Mentor Coordinator Report
Stories & Quotes To Share:
Fun Class Project:
Usually, students leave class to meet with their mentors, but sometimes mentors can join in with the student in a class activity. This week a mentee was making an egg baby in child development class, and invited the mentor to come to class with her for the project. The teacher was fine with having the mentor join in, and she made an egg baby as well. The teacher took photos of them for me and commented: “It was so sweet seeing them work on this together!” They introduced me to the egg babies afterward and talked about how much fun they had. (Photo credit to Tiffany Sahagian)
True Dedication!
Snow early in the month caused some cancellations and travel difficulties, but one mentor went above and beyond to see her student. She lives a good distance from our school, and wasn’t able to drive that day. She caught a ride with a friend who was able to drop her off in Lynden and then bundled up and walked over 2 miles in the snow to get to LHS. We were all impressed by her effort, and her student definitely felt the love!
Learning to resolve conflicts:
Recently I was able to help a student resolve a situation with his mentor and practice some valuable life skills. The student came to talk to me because his mentor had cancelled their meeting the previous week. He worried that something he said jokingly had offended the mentor or made him angry, and that maybe he wouldn’t come back. We talked through the situation and I cautioned him about making assumptions and encouraged him to talk about with his mentor. We called the mentor from my office, and found out he was not upset at all! He was able to reassure the student that he knew he was joking in their last conversation and that the cancelled meeting had no connection to it. I reinforced that we all make mistakes and misinterpretations at times and that direct communication is the best way to sort it out. The student felt relieved, they both had a good laugh about it, and it strengthened their relationship.
Highlights:
• Semester 2 underway: all matches have their new schedules
• New Mentor Orientation on February 14th
Upcoming:
• March New Mentor Orientation
• March Mentor Equipping with Mike Black “Keeping Students Afloat”
• Pair photos, mentee interviews, and end of the year celebrations are in the works
Number of Current Matches: 72
Submitted by Lisa Reynolds – ReynoldsL@lynden.wednet.edu