged for the then fifteen-year-old Herb Booth to live with the artist Clayton Staples and his wife for two weeks during the summer. Buck assured Clayton Staples that this Koshare possessed a genuine talent for painting.

In his book, In the Sporting Tradition: the Art of Herb Booth, Booth writes about that experience saying, "It was overwhelming to see what he'd (Clayton Staples) done but even more so to actually watch him work. His technique was beautiful, magical, and seeing new paintings come alive was almost a religious experience. I'm sure that's what Buck hoped would happen when he set all this up, and it surely

worked. I already had a strong desire to paint, but I came away from Staple's home and studio more fired up than ever, absolutely determined that one way or another, art would be somewhere near the center of my life."

Today Herb Booth is one of the best known and most sought after painters of sporting and wildlife scenes in Texas. Collectors of sporting art throughout the country also know and value his work. Booth has over 2,000 sporting and wildlife paintings hanging in private collections all over the country, and his work has appeared in many nationally known sporting magazines. In addition, Ducks Unlimited, National Wild Turkey Federation, Quail Unlimited and The Coastal Conservation Association have used his work for national fundraising programs.

Buck Burshears and my Koshare experience were absolutely pivotal influences that helped lead me into becoming an artist. The things I learned about art and the importance of art from Buck have been the foundation I built my career on. The exposure to art that the Koshare experience gave me opened my eyes to the possibility of building a life around art. For that I thank Buck and the Koshares every day of my life.

Ninety percent (90%) of Koshare graduates have gone on to college and over one hundred of the six hundred Eagle Scouts hold doctorate degrees. The alumni range from college presidents, doctors, lawyers, professors, judges, military officers, and other who's who in American leaders. A handful became noted artists. Ten Koshares were involved in government programs connected with space exploration in 1969. Koshare men live in every state of America and continue to be great men because someone took the time to mentor, support and train them as kids.

Things like this don't just happen. People make them happen. Back of every fine thing are the individuals

The Koshare Indian Dancer (KID) program is moving forward with some innovative projects. Keeping in mind the traditions of the past and building for the future, current program leaders believe that education and mentoring are the keys to moving forward positively. The KID program is developing a dual program that meets leadership and priority setting needs for our 11 to 18 year olds and advanced leadership and beginning management training for our recent alumni (19+ years) still living in La Junta. While Otero Junior College is helping to lay the foundation for this program, we are counting on our leaders and established alumni to add value by providing individual mentoring. The mentoring can be via one-on-one meetings, via telephone conversations and even via email.

The most important role our leaders and established alumni can play is to lead by example. The young people in our KID program can learn from role models that exhibit good character, honesty, good work ethics and discipline. Knowing there is an established adult leadership program with these strengths brings integrity to all of us. With that said, please consider carefully all future recruits to ensure that they are individuals of integrity and individuals who volunteer their service.

We appreciate your listening to our requests and look forward to working with you this year. Contact Susie Sarlo at (719) 384-4411 for more information regarding the youth mentorship program.

who have the passion to dream to make this a better world for us all. The Koshare organization is an outstanding example of what can be done if people really get behind a project. No man could have accomplished this amazing track record alone.

This is an amazing track record for any organization. Still, the most interesting fact is that few if any of the graduates have entered any phase of show business. Although the Koshares are known as entertainers to many, it was never the goal to develop entertainers. The Koshare program was developed as a catalyst to unleash a boy's potential.