Mentoring

A new weekly activity since October has been spending at least an hour with my mentee. She's a delightful 1st grader who is full of energy. We spent most of the fall doing outside activities which she loves. We played in parks, went on a nature scavenger hunt and hiking, and we played at the beach. Her mother says she isn't very athletic but the child loves to run. The favorite game at the park is tag and the trails at the park were often taken at a run. It's a good thing I'm somewhat in shape so I can attempt to keep up. She can run faster but I can run longer. Activities have been more difficult since winter arrived. We went swimming at the Y and last night we joined some people from my church at the bowling alley. Even the kid bowling balls were a bit heavy but she managed a decent score thanks to the bumper pads being up. The bumper pads added a few points to my score and I broke 100 which was my goal. My mentee was excited to see a classmate there and she enjoyed interacting with the other kids who cheered her on.

A friend jokingly asked if the program was for at-risk kids or at risk adults. Probably a bit of both. It's hard to tell what impact I'm having on a 1st grader, other than I'm providing a listening ear and one-on-one time in which she has a hard time getting in trouble because there are no other kids around to egg her on. Even when there have been other kids around she's been obedient. For me, it is an opportunity to be around a kid, which means even more to me because I spend my work day primarily with the geriatric population. My creativity is also being challenged as I come up with ideas of things to do and places to go. She has ideas as well which helps.

Try a mentoring program in your area. There is especially a need for men to be a role model for the boys who are waiting for a mentor of their own.