Posted: 5/14/03

Mentor program connects youth, adults in friendship

Jessica Foster
Staff Writer

Intergenerational friendship is the foundation for the mentoring program in Forest Lake Schools. But, participants, school administrators and volunteers insist, it is so much more.

Friends make a Difference, a partnership between Fairview Lakes Regional Health Care and area schools. The program provides mentors who meet with students over lunch twice monthly.

Betty Hestekin, community health outreach manager for Fairview, facilitates the program at local schools. She is recruiting for fall.

ìYou have to be an adult and you have to like kids,î Hestekin said of the qualifications for volunteers.

Too, volunteers go through an orientation session before beginning. Volunteers can get started as a substitute if they prefer to ease into the commitment.

ìEverything is planned during the lunch hour,î Hestekin explained. ìThis is a great way for adults to volunteer during lunch hour and you can make a difference with a kid.î

While the program is wrapping up for this school year, those who head the program stress a need for mentors to serve kids next year.

Heidi Errickson, guidance counselor at ALC lauds the success of the program.

ìIt has been wonderful, the kids look forward to it every week,î Errickson said.

However, she wants more people to step forward to mentor the youth on the waiting list.

ìOur goal was to get a mentor for every sixth, seventh and eighth graderówe havenít done that. Weíre close but we havenít done that,î she said.

She said the positive effects extend beyond the classroom turned lunchroom twice each month.

ìThis is a way of having those positive experiences with people in the community,î Errickson said. ìIt helps the kids be able to get out in the community.î

Volunteers who have been making friends with youth say it is a program they would recommend to others.

Mir Verner spends every other Wednesday having lunch with a seventh grade friend.

ìYou get to meet some neat people is what I get out of it,î Verner said. ìThat and some free lunch.î

Volunteer Elaine Svec said she enjoys getting to know young friends.

ìI like the program because it keeps us in touch with the younger generationóother than what you just assume you see,î she said.

Last week, she visited with Lindsay Cowle. Cowleís mentor was absent and Svecís mentee was absent. No matter, they had lunch with each other instead.

ìI like it because I get to talk to a whole bunch of people,î Cowle said.

Last week, she brought a collection of photos she put together in a scrap book.

ìI usually bring something to show,î she said.

Dan Hames has been coming to lunch with his mentee for two years.

ìI enjoy working with the kids, I definitely do,î Hames said. ìI think I get more out of it than he (his mentee) does.î

Well, maybe not.

ìI want to come back next year definitely,î Robert Thomas said. ìDanís the coolest. I want him to be my mentor next year.î

The sentiment is shared by Robbie Bland, who describes the mentor program as ìtoo good of a program.î

ìI look forward to coming here. I wish I could come here every day,î he said.

Benefits

In addition to the friendships made over sub sandwiches and soda pop, there are other benefits, administrators insist.

ìI see an increase in willingness to trust adults,î said Gayle McGrane, dean of students at ALC. ìIt carries over in the big picture.î

Steve Massey is principal at the ALC. He said the mentors help the students feel good about themselves.

ìIt makes them feel good about who they are, that just carries over in so many areas.î Massey said.

ìTheyíre more successful in class. It just pushes that successful experience. It has a domino effect,î he said.

Grant

The program recently was boosted by a $5000 grant from the Greater Twin Cities United Way.

The money will be used to fund the lunch program with the mentors.

To volunteer

More mentors are needed to make the program a success. Volunteers can mentor students at district elementary schools, at the Area Learning Center, Century Junior High School and Southwest Junior High School.

For information on the program or to volunteer, call Betty Hestekin at 651-257-8806 or email bhestek1@fairview.org.

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