 |
Thanks to you....we are serving 3,000 children annually. Please help us help as many children as possible reach their true potential. |
School-Based Mentoring (SBM) is a collaborative program between Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles (JBBBS) and local schools. It is a highly effective and efficient way to serve an ever-increasing number of youth.
School-Based Mentoring is not a classroom program, and it's not tutoring. School-Based Mentoring is one-to-one mentoring that takes place in the schools. Of course, some students do talk with their mentors about classes and school, do homework, or read together, but it's really all about friendship and guidance. There is no financial cost to students to participate but there is a time commitment.
How does it work? High school students are matched with younger students on their campus or from neighboring middle or elementary schools. Matches meet weekly in a supervised setting on campus. The JBBBS staff is responsible for final assessment of suitability of students for the program and quality of match pairings. The JBBBS staff also provides training and ongoing support for the matches. The JBBBS staff keep in regular contact with matches and are available by phone and e-mail if issues arise that the student mentors would like to discuss.
Any elementary or middle school student at one of the schools with whom we work can be a mentee, as long as they are willing and able to meet weekly with a mentor. In some cases, 9th graders can also be mentees. In order to participate, students or parents will need to fill out a mentee application and parents or guardians will need to also sign a consent form.
The SBM program involves high school students in grades 10-12 from participating schools as mentors. To be a mentor a student will need to fill out an application, have a parent or guardian sign a consent form, get a reference form filled out by a teacher or staff member at the school, have an interview with JBBBS staff, and be trained. High school students will also need to be able to commit to weekly meetings with mentees on the younger student’s campus and monthly lunch time meetings with other mentors and JBBBS staff at the high school.
Benefits: Providing a school-based mentoring program enhances access to children who might not otherwise be able to participate. Parents need not make special arrangements to take advantage of these beneficial mentoring services. They simply need to sign a consent form.
Student-to-student matches allow both young people to benefit from the program. As one high school mentor said:
“I truly appreciate the Mentor Program. It provides an important connection between kids of all ages. I came in wanting to help someone else grow as a person. And I ended up growing myself.”
To find out how your school or child can become involved, please email Jenny Greenberg at JGreenberg@jbbbsla.org or call (323) 456-1151.
