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Pomona
College’s Clarence “Motts” Thomas Honored by Pomona
Unified School District
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Clarence “Motts” Thomas, director of community and
multicultural programs at Pomona College, was honored
Tuesday with a community service award from the Pomona
Unified School District. The award recognized Thomas for the
work he’s done with Pomona Partners, a mentoring, tutoring
and enrichment program at Fremont Middle School in South
Pomona.
Each year Pomona Partners brings together about 75 seventh
graders and 15-25 students from five of the Claremont
Colleges. A Pomona student founded the program about 12
years ago. The program is run out of Pomona’s community and
multicultural programs office, and Thomas is particularly
pleased that the College has been able to continue its
involvement for over a decade.
“The thing that I feel very good about is that Pomona hasn’t
gone away,” Thomas said. “Our former president was
wonderful…and President [David] Oxtoby has picked up that.”
Each Friday students from the five colleges tutor Fremont
students and also act as mentors ready to offer advice and
lend a friendly ear. Thomas hopes that the program exposes
Fremont students to school and career options they might not
otherwise consider.
“You build some trust, and you just try to shine a light in
different areas for the kids,” he said.
Angie DeWitt, a senior at Pomona and coordinator of the
program agrees. “For me it’s incredibly important to be
talking to kids, even as young as middle school about
college.”
The Fremont students also take part in enrichment activities
led by Pomona Partners and planned in coordination with
Fremont teachers. For example, when students were studying
environmental issues they planted trees and heard talks on
forestry.
But Fremont students aren’t the only ones to benefit. “It’s
service learning in the best way,” Thomas said. Pomona
students get the chance to really be involved personally in
the community.
Thomas’s leadership leaves the college students free to
concentrate on programming and organizing volunteers.
“What’s really great about the program is that Motts takes
care of all of the behind the scenes stuff and funding,”
DeWitt said, “He’s kind of our boss.”
And Thomas benefits as well. “My payoff has been the
personal satisfaction of knowing that I’m involved in
something that’s making a difference,” he said. “You can’t
save everybody; you can’t change the world. But when kids
who normally wouldn’t have the opportunities to do the
things we’ve done in Pomona Partners have that opportunity,
that’s a pretty neat thing.”
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