Stories & Quotes To Share:
GETTING THE WORD OUT ABOUT BE THE ONE!
I met with a freshman girl recently who had mentioned that she might be interested in a mentor
when she spoke with her counselor earlier this fall. I called her into my office to explain Be the
One and ask if she might be interested in a mentor. When I asked her if she knew about “Be
the One”, she replied that she found out about it earlier this month at our ‘Meet Our Mentors’
lunch. This was so good to hear that word is getting out and kids know about Be the One since
that was one of the main intentions for our mentor lunch
PUTTING PIECES TOGETHER… TOGETHER.
I recently added a 300 piece puzzle to the meeting space for the matches. One match was
delighted to work on it and the mentor said “The puzzle was GREAT. The student put the horse
together and that was appropriate with her love of animals. I pulled out pieces of the horse and
laid them beside where she was working. I think she had a sense of accomplishment for
finishing the horse. And it was best to be QUIET together and work together. I couldn’t help but
think of the symbolism — my feeding her pieces and her putting it together.” Oh what beautiful
connections that can be made… even in the quiet moments of mentoring.
A LITTLE EXTRA TIME GOES A LONG WAY!
We have one small group of girls that meet with their mentor as a group of 4 at lunch every
week. The day before their meeting, one of the mentees stopped by and asked if she could
have a little extra time with her mentor in private because she “has a lot going on right now”.
The mentor and teacher agreed that a little time out of class with her mentor would be the best
thing for this student right now. Our mentors always amaze me in how invested they are in their
mentees. The extra time away from their jobs and families to be a listening ear is invaluable!!!
Highlights:
• 39 hours of mentoring in November
• November Mentor Equipping (11/4 & 11/5) at LMS: Topic “Behavioral Responses to
Trauma”
• Be the One Merchandise order submitted on 11/8 for program supporters, mentors and
mentees
• First ever ‘Meet Our Mentors’ lunch at NVHS on 11/15 (wanting to do this a few more
times this year)
• New Mentor Orientation at LMS on 11/19
• Missy knows 76 students by name (goal is 100 by Winter Break!)
At NVHS:
• 14 current high school matches, 3 new this month
• 5 mentors on waitlist, 1 new this month
• 2 mentees on waitlist (1 is Spanish speaking only, still looking for a Spanish speaking
mentor)
At NVMS:
• 4 matches will continue this year at the middle school but will not be overseen by Be
the One. Lacey Henry will facilitate these matches for the rest of the year. 3 out of 4 will
become part of Be the One at NVHS next year.
Missy’s Highlight:
My highlight this month was the first ever ‘Meet Our Mentors’ Lunch. Nine of my mentors
attended wearing Be the One shirts and hats, ready to interact with students. Four of these nine
are unmatched. Two of my mentors facilitated a game called ‘What’s your Emoji?’. As students
walked by or approached the table the mentors would ask the students to identify which one of
the emoji balls represented their emotion for the day. The student would choose and then the
mentor would introduce themselves as a BTO mentor and ask if the student knew about BTO.
Each student who interacted received a goodie bag with a card on top to fill out and return to
Missy if they were interested in a mentor. If they already had a mentor, they were asked to
share one thing they enjoyed about their mentor. Mentors attended first and second lunch. Two
mentors provided soup for the mentors to share lunch as a group in my meeting room in between the
lunches. It was a great opportunity to build community – between the mentors, staff and
students!
Upcoming:
• Ornament making (optional activity for matches in December)
• December New Mentor Orientation at NVHS on 12/6 at 10 am.
• Winter Break 12/23/24 -1/3/25. Matches start back up on 1/6/2025.
• End of semester (schedule change) 1/30/25.
Number of Current Matches: Matches: 14
Submitted by Missy Rus – melissa.rus@nv.k12.wa.us