Great Weather for Mentoring

“We rented bikes and rode the bike path this past Monday!” King Street mentor John Bossange and his mentee, Anthony, enjoyed the sun.

“We went to the Soup Bowls for Hunger fundraiser at the high school last night.  Afterwards, with plenty of light still available, we headed out behind the school with gloves and a softball and tossed until we could see the ball no longer!  A funny note is that the first time I remember us both being in skirts at the same time (a rare event for either of us alone) was also the first time we decided to play catch!”  This report from match Deb and Ann, with Mentor Connector in Rutland is another  illustrating how wonderful weather makes for great mentoring moments.

What a gift this weather has been!  The unusual (for March) warmth and sun has moved mentoring activities outside.  At Dinner and Art at Shelburne Art Center, pizza was a real treat for  mentors and mentees alike because it was served in the courtyard.  It was real inspiration for going inside to make jewelry, jewelry boxes, and other pieces from porcelain and terra cotta.

Beth Crane, Executive Director for St. Albans’ Watershed  Mentoring program, which participates in the Amachi grant through Mobius, said their matches reveled in the great weather. “One of our new matched pairs, Nichole and Zoey,  went to the beach and collected shells and pretty stones! They had such a good time they want to do it again next time they meet. Our lunchtime matches at St. Albans City School enjoyed lunch outside at a picnic table, followed by an energetic game of kickball.”

Rebecca Majoya, the Executive Director of Mentor Connector in Rutland (also in the Amachi grant) reports one of her matches went panning for gold!  Another of her mentors  offered this:  “K and I have spent our last few visits doing a mix of things. We typically go to the humane society every other week to visit the cats. We spent some time at the park recently, which she loves very much. She tends to meet new short term friends there which is always nice. Her experiences at the park scored me an A on a term paper that I needed to write for college too. Pages upon pages on that little girl and her time at the park!

K enjoys driving in my car with the roof open. She loves staring at the bright blue sky! This week we split up our time. We went bowling on Wednesday night and then had to soak up some sun, so we went and ate some ice cream at Sewards. Yummy, of course!”

The amazing weather came and went.  Did you get a chance to enjoy it with your mentee?  Did it give you great ideas for planning mentor activities when the weather finally gets warm and stays warm?