What an exciting week we had as we
finally were able to match our mentors with their new mentees! Our scholars
have been anxiously awaiting the news as to whom they will be working with for
the duration of the school year. On Wednesday we did the “Speed Matching” lesson
where our mentors interviewed the mentees to see how well suited they may (or
may not be) for one another. It was a day full of energy and excitement as the
scholars asked and answered questions about what their favorite class was, what
they were struggling with in school and/or at home, and what their academic
and/or personal goals were for the year. Each mentor spoke to each mentee for
one minute before recording their thoughts and moving on to the next
individual. At the conclusion of the lesson, each scholar wrote down their
first, second, and third choice for either a mentor or mentee with whom they
desired to work, and indicated why they chose those individuals.
It was a long process as my student
assistants and I worked to pair the scholars up according to the desires and needs
of each individual. We also created thoughtful seating charts so that our
mentors and mentees can begin to not only support each other, but other pairs
in class as well. Once we had settled the details, I was able to announce the
pairings to the classes, and was met with widespread approval- everyone was so thrilled
to finally be matched!
Our mentors
have begun the process of getting to know their mentee’s schedules and are getting
a handle on what the needs of their new mentees are so that they can begin to implement
plans to start working towards goals as a team. Our mentors and mentees have
also begun working on an art project where they get to design their community
and identify where they would like to see mentoring in that community (beyond
the YESS program at Shaw Heights). Many voiced their desires to have mentors on
their sports teams, in their church groups, and several even nominated the idea
of having “sibling mentors”- a way of taking the responsibility of being a
sibling to the next level. It was wonderful to see how much our scholars value
mentoring.
Lastly,
I would like to congratulate Erin Ballew and Ava Martinez, two of our 8th
grade mentors, who won the YESS t-shirt contest with their concept of a black
and white “jersey” style shirt with a large “03” on the back, indicating the number
of years YESS has been at Shaw Heights. Julianna Romero also deserves a shout
out for her amazing hand drawn design of a Shaw Heights falcon which was widely
admired.
We are
all looking forward to getting deeper into our work with our new mentors and
mentees next week!
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