Mentor Coordinator Report
Stories & Quotes To Share:
Strength in Numbers
The benefits of mentor-mentee relationships are discussed a lot in our program. We cover many of the positive effects in our trainings with mentors, however, there is another benefit for the students that isn’t discussed as much: community. Many of the students in the Be the One program hang out together outside of class and school. As I was handing out notes in the morning, I came across a group of 5 mentees talking in the hallway. I heard them talking excitedly about meeting their mentor that week and comparing their plans, favorite games and crafts. Mentorship is great and finding new friends is an excellent bonus!
Work Meeting
We generally discourage mentors and mentees from turning meetings into full blown study or paperwork sessions. Mentorship is about personal connections, and it is hard to connect with someone who is focusing on writing reports or studying equations. However, exceptions can sometimes be made. I was checking on a match that had taken a private library room for themselves and noticed that they both were writing in notebooks. Most matches at the middle school level play games or do arts and crafts, so I decided to stop in. I went into the room and was greeted by the smell of coffee and doughnuts and the sounds of light pop music. When I asked them what they were up to, they explained that they were both writing and using each other as a sounding board for ideas, proofreading and editing. They were happily chatting, enjoying snacks and “getting sooooooo much work done.”
Highlights:
March has been by far my most successful month here in the program. I was able to start 4 new matches this month, 3 new matches are planned to meet in the third week of April. I have almost completely cleaned out the waitlist. 2 matches closed out this month, but both matches ended on good terms. As spring break approaches, I am rushing to find mentors for the last few matches, as we are running out of time in the school year to establish new matches. End of the year celebrations are being planned for May and other end of year plans are being set up for the next few months.
• 27 current matches
• 3 Matches pending first meetings
• 2 matches closed
• 1 student on the waitlist
• 4 Students with Permission Slips out
Upcoming:
Spring Break – April 7-11 No meetings
Mentee Interviews – April 16-17
End of the Year Celebration – May 29
Number of Current Matches: 27
Submitted by Sammuel Van Kirk – vankirks@lynden.wednet.edu