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.