ATHABASCA – Eleven families sat around tables in the art room at Landing Trail Intermediate School (LTIS) May 25, while the kids coloured, played tic-tac-toe, or tried to solve a maze with their mentor.
Everyone was gathered for the final mentorship session of the year; the program, put on by Family and Community Support Services (FCSS), works to pair as many Grade 3 and 4 students with adult mentors as they can each year.
There’s just one issue — requests for mentors are quickly outstripping the number of volunteers. This year, according to program co-ordinator Amanda Potts, FCSS received around 55 student applications, but only had 25 mentors to pair them with.
“After COVID, it took a long time to pick up, and we’re still trying to regain that momentum,” said Potts. “We’re working with Edwin Parr Composite (EPC) School in getting their Grade 12 students. We’re hoping to work there to create a program; the students currently get credits for being a mentor.”
While everyone enjoyed a lunch put together by EPC’s foods class, some students eagerly asked if they would be able to have the same mentor again next year, but FCSS rotates the mentor every year to provide the most variety as they can.
“The statistic is that the (more good influences) a child has in their life, the better they’ll do,” said Potts. “The goal is just to supply kids with a trusting adult that they can be friends with.
Of course, the kids aren’t the only ones that are getting a friend out of the deal. For adults like Howard Wilkie and Tracy Edwards, being a mentor is something to look forward to every week.
“It’s about having a buddy, and having fun with them,” said Wilkie, who’s mentee reached over to give him a fist bump.
“I think just feeling like you’re doing something positive for somebody else,” said Edwards, herself a recent empty nester. “I miss kids, I love being around kids. It was a really positive experience for me, we had so much fun and it was something to look forward to.”
The program splits the mentors up between LTIS, and Whispering Hills Primary School, who will conclude their mentorship year on Tuesday with a similar lunch. Once a week, mentors show up during the student’s lunch break, and they spend the time doing something that interests both of them, whether that’s playing catch, doing puzzles, making arts and crafts, etc.
For Shona Hunter, an assistant principal and Grade 4 physical education teacher at LTIS, the impact that the mentors have is glaringly obvious.
“It has such a large impact on the kids; they get to know the day that their mentor comes, and they’ll be asking ‘are you sure they’re going to come today?’ so they express a lot of excitement about the visit,” said Hunter. “For me, the most thrilling part is, wherever they go for the lunch hour, when I get to see them in action, just the genuine relationship between the mentee and the mentor is just phenomenal. They’re shy at the start, but by the end, they’re still doing activities, but just seeing the genuine conversation and level of engagement that the student has is special. It’s the gift of time that’s the most impactful.”
The impact that the year-long program has carries over into future years as well; Hunter says that LTIS staff notice an increased willingness from students to trust the adults that are working to support them.
“Not only do they have that friend, but they see those other volunteers that come through the school, for reading or for other reasons, and it opens up the mentees to how to engage with an adult. It shows them that there’s a team of adults here that I can trust, and that are interested in me and in my learning.”
Anyone interested in mentoring will need to have a completed vulnerable sector check from the RCMP, as well as a child intervention check from the Children’s Services department.
