Dark Skies Event for Mentors & Students! Moab Dark Skies members have volunteered to take Grand Area Mentoring and BEACON participants to Bar M for a sky gazing extravaganza. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about: • what makes our skies in southeastern Utah so special • our universe and fascinating solar system • interesting phenomena visible with the naked eye and with the help of telescopes. A meteor shower is expected on April 20th too, so don’t miss this chance to wish upon a star! Mentors must make arrangements with parents for pickup and drop-off at HMK (505 N. MiVida Dr). We will gather at 7:45pm for departure via bus by 8:00pm. At Bar M, we will be guided through activities starting at 8:30 and ending by 10. Parents can expect children to be ready for pickup at HMK at 10:30pm. The BLM, volunteer rangers, and the Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks are providing this special event. Thank you to all! IMPORTANT: We have space for a total of fourteen Grand Area Mentoring participants. The deadline for registration is end of the day on April 6th. Email grandareamentoring@gmail.com to register. First come, first served. To register, you must already have parent permission (verbal okay) and commitment for transport.
New Mentoring Resource! Mentoring is simple. You spend time with a youth, act as a positive role model, and support his/her strengths. Sure, mentoring is simple, but all kinds of challenges and issues might crop up over the course of your relationship. Grand Area Mentoring staff members are here to help you navigate the journey. As always, give us a call or email if you need assistance. Grand Area Mentoring also just released a new mentor handbook for volunteers. This handbook delves into program policies, mentoring theory and best practices, information about youth today, and other helpful tips. Please find the handbook here. This handbook is a work in progress. We welcome suggestions. Your feedback will help us make this better for you and your future mentoring colleagues. Email comments and suggestions to grandareamentoring@gmail.com
Flight through Failure Failing is part of life, and it’s a critical part of learning. Keep these points in mind as you coach your mentee through the trials and tribulations of childhood and adolescence: • We should fail every day. Only when you operate at the edge of your ability will you find real progress. • Failure is not in falling down. It’s in staying down. • Gemologists identify fake emeralds by finding the stones that look perfect. Real ones have weaknesses and imperfections. Nobody’s perfect. • Worrying about mistakes is a good way to achieve them. • Failure is part of growing. If you don’t fail, you’re probably not challenging yourself enough. • Be bold. Risk failure. Mistakes are part of winning. • The human brain only grows when we reach, fall short, and reach again.
Yahoo! National Mentoring Month Is Here! Moab’s mentors help youngsters excel every week. Over the course of this month, we celebrate all you achieve, and we aim to expand opportunities for excellent mentoring in 2017. Don’t miss out on the important events coming right up!
This Month in Mentoring! December 7, 4:30-5:30, HMK Room #141: Help for the Helper. Counselor Christina Myers will help us remember that self-care is not a luxury in the service we offer. Indeed, it should be a priority. Please be sure to join us for this important training! December 8, 3:30-4:30, High School Career & Technical Education Building Room #100: Suicide Prevention Training. This class – offered to teachers, staff, and mentors – will cover the common causes of suicidal ideation in youth, warning signs, and what to do if you think a student could be suicidal. It will benefit mentors and anyone who works with youth. Please RSVP: grandareamentoring@gmail.com December 17-January 1: Winter Break. No school. No mentoring. January 2017: National Mentoring Month! Let’s celebrate mentoring! Stay tuned for more.
Books for Mentees Is Back! Grand Area Mentoring is pleased to announce that the Mountains and Plain Independent Booksellers Association and Moab’s own Back of Beyond Books have sponsored the Books for Mentees program in 2016/2017! It is designed to spread the love of reading and the benefits of literacy to our community’s promising youngsters by providing free books. For many of our mentees, this will be a rare opportunity to choose a book at their reading level and in their area of interest – whether that’s middle-grade, graphic novels, young adult, picture books, or nonfiction. Back of Beyond has a wide selection of titles for all ages and appetites. 1) To participate in the Books for Mentees program, mentors claim a book voucher at the Grand Area Mentoring office. 2) Once issued by Dan or Megan, these vouchers are good for book(s) at Back of Beyond, valued up to $18. Then mentors and students can plan an off-campus outing to the bookstore with another match. Tell Megan when your plan is complete. Call or text her at: 435-260-9645. 3) During your off-campus outing, carefully venture down to Back of Beyond and browse their awesome selection. Don’t forget to bring the voucher, which must be turned in for redemption. Help your mentee look at the various sections of the store. Explain the difference between fiction and non-fiction. Ask about her favorite things to read. Help her spend the $18 wisely. Whatever books you help your mentee choose will be his to take home, to own – no catches, no obligations. He can read and re-read it and put it on a shelf as a reminder of the fun to be had in the world of books. Let’s help our kids have fun with books! The cooler months will be a perfect time to do something new and spread the gift of literacy. Don’t miss out on this awesome opportunity! Plan today.
The Importance of One Psychologists have long understood a child’s emotional and economic prospects dramatically improve if there is one thing present in his life: a positive connection with an adult.
Idea of the month #1: Photo Contest! In 2017, for the first time, WabiSabi will create a nonprofit calendar featuring its partners. Calendars will be available to businesses and citizens throughout the community. Each month will include a big photo and some information about a particular nonprofit. Grand Area Mentoring has signed up for January 2017, National Mentoring Month! This means we get to supply a photo that captures the spirit of mentoring. This is your chance for fame! Your challenge: Take a photo of yourself and your mentee (or a group of mentors and mentees) and submit it to the GrandAM office: grandareamentoring@gmail.com. A winning photo will be sent on to be featured the first month of 2017! Silly, fun, and playful photos welcome! Be creative! Win eternal glory! 🙂 Deadline for submission: 10/28
Asking the Right Questions The start of the school year is a great time to get to know your mentee better and deepen your relationship. Ask about his/her summer. Chat about what he/she hopes to accomplish this year. As you play and talk and work on projects, pay particular attention to your mentee’s strengths and successes. After you have re-established closeness and a strong rapport, you can ask solution-focused questions. This approach helps your mentee engage his/her resiliency when challenges arise later in the year. To use this technique effectively, it’s best to already know about the traits and experiences your mentee owns. The Method Solution-focused questions target a better future. Your questions will focus on what life will be like when your mentee has overcome or limited his/her problem, especially using the strengths and knowledge that he or she already has. Some examples of good solution-focused questions include...
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. As the old adage suggests: absence makes the heart grow fonder. However, some students don’t look forward to school’s close. Students who need additional support might