It’s now April 2020, and we are living in a world we never thought possible even a month ago. The COVID-19 global pandemic has affected us all in different ways. But, one way that we’ve all been impacted is in our ability to continue mentoring our students on school campuses. With that in mind, we are going to use the April Mentor Minute to encourage you as a mentor and share ideas for how you can continue to mentor in the times that we are currently living in.
Now, more than ever, students need mentors.
They need us for connection.
They need us for encouragement.
They need us for hope.
The question is, how can we provide all of that for them in this context?
While our school-based mentoring program is currently “shut down” with the closure of the schools, we have recently been given the opportunity to send mail to our students’ home addresses. Don’t underestimate the power of this opportunity in the times we’re living in!
As mentors, we can continue to provide our students connection at a time when we’re all feeling the effects of social-distancing.
We can be creative in our notes or even small care packages and encourage our students at a time when feelings of boredom and restlessness dominate their days.
And, we can give our students hope by staying connected with them at a time when many of their normal routines and connections have been taken away.
If you don’t have your student’s mailing address, contact the mentor coordinator for your campus, and they will email it to you. Thanks for all you do to come alongside students! We will get through this historic epidemic. And we can help our students through it as well as we stay connected with them in ways that have been available to us.
– Jason Matthews, BTO Mentor & Pastor