TRAUMA-INFORMED MENTORING PART 2 w/ Kelly Vagts February 15th 5:30-6:30pm HMK Elementary School A Trauma Lens Part 2: Helping mentors implement a trauma-informed approach with mentees and families.
January is National Mentoring Month! This is the season to celebrate Moab’s mentors and youth. We also seek to expand opportunities for quality mentoring. Use the dates at left to update your calendar so you don’t miss…
Mentoring Idea of the Month #1: Make a (Healthy) Meal in a Mug! You need only a few ingredients, supplies, and a microwave (in the teacher’s lounge) to make this delicious recipe. It could also be a great skill for your mentee to master for hungry moments at home.
Mentoring Adventures! Grand Area Mentoring is a school-based program, and most activities happen on four Moab campuses. Mentors and students may also leave school grounds in small groups for pre-approved field trips. These off-campus mentoring outings provide opportunities to broaden mentee horizons, practice skills, and strengthen the mentoring bond over enjoyable activities.
November 3, 2:00-3:00, HMK: Suicide Prevention Training. Please join us for this opportunity to learn how you can possibly save a life.
Please read your October mentor newsletter for: • Several new and exciting training opportunities (thank you to Nan Marquardt, WabiSabi, and The Synergy Company!) • Pics of mentors and students in action • And an improved idea of the month for Halloween!
Mentoring Idea #2: Foretell the future! Tap into the magic of positive predicting! Using the art materials in the mentor room, draw a picture of a crystal ball. Decorate it and make it your own, but leave plenty of empty space inside the ball and around it. Then, guess what the year ahead will hold! Draw and write your predictions! What will you like about school this year? What will you do in mentoring? What do you hope to learn this year? Add at least one goal. Who will you help this year? Why? What are you excited about? Are you nervous or uncertain about something? Come May, how will you celebrate a great year at school? Tuck this crystal ball into your mentor’s log so you can review it at the end of the year and see how much you got right!
How to Help Your Mentee Through the Summer June, July, and August represent a wonderful opportunity to recharge your batteries and break away from the weekly mentoring routine. Volunteers and students often return in September with new verve and closeness. However, some students balk at summer break. They often miss their mentors! You have 2 options to help your mentee: 1) Summer lunch at HMK Meet with your mentee to eat school lunch ($4) or bring your own. Students eat FREE! This is a great way to catch up and plan all that you’re going to do together in the coming year. Discussing the future like this can give kids a lot of hope. Summer lunch schedule: June 5 through June 30 (no lunch in July this year) Monday through Friday, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM HMK Elementary School Cafeteria (505 N. MiVida Dr.) Please complete a log entry (with date, time, and activities) if you choose to meet your mentee for lunch. Submit it in September. 2) Send updates the old fashioned way – via mail! Who doesn’t love to get a letter or an unexpected package in the mail? Opening up a surprise envelope, especially one emblazoned with the return address of a caring friend, is the best. Even a postcard can remind your mentee that you’re thinking about him or her. To take advantage, call or email us before June 10th. We can provide your mentee’s mailing address. grandareamentoring@gmail.com Dan: 435-260-9646 Mail a card, photos, a word search, a postcard, or a standard letter once or twice during your summer, from wherever you happen to be. Your mentee will feel special, it will help your bond grow during this break, and it will kindle optimism to see you again.
The Clock’s Ticking! As this school year nears its end, mentors and students should make every minute of their mentoring sessions count! How do you do this? • Talk about the year’s successes. Plan more for next year, if appropriate. • Do some of your favorite activities before summer arrives. Document them with photos! • Exchange address information so you can stay in touch over the summer. • Mentors should complete a mentor survey, which can be found at each mentoring site (or on your email). • Attend the end-of-year celebration on May 16th, 4:30-5:30. Grand Area Mentoring will thank you for participating by offering an ice cream party! Join us! • Check out this May’s idea of the month on the reverse: Mindful Games. It’s fun and invigorating to learn more deeply how our minds work! It can be done in just a few minutes, but don’t rush these enjoyable mind journeys.
Six Ways of Mentoring Grand Area Mentoring volunteers help children in southeastern Utah earn better grades, attend school more regularly, and get along better with others. How do they do it? What is the magic of mentoring? It’s not magic. It’s founded on the tenets of basic human development. Search Institute’s research suggests that a handful of ideas “nurture a young person’s sense of purpose and plans for becoming his or her best self.” Moab’s excellent mentors employ six key strategies to help promising youth: They connect. Through building trust in the relationship, the mentor encourages the youth to open up about his or her dreams and aspirations. Recently, a mentor fostered connection by attending his mentee’s soccer games to demonstrate his commitment. They describe. Mentors regularly explain how the world works, from maintaining friendships to working toward goals. A mentor recently described to her mentee how saving money and earning interest works, then created a job for the child to win a reward by earning play money (and interest) over several weeks. They reveal. Mentors talk about their own professions, hobbies, and passions. They help mentees understand what matters to them and why. This spring, a mentor inspired her mentee by delving into an exciting hobby – off-road vehicles! They notice. Mentors pay attention to find out about their mentee’s interests. They leverage these topics to help the student grow by encouraging essential skills like planning, study, and perseverance. A mentor recently noticed his mentee’s interest in video production. They put together a wonderful short film where they interviewed each other. They coach. When a mentee identifies a goal, mentors help them work toward it by cooperatively identifying important steps. A student recently talked about wanting to learn how to juggle a soccer ball. His mentor demonstrated different techniques, set incremental goals, and offered a reward for success. They highlight. Mentors use examples of people from their own lives and from the community to show how successful individuals use knowledge and skill to reach goals. Over the past two months, a mentor has helped her mentee learn how to solve a Rubik’s Cube by introducing him to a practiced puzzler. Well-trained mentors create opportunities for youth to reach their potential. This is how we bring the inborn talent and interests of youth to their full expression in the future.