YOU CAN HELP: If you can give an hour and a half a month, 30 local teens are looking for you!

| How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

A little time can make a big difference, if you can be a volunteer mentor for a new program at West Seattle High School. Here’s the announcement we were asked to share with you:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound is looking for 30 adult volunteers to mentor 9th through 12th graders once a month in a program called “MentorU.”

One in three kids in America are growing up without a sustained, positive adult mentor in their lives and over 500 youth are on Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound’s waitlist for a mentor. The gap between mentorship and youth who need it most continues to widen due to adult volunteers’ perceived barriers of the time and expertise needed to become a mentor. Understanding the critical need, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound seeks to engage and galvanize community members to help bridge the gap between people and possibility. Contrary to what potential volunteers might assume, no special qualifications are needed to be a great mentor.

The MentorU program engages local adult volunteers and 9th through 12th graders in 1:1 mentoring relationships with 90-minute meetings just once each month during the academic year. Mentors meet with their mentee to provide insights into the professional world and support mentees’ social-emotional development. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound provides a facilitator who guides mentors & mentees through a curriculum that prepares mentees for post-secondary education, employment, enlistment, and entrepreneurship. The program uses a cohort-based approach, working with incoming 9th graders, with the goal of ongoing student participation from 9th through 12th grade.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound is looking for adults who live or work in or near West Seattle who are interested in mentoring these young people. To be great mentors, adults don’t need to have a specific title, a degree, or any special qualifications other than being compassionate, patient, and accepting. Even the littlest moments can grow into big ones – sometimes all teens need is a little encouragement, a little advice, and a little inspiration.

Mentoring has a long track record of proven positive outcomes, in particular, 100% of young people matched with mentors through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound graduate high school. A staggering 79% of youth with a mentor experienced improvement in or reported no worsening of depressive symptoms – a goal which MentorU’s social-emotional programming directly supports.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound is looking for 30 volunteers of all gender identities, ethnicities, nationalities, and backgrounds who are willing to spend just an hour and a half per month to help teens in MentorU achieve their BIGGEST, brightest futures. Are YOU ready to #BEBIG? Learn more and get started at inspirebig.org/mentoru

AN August 21, 2024 (4:30 pm)

Thanks for posting!This lays everything out really well! I’m walking distance to WSHS – and I have personally benefited from being mentored so I’ll definitely check out the link for more information. At first glance it sounds like a well-thought-out program.

Green gurl August 22, 2024 (8:55 am)

Thank you for your response to this request for volunteers and your positive response to the benefits of mentoring. I am going to meet up with one of the students and her daughters that I now consider family. I mentored 2 young women that graduated in 2001. We spent all four years of high school together. It was such a proud moment to be asked to their graduation. It was so much fun and we did a lot of organized activities. Our relationships are solid and they continue to check in with me and keep me in the folds of their family. Our relationship was one built on a foundation of trust and friendship. Getting to know them and their families has been a joy and a journey of shared mutual respect and love. My family and I have been so very grateful for this opportunity.
Green gurl August 22, 2024 (8:58 am)

Thank you for your response to this request for volunteers and your positive response to the benefits of mentoring. I am going to meet up with one of the students and her daughters that I now consider family. I mentored 2 young women that graduated in 2001. We spent all four years of high school together. It was such a proud moment to be asked to their graduation. It was so much fun and we did a lot of organized activities. Our relationships are solid and they continue to check in with me and keep me in the folds of their family. Our relationship was one built on a foundation of trust and friendship. Getting to know them and their families has been a joy and a journey of shared mutual respect and love. My family and I have been so very grateful for this opportunity. They are now working in professions of their choice and have families of their own.

Rae August 21, 2024 (11:30 pm)

I have done / will continue to do a similar program with BBBG through my employer. It’s INCREDIBLY rewarding, if you have the little amount of time to give – highly recommend.