Mentor Coordinator Report
Stories & Quotes To Share:
Language Lessons
For most people, learning a different language can be a difficult but rewarding experience. While a majority of students in the Be the One program speak English, there are a few multilingual students in the mix. Some of the mentors have been learning some of the words and phrases of their mentee’s other languages. One of the mentors came in and greeted their mentee in their first language, and it made the mentee’s day!
Language Barrier
A language barrier that most people forget about is the slang and words that kids use versus the language that adults use. A lot of new terms are always finding their ways into the student lexicon and it can be difficult for adults to keep up. A mentor found this out the hard way when a game of Uno quickly became an impromptu English lesson. The mentee was explaining a lot of new terms that the kids use now days and trying to convince the mentor to use them as much as possible.
Highlights:
February was a very successful month for me at LMS. A new batch of mentors, more students on the waitlist, and a lot of planning for future events. This month I was able to visit the Senior Center in Lynden to give a presentation on the program and answer questions. This led to a couple of new interested mentors joining the program, which will hopefully cut down my waitlist. The interesting problem that I am facing here at LMS is that my wait list is all-female! I have been short female mentors for the last few weeks, however, with the boost from recent recruitment efforts, I have been able to match a few of them. The 3 new matches are planned to begin in March, so they are not reflected in the stats below.
24 current matches
1 match suspended until next year
8 students on the wait-list
7 Students with Permission Slips out
(3 new matches planned for March so far)
Upcoming:
New Mentor Orientation – March 4th
End of the Year Interviews – April 16 – 18
End of the Year Celebration – May 29
Number of Current Matches: 24
Submitted by Sammuel Van Kirk – vankirks@lynden.wednet.edu