18. 2008 Expansion plans - an interesting journey

Plans are well under way to expand the GR8 MATES program into two other areas we serve. Last week I held orientation sessions at both schools for interested mentors. What has interested me is the way these mentors are being recruited.

At the school close to Penrith where I am working we have had about 18 people expressing interest from different sources eg, through a tertiary institution's intranet website; through an email newsletter from our local Chamber of Commerce and through referrals from current mentors.

In the semi-rural school, where three media articles have appeared calling for mentors, I received two phone calls and expressions of interest! The school at which the program will operate has a number of teacher-aides interested in mentoring and I also visited a company that is already doing some work with the school and hope to have two mentors from them.

I am busy working on a media etc. strategy for 2008 as part of a grander plan we are working on.

What continues to fascinate me is how different the communities are in which we are working and how differently they are responding to recruitment processes .... the journey continues! :-)

17. Reflections, Evaluations and Celebrations

Last week was the final meeting for 2007 of the mentors with their mentees and was also an opportunity to celebrate the partnerships. Mentors spent time with their mentees catching up, doing some planning for 2008 and chatting about the use of the email facility during the holidays. Thereafter, we all gathered in one of the school Common Rooms and enjoyed some special celebratory food brought in by an outside caterer. The School Principal thanked all the mentors for their voluntary commitments to the project and complimented all on the very positive vibe that was evident to any outsider observing the mentoring program. Students then presented their mentees with a school coffee mug, key ring, small pocket calculator and pen as a token of thanks.

During these past two weeks mentors and mentees have been completing an Evaluation Survey about how things are going. These surveys have made for very positive reading indeed, some students wanting more time with their mentees. There is one student who is still undecided about continuing with the program in 2008 despite an excellent relationship with her mentor. I guess we are observing the extreme effect of peer pressure and it will be interesting to see what happens when the school opens next year.

I have had some interesting discussions with mentors in recent weeks. Some wanted to give Christmas gifts to their mentees. I had stressed during the training that we did not want mentors to spend money on their mentees, as that's not the point of running a youth mentoring program. However, so as not to upset anyone, I suggested they give their small gifts, but ask the students not to advertise this to the world, as I don't want there to be competition between the mentors and their mentees. I did, however, stress that materialism is right at the bottom of what we want to achieve with this program. After the mentors had met their mentees, one of the latter voiced her disappointment in an email to her mentor that she (the mentee) had not had a gift for the mentor. I have asked the particular mentor to work through this with the mentee. It is important that we keep our focus on the development of the relationship without the gifts.

As the relationships are starting to gain momentum, I am being asked if the mentors can take their mentees to visit tertiary institutions etc. in 2008. Of course, this is part of the program plan, but the more I have thought about this, the more things are clarifying for me. So many of our young people are living in the world of instant gratification. I shall be sharing with mentors the need for us to do some thorough planning, which will include ensuring that mentees arrive on time for their meetings with mentors and that the former have all the school paperwork signed and completed. We are still awaiting some paperwork from mentees. Taking this line we will also be preparing the mentees for the real world beyond school and helping them to appreciate that they need to be responsible and more accountable. When they have completed their side of the bargain the door opens for more adventures beyond school with their mentors.

One of our mentors was able to watch her mentee participate in a school ballet performance, which was great, and she has also assisted her mentee obtain a part-time work placement at a hairdresser in 2008. Thus a young person is beginning to explore possible options for the future, one of the main points of this program.

There are other potentially interesting developments taking place in the mentoring partnerships, a number of mentees beginning to share some of their more personal 'stuff' - more of that in 2008.

Another mentee does not have access to email at home. However, the email facility is free at the local library, so the school has given permission for the mentor to take the mentee to the local library so that the student can join and then have access to the email facility - this is due to take place this week before the schools close for the Christmas vacation. Interesting to see if this materialises.

I remain tremendously encouraged by the way this program is rolling out and the fantastic relationships developing between these two strangers, fast becoming friends and GR8 MATES in most instances :-) One student was unable to be present at the final meeting as he was involved in training some younger students to do life-saving (swimming). When I arrived in the office that morning, the student had already left a message advising me of this - how impressive was that!?

On that positive note, time to wrap up for 2007.

16. The magical moments of mentoring

We have now reached the stage when mentors arrive at the school and, as soon as their mentee arrives, they pair up and head off for almost an hour together. Some head to the library, where computers are booked for their use each week, while others will go for a stroll around the grounds. A couple might sit in our meeting room and chat. Different methods for different pairings, one of the strengths of a mentoring program.

One mentor has clearly been focusing on the strong points of her mentee and exploring ways to motivate her further. Via the email correspondence during the previous week, the mentor had asked her mentee to consider whether or not they could chat to one of the mentee's teachers (of the subject the mentee appeared to be enjoying the most) . This week, after time in the library, they took a stroll to the faculty of the teacher concerned and, fortunately, found her there. The mentor was introduced and a brief discussion took place, during which the mentee's talents were lauded by the teacher. A self-image is quietly being boosted week by week. Another dynamic taking place was the introduction to the mentoring program in action for this teacher. Hopefully she will chat about this interaction with staff colleagues and so the good work being done by these volunteer adults will be better understood. A good mentor program does have a positive spin-off on the school community and it's the little moments like this that sow those positive seeds.

Another totally different experience took place with another pairing. In this case the mentee had been slow to become involved in the program, but this week the breakthrough occurred. The mentee commented that she felt she had been pressurised to participate in the program at the beginning - possibly because she was precariously balanced in terms of her behaviour at school and school authorities, seeing her potential, saw the GR8 MATES program as a possible positive experience for her. Perhaps the pressure came from a concerned parent. Perhaps it was a combination of these circumstances. The admission that she had felt this way was seen as a major breakthrough in the relationship by the mentor and now we can only hope it will go from strength to strength as there is every indication that the mentee would like to remain in the program.

We are through the probationary period of the mentoring relationships now. I have asked mentors to discuss with their mentees, when next they meet, how both parties are feeling about their mentoring journey. Do they want to continue this journey into 2008? I will be surveying both the mentors and the mentees when we meet next week (a wrtitten survey), an important part of the evaluation process, yet also an important moment for me to assess how things are going.

I have arranged an orientation meeting in mid-December for one of the 2008 schools participating in the program, as we have at least 13 interested mentors, hopefully more by then. The other more rural program has been a little slower at attracting mentors - 6 to 8 today, and I am hoping that an article due out very soon in a local community newspaper will attract some more mentors.

I need to get the Application Packs organised :-)

15. Recruiting mentors for 2008

I am at the desperate stage of trying to recruit 30 mentors for our two new programs in 2008, one in the local Penrith area and the other in the Hawkesbury area.

Yesterday our email brochure was distributed via the intranet of one of the local tertiary institutions. We also had some advertisements in local community newspapers which, amongst other information shared, mentioned the GR8 MATES mentoring program.

Within 48 hours I have received phone calls or emails from 16 potential mentors and I would think the majority of them are committed even though we have not yet had the orientation program.

I have a policy of responding to all calls and emails within 48 hours of receiving these expressions of interest. I like to think that it puts across the message to these volunteers that we really appreciate their interest in our program.

One of the Hawkesbury community newspapers will be writing an article on the program which will be published next week, all going well and, a short while ago, a local church near Penrith asked if they could advertise the program to their congregation members. They had received the email brochure from a member of their congregation - it's all about using networks, isn't it? :-)

Now for the next 15 mentors!!!!

14. Reinforcing key training points as the mentoring journey gets under way

The mentoring program is going exceptionally well and the interaction between students and mentors is fantastic. While there are one or two students that might still be settling into the program, probably working out how to deal with negative peer pressure, the majority are enthusiastically connecting with their mentors.

This week after the debrief session with the mentors I thought it appropriate to remind them of some of the key points we had discussed during the training, also taking the chance to refer them to specific pages in the training workbook and in their manual, 'The Spirit of Mentoring - A manual for adult volunteers', particularly pertaining to the experiences young people are going through at this time of their lives. Some of the points I shared were as follows:

It’s probably a good time to remind you of some of the key points made during the training:

· We are not there to fix students or families.
· Avoid the trap of getting too emotionally involved – it’s not good for either party.
· Mentors are GR8 MATES not saviours or rescuers.
· Don’t fall into the trap of wanting to keep coming up with solutions, offering advice, solving your mentees’ problems for them etc. The most effective mentoring is getting them to solve their own problems after brainstorming with you and this might take time and does not have to happen immediately (which is what Gen Y want!) eg, when talking about an issue suggest: "Let’s explore your options. What are they?” “Hey, maybe we can chat more about this and later can work out some plans for 2008 ....” “Why don’t you see what you can find out and then we can chat again next week?”
· Consider using a journal to record your key conversation points if you are not already doing so.
· Keep exploring ways of encouraging them to connect with the school – activities they can get involved in, what needs to be done etc. You might even want to browse the school website yourself to see what’s on offer.
· Keep sowing the seeds of positive peer pressure = reaching their potential.
· What’s going on in their lives at this age? Remind yourself – page 33 of the Worksheets Book from the Training; Pages 79 – 87 of ‘The Spirit of Mentoring’ book will have heaps of reminders of what to expect, as most of these youngsters are battling with self-image, self-concept issues, despite a possible outward show of bravado and "I’m ok,” attitude. At the same time don’t look for problems if they are not there, or create them!!
· Find out in your discussions who the positive people are in their lives eg, if you were desperate for accommodation or needed $100 who would you approach? Parents – great! And who else?? This then encourages talk about building that web of support around themselves for the future, communicating with people who believe in them, role models etc.
· Work out an effective strategy re the use of the email. Sometimes just a quick word of encouragement is all that’s needed. Or, if your mentee is feeling low, arrange for them to contact you in a day or two just to check on how things are going – short and sweet, always effective!
· Vary how you spend your time with your mentee eg, you might go for a walk and talk, then spend 15 minutes googling something on the computer and chatting. Boys prefer doing rather than sitting and just chatting – all will appreciate variety.
· Never hesitate to get in touch with me if there is something you need to discuss, no matter how trivial you think it might be.

What is encouraging as well is that some of the students are already beginning to think seriously about career options, how they have been thinking, planning (or not planning) etc.

There is plenty of honest sharing in the debrief sessions which has been great and mentors are already beginning to share networking ideas with each other :-)

13. 2008 Program expansion

No sooner have we got this first program under way than we are expanding the program into 2008. It has been a good process, learning from the first launch and applying some improvements. Schools now have to sign a contract committing them to the program, as well as naming their School Coordinator and acknowledging that they understand the role of the School Coordinator. This should make it easier for me to be involved in a program, though from more of a distance once it is well established.

We have a school in the Hawkesbury region and another in the Penrith region now signed on, which means that I have fulfilled our goal of having three schools carrying out the pilot program before the end of 2008.

Our marketing brochure is also available in email form and I spent today sending it to the respective schools for their School Coordinators to distribute. I have one mentor in the Hawkesbury region who has a network of over 150 on his email distribution list, so he has offered to share the marketing email. Our tertiary institution, TAFE, will also be distributing it through their intranet system and tomorrow I am meeting with a church representative from a church close to the Hawkesbury school. I should also be receiving the name of a couple of journalists in that region as well and will be asking them to run stories in the local community newspapers. We are also working on our new website, http://www.schoolsindustry.com.au/ , and there is an area there where interested potential mentors can sign up. there are local Chambers of Commerce which might also distribute the email to their members.

The target is to recruit and sign on 30 mentors (15 per region) by mid-December so we can process Applications and begin the training as soon as school opens in 2008. The challenge is on .....

12. Launch of the ementoring program and much more!

This week saw the launch of the ementoring component of our school-based mentoring program. Mentees and mentors are able to communicate with each other by logging on through the participating school's website. They can do this through their home computers, school computers etc. They have ID and Passwords and are only able to communicate with each other. There is a 'Panic' function which allows a mentee to send an urgent message to the school Principal, School Coordinator and Program Coordinator if they are stressed, feeling uncomfortable about the content of an email etc. All emails can be monitored by the Principal, the School Coordinator and the Program Coordinator. As soon as i arrive at the office each day I check the emails to see who has been corresponding. It will be interesting to see how this new tool works and does or does not enhance the mentoring relationship.

A couple of mentees have been away from school and so have missed our sessions. We have made arrangements for the mentors to contact the School Coordinator to set up alternative times to meet. This seems to be working well.

Mentors have been encouraged to work through the first part of the Student Manual during the final weeks of the year to build the connection. It was great to hear at the debrief this week how many mentors had been doing this and how many of the students were already beginning to open up to their mentors. I also completed the analysis of all the completed Student Performers and gave the mentors some thoughts about their respective mentees which, hopefully, will also enhance the bonding process.

We have a couple of weeks to go before our probationary period is over, though I am both excited and encouraged by what I am witnessing thus far.

11. Ongoing training and support for Mentors

The mentoring program is gradually clicking into gear. While the school is involved in exams I have been encouraging the mentors and mentees who joined the program late for a variety of reasons to try and meet at least once before we meet as a group next Tuesday. This has worked well and most students have completed the Student Performer. Again this is showing how important the mentoring relationship could be for these students. While they have gifts and talents and so many positives, a number are clearly lacking social skills, self-confidence or have battles with how to approach their studying. All these points have been collated from the pre-program Survey the students completed and then the Student Performer - a most worthwhile exercise.

I try to encourage the mentors with a brief email this week, so thought I would share a longer one as it encompasses a lot of what we are tring to do, as well as some of the issues we are having to deal with in the new technological age of the 21st Century.

Here are some extracts:

Hi everyone

We meet again on Tuesday 13 November. If you can be there by 10.50 to sign in so we can start at 11.00 am that would be great. We will meet in the Staff Common Room and move from there to an upstairs computer room. We will be given a quick run through of the ementoring component of the program, so both students and mentors will be comfortable with that format. Thereafter, there will be time to spend chatting with your mentee. I would appreciate those who have not completed the Student Profiler/Performer to complete those.

We now have 11 mentors matched with 11 mentees and, a real positive, is that there are now 4 girls as part of the group ....... everyone who has completed the online Performer will benefit from a mentoring relationship if they give it their best shot – that is a definite conclusion I have drawn from going through the individual Performers completed thus far. Indeed, the school have done incredibly well to recommend these students for the program. Without the program there are a couple there who could well become more at risk of dropping out because of a total lack of self-confidence or an inability to cope with school academics.

Remember: All students are in different spaces. Some are clearly lacking self-confidence, while most could benefit from a 2008 goal getting experience with you. As I have pointed out to some mentors, if you need me to sit with you and your mentee at any time to talk about study skills etc., you have only to ask!

Can we exchange mobile numbers? At this stage please do not make arrangements to contact one another via mobile phones. We have the email component for ongoing contact and that’s a way we can monitor the relationship, a must in this program, as that’s our best guarantee of safety for both the mentors and the mentees. As soon as we go beyond these boundaries we become a community-based mentoring program and that has more paperwork, more Police Checks etc. and we don’t want to go through all that. My guess is that once we are through the probationary period, mid-December, we can revisit the mobile phone contacts, which might require parental permission.

What about meeting outside of school? At this stage there should be no contact between the mentors and mentees outside of the time you meet at school and the ementoring component. That is in line with the contracts which the parents have also signed. As things progress, we will be able to revisit this, but nothing can happen without parental permission and that will be obtained after discussion with the School Coordinator.

What would you suggest we do between now and the end of the year? Use this time to really get to know as much of your mentee as you can and build that connection. The ‘Getting 2 Know You’ section of the Students’ Manual is designed to help that process. As you drive the early stages of the relationship, consider completing some of those aspects together. However, if your mentee has a specific area they wish to explore with you that’s fine – go with it!

What is the future of the GR8 MATES mentoring program? The program is 100% likely to be expanded to two schools in the Hawkesbury and Penrith areas next year, the focus being on mentoring Year 10 students. Training will begin as soon as term starts and the matching will take place towards the end of Term One. The mentoring relationship will end during Term Four. Will it continue in 2009? We don’t know the answer to this. My personal position is that I won’t take responsibility for the program beyond the pilot unless we can obtain Deductible Gift Recipient Status (DGR Status), which would then possibly result in us being able to go after corporate funding. Ideally, I would like to see something like a 5 year commitment from the Commonwealth Government and corporate sponsors. With that sort of funding we could develop something long-term and sustainable. How can we do that? [a mentor] has expressed a genuine interest in participating in this process. He and I are meeting for coffee after the mentor meeting next Tuesday. We will talk about building community networks and targeting people to join us on a working sub-committee aimed at growing the program, hopefully finding a friendly legal expert prepared to look into acquiring the DGR Status, as it is an Everest climb. There might be a couple of mentors with useful connections who might want to join this initiative. Feel free to chat to me should you be interested.

Mentoring Thought:

“You must enter into a child’s life, develop trust, earn confidence, find common ground. For, in truth, mentoring can only begin after you and your mentee come to regard one another as important people in each other’s lives.”
-Thomas W. Dortch,Jr.

Have a good weekend and don’t hesitate to be in touch whenever you need to do so.

Kind regards.

Robin

10. Student Profiler/Performer, E-mentoring and future plans

This week the mentors and their mentees had an opportunity to catch up with one another briefly. However, the major focus was on the students completing the Student Profiler, actually called the Student Performer. This the majority of students managed to do in the allotted time. It is going to be a fantastic tool for future mentoring relationships from what I have seen thus far. The Performe affirms the students in some key areas of their personal development, though it also clearly shows areas in which the mentors can work with their mentees during the months ahead, which is fantastic.

The key areas the Performer covers are:

• Learning Abilities
• Socialisation: Mixing with other people
• Communication
• Physical Image
• Career Planning
• Global Self-Worth

Indeed, the Performer exceeds my expectations :-) and I think it was a very useful exercise for the mentors to be alongside their mentees as the latter completed it - there was certainly some healthy discussion going on.

I have undertaken to provide each mentor with an analysis of their mentee's Performer before they next meet in mid- November -(two week break for exams :-(

One of our mentees, who had been sick for quite some time, was present this time around and met for the first time. Both were so keen to get started, which is great. The mentor will try and link up for another meeting while the school exams are on. The School Coordinator will arrange this.

After our mentoring session debrief I met with the school's IT coordinator to go through the plans to set up the ementoring component of the program. The school has done a fantastic job in this area, linking the ementoring component to the school website. Students and mentors will be given Usernames and Passwords to log in and communicate with each other. The Principal, School Coordinator and Program Coordinator (that's me :-) ) will be able to monitor the communication. There is also a special feature which allows students to send a 'panic' message if they ever feel uncomfortable with the content of an email. At our next session I have asked for the IT Coordinator to share how the ementoring component will work - we are making positive progress!!

The early successes of this program have led our organisation to make the decision to extend the pilot to two more schools in the regions we serve in 2008. This means we will trial the program in each of the three regions we serve. I am meeting with the potential two schools during the next week or so. The overall idea is to have the pilot programs wrapped up by the end of 2008, so, if we are unable to secure further funding, we will at least have created a replicable program which can be used by others.

Not short of work at the moment!!

9. School is Back!! First outing for new mentees

Schools returned for the final term (semester) of the year yesterday. I have been working with another oganisation to set up and run a Try a Trade Day. Basically, what this means is that one of our local schools allows us to use their hall. A very large truck arrives, we work hard to unpack it and, in the space of a couple of hours, we have about 14 different stalls set up for the kids to get a taste of different trades eg, hairdressing, beauty, florist, automotive, bricklaying, cooking, painting and plastering, plumbing, horticulture, welding and so on. Most of the stalls are run by volunteer apprentices. Groups of 30 students at a time come through the hall. They are given one hour to get to as many stalls as interest them. From the feedback we received from about 176 students (aged between 14 and 17) that went through today, it was a great success.

Included in the one school group were 10 mentees. I thought it would be a good opportunity for them to have a taste of some different career possibilities and, when they meet up with their mentors, they will have something to talk about and to share, remembering that this GR8 MATES mentoring program is aimed at encouraging the students to transition from school to the workplace, weighing up as many options as they can. Hopefully, the mentors will encourage them and assist them on this journey in the months ahead. They all seemed to enjoy their time going around the stalls, so it will be interesting to hear what comes out of the experience. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the day and the safety and security conditions around running the day, we could not invite the mentors to go around the stalls with their mentees as either observers or participants.

Next week when we meet together the mentees will be completing the Student on-line profiler and I look forward to seeing the results of those. More on that later .....

8. Mentor Online Profiler - a wonderful tool for encouragement and evaluation

I first came across the Mentor Profiler online tool a few years ago, having met Doug Cowie, who owns Frontline Solutions, the company which has developed this tool over the years. It was initially developed by Lou Thompson in New Zealand. Lou ran a trial of the program with approximately 3000 adolescents while he was working in the field of youth mentoring. When Lou moved to take up a tertiary position in Australia, Doug decided to continue with its development.

I helped in a small way with the rewriting and the updating of the content a couple of years ago, simply to make the vocabulary more user-friendly to 21st Century mentors and mentees. Yes, mentees, too, as there is a Student Profiler as well.

"What's the point?" you might well be asking.

Over the years I have looked at numerous methods of Evaluation. People running programs often comment that mentors are slow at completing Mentor Logs etc. and, because of financial limitations, it's the area around evaluations that is sadly overlooked. Then, when youth mentoring organisations are asked by potential funders about their evaluation methods, there is a stutter, a silence and something is muttered out :-) The Mentor Profiler is one aspect of the GR8 MATES evaluation process and I am hoping it will show personal development of both the mentors and the mentees in a number of key personal growth areas.

What interested me about this Profiler was that it had been tested thoroughly by Lou Thompson, well-qualified to put such a program together. Once a mentor or student had completed the profiler, they could see how they had fared and, by pressing another key, they could go to a list of suggested ways they could improve in the particular domain they were assessing. Thus, it is a user-friendly, non-threatening, constructive tool to use and, given the cost of developing one's own evaluation process, this is one tool that is cost effective. Doug is revisiting everything about the Profiler at the moment. However, it costs our organisation Aus$40 for each Profiler to be completed twice - once at the beginning of the mentoring journey and once at the end, so I hope readers will appreciate why it can be a useful evaluation tool ie, for a mere Aus$20 (the cost each time the Profiler is completed), one has a valuable evaluation process taking place! Doug is exploring the possibility of offering reduced rates for larger numbers, schools etc.

There are six Domains that mentors and mentees need to complete:

A. Personality
B. Interpersonal Relationships
C. Communication
D. Motivation
E. Facilitative Skills
F. Global Self-Worth

There are a number of statements under each of these headings which the mentor or mentee must respond to - it is very simple. There are no right or wrong answers and it's all about personal growth and development.

Each Mentor and Mentee is given a User ID and a Password by Frontline Solutions. Once they complete the Profiler they are unable to go back and make changes, but they can see their graphs of results and the suggestions to encourage their personal growth whenever they would like to do so.

When they complete their second attempt at the Profiler, they will be given a new ID and Password.

As the Program Coordinator of GR8 MATES, I have access to all the Profilers, so can assess the mentors and the mentees myself.

All the mentors completed the Profiler after the training, prior to the Post-Training Interview and I used it as part of the screening process, as I want them all to complete it again at the end of the journey.

Doug and I have shared ideas about the mentors completing the Profiler before the training as another option. However, as the Profiler is specifically about mentoring, I felt that it would be worth doing once the mentors and I had been through the training and mentors had a clearer understanding of youth mentoring. Also, I would not have to pay for those who dropped out of the program!

When the students return to school next term (semester), I have set time aside for them to complete the Student Profiler, with the assistance of their mentors. I am hoping this will further enhance the connection between the mentor and the mentee for the mentoring journey. More on that later!!

For more information on the Profiler, or to have a look at a sample, have a look at: http:/mentoring.unitecnology.ac.nz (note there is no www in this address). You can access it directly through my Links page on my website (http://www.yess.co.nz/) - scroll down to Frontline Solutions.

I am happy to share more info on this great tool with anyone who is interested in it. One major advantage of using it is that one does not have to pay a monthly fee to another provider for maintaining the website etc. I have been exploring a number of these options and it's this monthly fee that places most of the options I have been exploring out of our financial reach. The main reason is that, while these providers offer heaps, I am only interested in a small part of what they are offering for my program, so do not see the justification for paying the type of fees asked for - it's a Catch-22 situation, as I have some empathy for the providers as well.

Enough for now .....

7. The Mentor/Mentee match is announced

On Tuesday this week mentors and mentees met at the school to hear who would be paired with whom. One mentor had to miss the session as he had a long-term overseas trip lined up. However, I suggested he send me a letter to his new mentee, which I would check and, if suitable, would hand over to the mentee. This he did. At the appropriate time I gave the letter to the mentee to read and keep - he was most definitelyappreciative of this gesture! Another mentor's mentee is away from school with Glandular Fever, so she will only meet next term (semester), providing the mentee would like to keep participating.

We had a problem with the venue, which slowed down the process, and then a couple of mentors were delayed, arriving late, and we also had to locate a couple of the students. Patience and flexibility are important when running these programs, that's for sure. Being end of term this week and the final year students' last days at school, there are inevitably some high and low times! One highlight was having a student approach me while I was waiting for the others and asking if he could join the program. Unfortunately I had to decline his request, though suggested he complete the Mentee Interest Survey just in case things changed, though I still wanted more girls in the event of someone dropping out of the program.

After welcoming everyone to the session, I announced the pairings and, as expected, there was a wonderfully positive vibe all around. Next, I had both the mentors and the mentees sign their respective contracts in front of each other. This gave me the opportunity of explaining to the students what the word 'Confidentiality' means in this program ie, if a mentor at any time feels that the mentee's wellbeing is at risk in any way, or they feel they do not know how to deal with an issue raised by their mentee, mentors would bring the matter to the program staff. In most, if not all cases, I suggested, the mentors would discuss this approach with their mentees prior to approaching the program staff. While there might be risks of the mentoring relationship breaking down if this occurred, it certainly has not been my experience in the past. I reason that if a mentee is prepared to trust a mentor to that extent, the mentee is also likely to trust the mentor's judgment.

Contracts signed I then handed out the Student's Manual and highlighted key aspects of it and its purpose during the mentoring journey. I offered to keep the students' copies for them during the holidays, but some asked if they could keep them instead - only a pleasure. Of course, the mentors had the copies to take home with them so they could become familiar with the content.

The formal business over, I gave the mentors and mentee 30 minutes to spend time getting to know one another. The majority headed out of the meeting place into the school grounds. Again, I had primed mentors that they might find boys opening up more if they were walking and talking rather than sitting at a table ie, no eye contact!! :-) Also, it needs to be mentioned, that the mentors have permission to move around the school grounds with their mentees during the mentoring session, but they are not allowed to leave the school without the school and program staff's permission.

Once everyone returned to the meeting room there were a few announcements made and the mentees headed out, but not before the Principal popped his head in to wish everyone well, a sincerely appreciated gesture. The mentors stayed behind for a debrief and snack etc. Overall, the mentors were amazed at how well these initial meetings had gone. I was not, as I had got to know both the mentors and the mentees a little over the previous weeks and felt that the training etc. had played a considerable part in helping both parties to make the initial connection. Again there were some wonderful stories from mentors re similar experiences to those of their mentees when they were adolescents etc. One mentor commented that she was surprised at the way her mentee kept putting himself down - turned out that that was because of the messages he was receiving at home ...... high or low self-esteem? There is exciting work to be done.

The School Coordinator will be back when the new term begins in mid-October and he and I will catch up at the first opportunity. The staff member substituting for him was fantastic and so positive about the mentoring program. At the end of the mentor/mentee matching session he asked if he could say a few words. He congratulated the mentees on having the courage to participate in the program and shared a little of his experiences being involved in a mentoring program during his army days - awesome, inspiring and a wonderful way to end that particular session.

During the debrief, I presented each of the mentors, and the substitute teacher with one of our organisation's coffee mugs, just a small thank you for all they had contributed to the journey thus far. They were touched and appeared to genuinely appreciate the gesture.

School holidays now, a time for me to plan more with regard to the mentoring program and its future, as well as get on top of my other work. It is a GR8 feeling seeing the GR8 MATES pilot program now up and running!! :-)

The mentoring journeys are under way ....

6. Matching the Mentors and Mentees

As GR8 MATES is a new pilot program, there are bound to be teething issues, even mistakes, though my personal commitment is that at no time will we place any students at risk as a result of the decisions we are making. Many of these students are vulnerable and lacking high self-esteem, something that we continually need to remind ourselves of.

There were some late student additions to the program, which was not ideal, as they had missed out on the mentee training. Nevertheless we moved on and ran a two hour mentor/mentee matching session. One of the students decided to withdraw from the program at this stage. Again, this was fine and we all knew that there is no shortage of students at the school who could participate in the program.

I aimed at using some fun activities, from books I have written in recent years, to break the ice between the mentors and mentees, which not only allowed them to learn something about each other in a non-threatening way, but also gave me the opportunity to share some thoughts about the benefits of a mentoring relationship. The latter usually took the form of a very brief brainstorming session that included outcomes such as: teamwork; moving out of one's comfort zone; effective communication; respect for one and all, including their different values; listening to one another etc. There were four fun activities and then I ran a fast-paced 'mentor meet a mentee' activity. During this time each mentor met each mentee for no more than three minutes and they could share as much as they wanted about each other. I had primed the mentors prior to the matching process as to some of the types of 'open' questions they might like to ask, all of which were in their Resource Manual (wanting them to remember its purpose!!) .

According to the program policies, as males would not be matched with female students there was no need for such interviews to occur. This fact helped speed up the interviewing process. Once those interviews were over the mentors and mentees, respectively, chose three people they would like to have as their partner. Names were written on a piece of paper, in order of preference, torn out of their workbooks and handed to me. There was no discussion during this time.

Overall, during a debrief after the matching session, at which mentors received light snacks, tea and coffee, they all expressed their delight at the positive vibe during the matching activities.

Back to the office to see what the choices were. I was expecting it to be harder than it was! In the end each student received his or her first or second choice. I had a meeting with the Principal a couple of days later. By this time I had completed the Student Assessment Summary and had matched the students with their mentors on paper! I went through the choices with the Principal and we both signed their Summary sheets. Unfortunately the School Coordinator had headed off on leave during this process, but he will be the third signatory on these forms on his return.

Overall, I think this particular process worked very well. Having had some practice during the mentee training, the students settled into the fun activities remarkably quickly and most mentors entered into the spirit of the occasion incredibly quickly. What a special group they are!
My final part of the process was to inform the mentors as to whom their mentees would be for the mentoring journey. I gave a snapshot from the students Pre-Programme Survey, just enough to encourage the mentor prior to the official match. And, as has happened throughout this program thus far, I was amazed at some of the positive responses. Things I had no knowledge of about the mentors prior to the match being made, were fed back to me ie, mentors having had similar career experiences when they were adolescents, knowing people who had the same interests as their new mentees etc.

I felt it was important to give mentors the opportunity to express their agreement or non-agreement about the match prior to the actual matching meeting taking place. Some mentors had said they were happy to mentor anyone, as 'they are all great kids', which did facilitate some of the decisions taken. I knew that the students would be happy, as they had received their choice of mentor.

One final point about this early program journey and preparation of the mentors. Once the mentors had sent their Acceptance Forms to me and had been accepted into the training, I sent a weekly email to all the mentors. It was aimed at keeping them up to date with program developments, as well as sowing the seeds of the spirit of mentoring, as I included, under the heading: Mentoring Thought, a short quote pertinent to the mentoring experience. I have collected these quotes over the years and have a few hundred now. Again, I am aiming to show the mentors that I appreciate the fact that they are volunteering and that I value each and every one of them :-)

All that remained was to bring the matches together ....

5. Preparing the mentees

The school was responsible for identifying the students whom they felt would benefit from participation in the program. A number of students had already participated in a program earlier in the year which was aimed at the development of study and life skills, so it seemed only natural that they should be considered for the program, as the encouragement from the volunteer mentor might be significant in the choices these young people were making. My viewpoint was that this program was not a babysitting service, nor was it a program for the more difficult students, some of whom might already be receiving professional help of some sort. The reminder is always there that mentors are volunteers from the community who are interested in moving alongside a young person and encouraging them to reach their potential. They are not there to fix problems, not to rescue students and save students.

A few students appeared to be exhibiting signs of disengaging from school and might even have been involved in some form of misbehaviour. In such cases their parents welcomed participation in the program with a mixture of relief and enthusiasm! :-)

What was important was that all parents had to be informed about the program and permission had to be given from them for the students to attend the orientation program. I drafted a letter outlining the purpose of the program, the benefits of an effective, internationally credible program and also subtly put the message across that their child's participation in the program was in no way a reflection of their parenting skills. The Principal then adapted the letter to the school's approach and sent them off. In addition, participation in the program is voluntary for the students, though I did stress to them the importance of sticking to the mentoring journey for the full six week probationary period once they had committed to participate.

I spoke to a group of about 14 students and shared details of the program, what it is all about, the benefits for the student participants, both long-term and short-term, also sharing some aspects of international research about youth mentoring. I had put together an audio-visual summary of my presentation, something the students tend to appreciate. They then completed a Student Pre-Program Survey which gave me a few insights into their thinking.

A couple of students opted out of the program at this point and I think we learnt a clear lesson from this exercise ie, better to have 20 - 25 students applying for the program, knowing that some would prefer not to participate in the end, than the same number of students as potential mentors. We could train more students than we had mentors, as this could make it easier to get matches on similar interests etc. Thus, I would suggest one keeps the options open throughout this process. We also had more boys than girls participating, possibly because adolescent girls of this age can cover up their feelings of inadequacy or low self-esteem better than boys, though this is is a gross generalisation.

A week later I ran a two hour mentee training program aimed at introducing the students to some mentoring concepts, but, most importantly, preparing the way for the mentor/mentee matching session. I ran a number of fun, non-threatening activities, most of which went down well, though, as one student justifiably pointed out in the evaluations, perhaps they were carrying too similar a message and thus were repetitive from that perspective. I ran a role play and was encouraged when students volunteered to take on the roles of mentor and mentee respectively and did wonderfully well. The key was for students to feel non-threatened. At the conclusion of these activities they completed the Mentee Interest Survey, almost identical in content to the Mentor Interest Survey. These surveys could be a key factor in the matching process.

During this time of preparing the students for the mentoring journey, I was conducting 1:1 Post-Training Interviews with all the mentor participants over a two week period. I volunteered to meet at their homes, or offices or at our office. The option was there so they could see that I valued their participation and was prepared to meet them at a venue which suited 'them'. I had contacted two of their three Referees prior to these interviews. The interview, which took 20 - 30 minutes maximum, focused on how much the participant had learnt from the training, their strengths and areas they felt they still needed to work at, ensured they understood the developmental role of the mentor in the mentoring relationship and allowed time for me to respond to any questions participants might have had about the program. All responses were recorded on paper, again an important part of the evaluation process. All participants also had to complete a non-threatening, yet helpful on-line Mentor Profiler, about which I will write in another Blog.

So, the mentors' screening was thorough. Once I was satisfied that the mentor had met all the program's criteria, clearly spelt out in the Mentor Assessment Summary, I went through each application with my CEO, who also signed the document accepting the mentor into the program. This is an important part of any program and takes the pressure off the Coordinator and other program staff in the event of something unforeseen taking place at any point during the mentoring journey. I then sent mentors a letter inviting them to participate in the program.

During this process I lost one mentor. She had weighed up the commitment, having completed the training and decided at the last minute to withdraw from the program, partly because she had just started in a new job as well. While I was naturally disappointed, I was also pleased that she had the courage to make this decision, as I had consistently advised mentors that it was okay to withdraw if they were concerned about the commitment required.

One final point about the process thus far. I have rewritten the student surveys and have combined their two surveys and now have one Pre-Program Student Survey.

We were ready to get on with the matching process ....

4. Benefits of the Mentor Training

Why do I swear by this 21-hour training program? Well, in addition to some quite awesome evaluations, in which the mentors share how much they have enjoyed their time together, here are some points to consider:

• Mentors have an opportunity to reflect on the topic week by week. The following week I always allow time for questions before we continue.
• The group bonds together fantastically and, in the programs I run, this group will stay together throughout the mentoring journey. So, they get to know one another, begin to exchange emails and they also come to see how much experience of life is within this one group as they journey through the training.
• I find it a great screening tool and sometimes work behind the scenes with participants to encourage them in areas where perhaps they are battling. Some of the stuff is too personal to put on a Blog page, though often the issues are about personal relationships or relationships with other members of the group. Again, it's great to gather the following week and to observe how the particular people involved might be working on an issue that others don't even know about. They all know I am not a Psychologist nor a Counsellor :-)
• There are more opportunities for experiential learning. As participants begin to share more and more, we have some wonderful brainstorming sessions, which is a great opportunity for participants to see how they can all benefit from such exchanges of knowledge and experience when they begin the mentoring journey.
• The Goal-getting module includes participants having to set two personal goals which they share with one other participant for five weeks (time is allocated each week for this). The idea? They have to mentor each other to see if they can achieve their goals. Goal-getting is a wonderful way to connect with and inspire adolescents if done properly and in a fun, non-threatening way. I say nothing while they undergo this goal-getting experience (obviously other than running the module during week 2) and then gather the threads together when we hear how they have all done, for which time is set aside in week 7.
• There is plenty of informal chat over the tea/coffee breaks, prior to the training beginning etc. and, again, it's a positive way to screen and, at the same time, get to know the mentors for a program.
• If they can turn up each week to the training, they are likely to be committed to the mentoring journey. Where people are irregular with attendance, they will screen themselves out of the program, as happened to one person during this latest training. I allow mentors to miss one training session (unless they have good reason eg, a business or other trip that had been organised months earlier). More than that and they are not allowed to continue in the program. Tough, yet effective! They can always make up the difference when the next training occurs, though it does mean they have to link in with a new group. I have had a number of experiences where mentors were allowed to continue the mentoring journey, despite missing a large bulk of the training. More often than not, these were the mentors that gave the most hassles once the mentoring journey began.
• Mentors gain a good grasp of the issues young people are having to deal with and have the opportunity, through the experiential process, to reflect back to their own adolescent experiences, something that is difficult to do as effectively in a short training program.
• I refer to the Manual throughout the training, so the mentors are aware of the content and its relevance for the various issues they will face during the mentoring journey.

I have little doubt that there will be many more benefits and, if I think of any, I will add them to this Blog page. Enough for now .....

3. Training the Mentors: a wonderful journey!

I trained 14 mentors over a 7 week period. We met at the school every Tuesday night between 6.00 and 9.00 pm. Having 5 men present for the first stage of a pilot program was also amazing, as I was used to having considerably more female than male mentors prior to this program. Once a program has been up and running for a while then I find the male mentors start joining.

Anyway, mentors gathered from 5.45 pm and I provided light snacks, fruit, tea and coffee and the chance to chat informally. The training began at 6.15 and went on until about 7.25 pm, at which time I took a 10 minute tea/coffee break. The lollies or sweets are quickly consumed by one and all!! The final session of the evening ended at 9.00 pm. Occasionally I went over the time by 5 minutes, always with the permission of the participants and this was because I liked to conclude the evening with a story that would inspire the participants to keep on keeping on and also to give credence to the training that night.

I guess that was one thing that surprised me when I visited many programs in the USA and Canada last year. People were reluctant to spend more than a few hours training their volunteers and I often came away feeling that so many of those mentors were not properly prepared for working alongside young people. Adults get into bad habits, often think 'corporate speak' is going to work with young people (quite the opposite in many cases), feel they know exactly how to go about the mentoring journey, when they have so little understanding about what makes young people tick and so on and so forth. I am probably a little biased about all this, though I think it needs to be remembered that I am sharing ideas about mentoring adolescents.

When I first researched mentor training about 9 years ago, I came to see that many of the more successful programs were offering more than 12 - 16 hours of training. Those that went over 20 hours seemed to imply that the connection between mentor and mentee happened quicker than those with less training, something probably more true when mentoring boys I would imagine - the latter is certainly my experience.

Anyway, from the outset I decided to take the longer route and hoped that mentors would be happy with that form of training and I have not been disappointed. I have tried training over one day, for a few hours, over a couple of days during weekends, yet each time I come back to this 21-hour training program which I continue to develop - one has to keep writing, developing etc., as now we are working with Generation Y young people and we are mentoring young people who will participate in a very different world of work from when I started off my career.

I have now trained over 700 mentors and yet I am still learning, hence the importance of gaining honest feedback from the participants, which I obtain verbally during the training and in writing at the end of the training. The latter is a straightforward qualitative and quantitative evaluation form which I then collate and pass on to the school and my CEO. All mentors receive a copy of 'The Spirit of Mentoring - a Manual for volunteer adults', which I wrote in 2005 and self-published. This is the resource book around which the training has been developed, though it is mainly for use by the mentors when they begin the mentoring journey. I wrote it is a user-friendly book containing heaps and heaps of tips, ideas and so much more, mostly written with bullet points and under clear headings, with diagrams throughout. Many of the diagrams are similar to the power point slides I use during the training. This book is available through my website at less than half the price my publishers recommended! I am grateful to all those who have shared their experiences, as well as for the many, many resources I consulted prior to writing the book, which also includes a lengthy Bibliography :-)

The topics I cover over the 7 weeks are:

Week 1: What is a mentor?
Week 2: Goal-getting.
Week 3: Resiliency.
Week 4: Self-image and assertive behaviour.
Week 5: Communication.
Week 6: Resolving Conflicts.
Week 7: Summary and Evaluation.

There is heaps of repetition, which is deliberate, allowing the participants to grasp how so many of these modules are interlinked. There are plenty of interactive activities and an opportunity for participants to get in touch with their own feelings and experiences as they decide whether or not they want to undertake the mentoring journey. I make the first week challenging, as I would rather mentors drop out at that point than later, or even once they have started the mentoring journey. Occasionally I have lost a participant early on, but that's been fine.

I try to include a self-analysis sheet of some sort at the end of every evening, so the participants can assess how they stack up as potential mentors. All activities and self-analysis sheets are non-threatening, the activities often loaded with humour and fun. I begin each week with an icebreaker of some sort, though absolutely every aspect of the training is linked to mentoring young people in some way. I go at a fairly rapid pace, which is what the majority of participants truly enjoy. By the time I complete the training, mentors are familiar with the importance of EMPATHY and COMMUNICATION, especially LISTENING and NOT fixing or saving and so much more.

I feel so privileged to train mentors and the vibe is always so positive. I work hard at this on the first night and I am always pleasantly surprised at how many people share 'stuff' so early in the training. You will see from the order of the modules above that I bring the more sensitive material around resiliency, self-image and resolving conflict into the latter part of the training. The major emphasis of the training is the experiential nature of it. I also include role plays (not enough!), pairs and larger group discussion and, of course, we often have large group discussion as I share the meat of the topics.

What made this recent training that little bit more special was the fact that our catering was done by another federally funded project which helps young people, aged 13 - 19, and who have been away from school for at least three months, to get some experience in the hospitality sector. It's a fantastic programme and again I feel privileged to serve on their Steering Committee now. Cafe Horizons, as it is known, operates as a genuine Cafe between 11.30 am and 2.30 pm 4 days a week, during which time the students, who are supervised by professionally qualified and trained staff, take on different roles eg, a week as a kitchen hand, a week as front of house, a week as cashier etc. etc. Prior to the Cafe opening and again after cleaning up towards the end of the day, the students attend lectures in a room set aside for this purpose. I have been pleased to hear that some of the mentors have been there for lunch to see the cafe in action for themselves. Those students who complete the course gain a recognised Certificate for their efforts.

By the way, mentors who complete their training receive a Certificate of Attendance at the end of the training. Over the years I have discovered a few (very few, fortunately) who wanted to gain a Certificate, which they then put on their Resume (or Curriculum Vitae) and claimed they were mentors which they were not. Our mentors only gain an accredited Certificate once the six week probationary mentoring period is over.

I am digressing ..... perhaps a good place to end for a moment.

2. Early lessons learnt or reinforced in setting up a youth mentoring program

There have been many lessons learnt on the journey thus far. Perhaps it would be helpful to list a few of these:

• Make sure the program is internationally credible, which requires a Policies and Procedures Manual. There are some good examples of these on internationally credible youth mentoring websites.
• Develop a budget and have a plan as to how the program will roll out. We have a budget plan until 2011, which now requires further work.
• Develop the programme slowly. Don't try to make it too big too fast. A quality program will take time to develop. I am already into my third rewrite of the Policies and Procedures Manual and we are only just getting the mentor/mentee matches under way :-)
• Think about evaluation all the time. I record 'every' inquiry about the program and also know how most of the people contacting me have heard about the program. I evaluate the mentor training, the mentee training and the mentor/mentee matching session - more about those later.
• Keep building partnerships and networks. I am keen to develop partnerships with churches for volunteer mentors, as I sense that's an untapped area and there are some wonderful people in those communities who might well take up the offer to obtain mentoring experience.
• Make the training free wherever possible - after all, the mentors are volunteering their time. We have the school paying a small amount for each participating student and this covers most of the mentor's training accreditation fee. We cover the difference from the GR8 MATES budget.
• Make sure every potential mentor attends the training. I had one or two who were working in tertiary institutions who thought they did not need the training. I told them if they were unwilling or unable to participate in the training, they would not be able to participate in this particular program. It lets people know we are not desperate for mentors, but would prefer to have those who want to commit to all aspects of the program - that is clearly spelt out in the Application Pack.
• For a school-based program, the Principal and Senior Management must get behind the program. I won't run a program unless I have sat with the Principal, discussed the program and received his/her support. I am also developing a short School Contract which participating school Principals will have to sign before we launch the program in their school. I think this adds to the quality of the program.
• Identify the School Coordinator at the earliest opportunity. Teachers are busy people. I would love for the School Coordinator to attend the mentor training, though I know I can't enforce this if I want to see the program succeed. I also offer open invitations for the school to allow a number of teachers to attend the training free of charge, though they will only receive a Certificate of Attendance, not the full accreditation. More on that later.
• Have a clear mentor screening process in place and enforce it - we want that commitment from the mentors.
• Have a supportive group of people around you as you set the program up. I am looking to have a Mentor Sub-Committee of our Board in place by early 2008, their role to focus only on the development of the GR8 MATES mentoring program - more on that later.
• Don't quit!! There were times I wondered if I was moving too fast, when all of a sudden things came together and I was ready to pull together an orientation session.
• Don't be afraid to seek assistance and advice from people who have journeyed before, networks in different corners of the world. I have the privilege of knowing that I can contact people in various countries and ask for their advice, any resources on a specific topic etc. etc. I have been a member of Peer Resources (Canada) for a number of years now and regularly visit Mentor Exchange Listserv to read what people are doing, writing about etc. (National Mentoring Center) ......... And I do keep researching, reading and looking for fresh ideas, learning from the experiences of others etc. There is a wealth of knowledge out there and most people I have communicated with have been only too willing to share their ideas, thoughts etc. with me.
• Once potential mentors are on board, keep them interested. I send out a very brief email, with a mentoring thought included, each week, as I want all mentors to know that I value their commitment to the program and want to keep them motivated and inspired for the mentoring journey ahead.
• Market wherever you can - word of mouth is hugely important; churches; media; school newsletters; radio; tertiary institution intranets. I didn't use all of these this time around, but I am aware of different strategies - and spend money on a great brochure (A4 folded flyer), as this shows professionalism. If you have too many glossy brochures etc., people might think you are flush with cash :-) , so be careful you don't go over the top. I also had local Chambers of Commerce advertising through their E-Newsletters, as well as a Rotarian sharing the news of this new program. Even if I didn't get great returns from all of these strategies, I am also trying to increase the awareness about the GR8 MATES program for potential future grrowth.
• Once you sense you have enough mentors to get things moving, go for it. Once I had 10 potential mentors I called the orientation meeting and more joined in the meantime.
• Keep developing a website with key information for mentors - we are still in the process of developing this within my organisation and that's okay.
• Enough for now ....

1. Setting up a school-based mentoring program: early days

I have spent the past nine months developing the GR8 MATES youth mentoring program, a school-based program for Year 9 students who are possibly beginning to disengage from school or are not really reaching their potential for any number of reasons. This program aims to encourage these young people (mentees) to explore their options over at least a nine month mentoring relationship with a volunteer adult mentor from within the local community.

In Australia students are not allowed to leave school until the end of Year 10. At this point many who leave school tend to seek Apprenticeships, usually a four year process. Others simply head out into the world of work and seek a job of some sort. Some might study a short course through a local Tertiary or Training and Further Education (TAFE) Institute and then seek work. There are so many options available to young people, though it is becoming more and more important for them to complete their final year of schooling (Year 12), such are the needs for skilled, more mature employees.

Anyway, I spent time exploring options during the latter months of 2006 and eventually decided to model the program on another Australian program called Plan-It Youth. I spent time discussing the emergence of this program with one of the founders and then returned to the drawing-board to rewrite the program so that it suited the mission of the GR8 MATES program: To support young people in Year 9 and Year 10 to investigate their post school options and to make positive life choices that enable them to reach their personal potential.

The vision developed for the GR8 MATES program is simple: Young people will experience supportive one-to-one relationships and community support, which in turn allows them to develop into their full potential capable of making informed, responsible decisions as they transition from school to the workplace.

I was immensely fortunate to be awarded a Churchill Fellowship while I was still living in New Zealand and, in July 2006, visited mentoring and other youth programs in Canada and the USA. People I visited were so helpful and shered plenty of their experiences with me. My work up until this time had been involved with developing community based youth mentoring programs, a wonderful way to go, though requiring considerably more paperwork, screening and supervision than a school-based program. As I talked to people, I began to think more seriously than before about the positives of a school-based program, so, when I joined the Schools Industry Partnership (SIP), based in Penrith, Outer Western Sydney, I was privileged to be given the opportunity to launch this new program. There are no effective youth mentoring programs in the region and there are certainly plenty of concerns about the pathways being chosen by many young people, so this seemed a great opportunity. As SIP is a government federally funded program, we are able to launch a pilot and, if successful explore further options.
As a result of my travels and the conversations I have had over the years with others involved in youth mentoring, I have been fortunate to have rubbed shoulders with some of the most respected programs in the USA. The National Mentoring Center and MENTOR have allowed me to adapt materials and this I have done developing the Policies and Procedures Manual for GR8 MATES. It is important that the program stands up to international scrutiny, so I have followed all the Quality Assurance steps, listed in more detail on my website (http://www.yess.co.nz/ ).

I was able to adapt other material I had already used in developing other youth mentoring programs and this made it considerably easier to pull something together that was internationally credible in a relatively short space of time (three months).

Then began the process of finding both the school to pilot the program and the volunteer mentors. I reasoned that the school would have no problem identifying potential mentees, so that was the least of my problems during the early days. I also have held a belief for quite some time that there are many people within churches who might want to live out their faith ie, giving of their time in service to young people. Fortunately, Kelly from a church in the Blue Mountains area where we would be trialling the program, made contact with me about youth mentoring in general. I shared with her all that GR8 MATES was about and she offered to approach some people in her congregation, which led to some interest. I was aiming to have between 10 and 15 mentors for the pilot. Kelly also gave me the name of a reporter from a local community newspaper whom she felt would be supportive of this program. I contacted him and he offered to put together a story, together with a photograph of the School Principal, the School Coordinator (in this instance also the Careers Advisor) and myself. In addition, one of our Board members involved in a local TAFE offered to circulate an advertisement about the program on the TAFE intranet. All in all I probably received about 30 to 40 expressions of interest, though a number of people dropped out when they heard where the program was being run ie, they couldn't get to the area (distance) and when it would be held (between 10.50 am and 12.50 pm) every Tuesday during term time.

How did we find the school? Well, this was the easiest part. One of my jobs as Career Transition Manager for SIP was to organise a Principals Breakfast early in the year, which was also attended by Careers Advisers and other members of school senior management teams. We used the opportunity to showcase our plans for 2007, which included the possibility of launching a mentoring program. No major details were given, as I was still in the thinking and planning stage at that point, but we received Expressions of Interest from 17 schools. The Principal of one of these schools is the Deputy Chairman of our Board, so, when he offered to pilot the program it was too good an opportunity to turn down. Why do I say this? Simply because he has been involved in SIP from the beginning, understands the philosophy, and also appreciates that a new program is going to have to go through some challenging times as it establishes itself.

While these various processes were taking place, the Policies and Procedures Manual was coming together and I was ready to put together an A4 brochure advertising the program. In the long-term it's cheaper to produce more flyers like this, so we had 5,000 printed which will serve us well for at least three years, I would think. It's glossy, explains the Mission and the Vision of GR8 MATES, fits it into the whole SIP program and outlines some other information about GR8 MATES.

We were beginning to get up a head of steam by June, so it was time to have an orientation meeting at the school of those interested. Having Keith, School Principal, present was an important moment for the program. If the Principal is not openly backing the program in such instances, it's that much harder to succeed. Fortunately, Keith has been totally involved from day one and we are in regular contact. He is copied into all the emails sent out to the mentors, so he knows what's going on all the time.

At the orientation meeting, attended by about 20 potential mentors, I outlined the program and handed out Application Packs. A couple of people told me that they would be unable to participate, as they could not attend the training and one person, so keen to be involved, had to withdraw prior to the training due to family circumstances which necessitated her having to help out with baby-sitting etc. Perhaps in 2008 she said.

The Application Packs contained brochures, as well as forms that needed to be completed. These forms contained information such as: Mentor's date of birth, contact details, places of work during the past 5 years and names of employers (who would not be contacted); contact details of three people for character references; a Mentor Interest Survey, a Working with Children Check Form (compulsory in Australia), an outline of the Mentor Training Programme and a Consent Form that allows us to take photos during the mentor's participation in the program (also a requirement as we are government funded). Once the forms started coming in, I set the dates and times for the training.