You must be an authorized active Take Stock in Children (TSIC) mentor to be a user of the Take Stock app. If you are an authorized active TSIC mentor, the email address you currently have on file with your local TSIC affiliate will be your username and a default password will be provided to you by your local affiliate.
The TSIC Take Stock app is free to download and use.
Mentors will continue to have the ability to use the web portal; however, given the ease for mentors to log sessions from the Take Stock app we highly recommend using the app to record sessions. The Take Stock app is a resource for mentors to not only easily log sessions, but introduces several exciting features including mentor-to-mentee chatting, sending meeting requests that mentees can respond to and gives a helpful “Resource” section that features the mentor toolkit.
Yes. The Take Stock app contains a link to the Mentor Toolkit. The Mentor Toolkit is best viewed through a traditional computer based web browser, but you can also access the Mentor Toolkit through your mobile device.
Yes. The Schedule a Session feature allows a Mentor to set up a time to meet with their student. The Mentor will select the time, location, and be able to add a note to pass over to the student. The student will be able to respond to accept, deny, or request changes. Session Scheduling must be initiated by the mentor.
Log a Session: Creates an official record in the TSIC database for having had a mentor/mentee session.
Schedule a Session: Does not create an official record in the TSIC database for having a mentor/mentee session but instead creates an invite event within the Take Stock app for scheduling sessions with a mentee. Once the event is agreed to by the mentor and mentee, the session is scheduled.
Session Logs: A shortcut to Log a Session, the icon is pinned to the bottom right of the Take Stock app. Lists all prior sessions logged through the TSIC Take Stock app.
Students and Mentors cannot turn the camera off while using the Take Stock Video Chat feature. This is part of the Take Stock Mentor/Mentee life-skills training and interaction.
Video Chats are on a weekly countdown timer lasting 30 minutes. If a Mentor and Mentee met three times in one week for ten minutes each time (total of 30 minutes), those sessions should be logged as one 30-minute mentor session.
Yes, each student has a 30-minute allotment each week. A Mentor, if they have multiple students, can have up to 30 minutes with each of their Mentees per week. The time bank belongs to the student, not the mentor.
Yes. Mentors and Mentees can continue their session in the text chat feature if their session runs longer than the 30 minutes allotted time.
The 30-minute timer associated with the Video Chat session was implemented to help support the 30-minute weekly session guideline, and as a cost-containment measure. The Student and Mentor will see a countdown clock across the top-middle of the Video Chat screen representing the minutes and seconds remaining for the week. Students/Mentors will notice the countdown clock change to red at five minutes and start flashing at two minutes remaining. When the countdown clock timer reaches zero, the Video Chat session will disconnect automatically. It is essential that Mentors and Students monitor the countdown timer to make sure the mentor session is wrapped up before being disconnected.
Take Stock publishes that Mentor Sessions should last approximately 30 minutes to one-hour. Affiliates and the Take Stock Mentor have discretion to determine what is a meaningful mentoring session.
There are two great issues being addressed in this question that we want to answer:
1. A cumulative of 30 minutes in one week should be classified as a session
2. To be clear, Video Chats will not automatically log a session. The only way to officially log the session is using the "Log-A-Session" feature by the Mentor. Only Mentors can log sessions through the Take Stock App.
The chat is a monitored, secure messaging feature with keyword alerts for one-to-one communication between a mentor and matched mentee to help ensure the safety of TSIC students. Take Stock in Children Mentors and Mentees are not permitted to text each other outside of the TSIC Take Stock app.
Yes. Mentors may chat with any current mentees. Once the mentor/mentee match is broken, neither mentee or mentor will be able to continue chatting with one another.
No. The chat feature cannot be disabled.
No. The Take Stock app was designed for one-to-one chatting only. A student can either chat with their Mentor or a designated staff from TSIC Local Affiliate.
Chatting with Staff: Mentors may send a message to the listed staff on the app. Please remember to use the chat feature when appropriate. Staff chat is not to be used for urgent notices or items that require immediate response or action.
Chatting with other Mentors: Mentors do not have access to see lists of other Mentors and likewise cannot start a chat.
A mentor cannot delete his/her account. The account will be managed by the TSIC Local Affiliate.
Mentor information is brought to the Take Stock app from TSIC STAR database, our proprietary web application, including name and email address. Contact your local TSIC affiliate to update this information.
Click ‘Forgot Password’ from the login screen which will automatically generate a reset password email that will be sent to you. Contact your local TSIC affiliate if you do not receive this email.
Goals are established and assigned by the TSIC local affiliate. Goals are items that the student should aim to achieve in a designated time frame. (example - Maintain a 3.0 GPA for the school year). A Mentor cannot assign goals but can view them from the TSIC Take Stock app and can help support the student in achieving them.
Assignments are established and assigned by the TSIC Local Affiliate. Assignments are items that will have a deliverable that a student must complete in a timely fashion (example - Turn in your Quarter 1 Report Card). A mentor cannot give a student an assignment but can view assignments from the TSIC Take Stock app and can help support the student in achieving them.
You must delete and re-install the app to allow call notifications. You must also ensure you have allowed the necessary permissions for the app when you re-install. Some questions for permission happen during the next call attempt.
Ensure you are on the latest version of the app.
We use Twilio as a service provider to handle the Take Stock Video Chat calls. Their support team indicates that echos are caused by a poor call connection. The remedy is to re-initiate the call using a better connection. You may be able to achieve this by moving to a place with better cell reception or connecting to a stronger wifi. More info