There are many ways to become a BBBS mentor

Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Ohio has expanded its school-based mentoring program, which is now available in 11 school districts in Tuscarawas, Harrison and Carroll counties. Differing from the organization’s community-based mentoring course, it is centered around activities at the little’s school.

“It’s supervised mentoring at the school itself,” Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Ohio Director Beverly Pearch said. “Matched bigs and littles get together for about 45 minutes to an hour once a week, either during the school day or right after school. They have a snack, work on homework, cover social and emotional learning, and play a game and get to know each other a little bit.”

The program will begin the first week in October and run through the entire school year until May.

Bigs and littles from the school-based mentoring program also get to participate in the same monthly activities and camp as those from the community-based mentoring program.

The school-based mentoring program is open to mentors in ninth grade through 12th grade and adults in the community. All mentors get training and supervision to help ensure a good experience for all involved. There is no cost involved in the application process in becoming a big.

The process for becoming a big is the same as for the community-based program. An application form is available at www.bigs4kids.com.

“There’s an interview process,” Pearch said, “a background and reference check, and then we match bigs with littles based on our interviews. We try to match them based on common interests. And both big and little and their parent must agree to the match.”

Mentors also can start the process by calling the BBBSECO office at 330-339-6916. Paper applications will then be mailed.

Despite an uptick in mentors coming forward to help waiting littles, there is still a lengthy waiting list, Pearch said.

“We had a big influx of littles needing mentors beginning in 2022. As soon as we find mentors, it seems like that many more kids are needing to find a match,” Pearch said.

Pearch said about 50 kids are waiting currently, which is one of the highest numbers seen in several years. “There are always littles who are looking to match with a big,” she said. “Anyone interested in mentoring can start the application process anytime. We always need mentors.”

Though school-based mentoring is not meant to be a tutoring program, it is designed for mentors to offer guidance in their littles’ lives. The organization has found littles who participate in school-based mentoring experience real improvements in their lives. They do better in school, show greater self-confidence and have an improved attitude toward school and learning.

“We’ve been doing this for many years,” Pearch said. “We’ve just expanded it greatly into a lot more schools now. There was certainly a real need for us to do that.”

In the three counties, all of the districts except Garaway participate in school-based mentoring.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Ohio’s offices are at 1260 Monroe St. NW, Suite 100D, New Philadelphia. Find out more about the organization at its website or Facebook page.