Corporate Campus Mentoring Program, BSW I

With or without the help of a Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, this is a highly adaptable model for communities of various sizes. BSW began with elementary but now extends through twelfth grade.

BEYOND SCHOOL WALLS

An Innovative Mentoring Program

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Presenters: Judy Spangler, Chief Programs Officer, BBBSSEPA

Ted Qualli, VP, External Affairs & Marketing, BBBSSEPA      
                         

The Innovation: KIDS  TO  MENTORS

How BSW Started                  

•        Pratt Elementary School with high need in a low resource area  
•     CIGNA corporation agreed to the innovative solution

How BSW Works

•        Littles (mentees) leave school during their lunch hour
•        Meet with their Bigs (mentors) at the corporation
•        One hour every week or every other week

Two Crucial Components

•        Strong Partnership with Corporation                                      
•        Strong Partnership with School

Create & Support the Corporate Partnership

•          Functional responsibilities – Create an MOU
•          Corporate liaison
•          Logistics of program
•  Set day/time of program
• Discuss meeting space availability
• Balance of planned events vs. one-to-one unstructured time

Volunteer Engagement

•          Information Session for Employees
• Work with liaison to determine best way to recruit
• Process and logistics of session

•          Intake Process
• Application Process
• Interviews on-site

•      Volunteer Orientation

Create and Support School Partnership

•          School with students who need mentors
•          Infrastructure to support program
•          Selection process
• Research demographics and needs of children
• Research distance

Introductory Meeting

•          Meet with principal and/or vice principal
• Determine school liaison(s)
• Discuss liaison responsibilities
• Determine structure of program
• Discuss district/school permissions/requirements

•       Confirm date/time of program (including school calendar)
• Schedule meeting with school liaison
• Recruitment of Littles (mentees)
• In-school interviews
• Reinforce program details and expectations
• Training for Littles (mentees)
• Discuss on-going match support processes [This can be done by the mentoring liaisons if not part of a BBBS organization.]

Photos from the BSW Presentation

First Match Meeting Day

•          Logistics
• Bigs’ (mentors’) meeting
• Arrival of Littles (mentees)
• T-shirts and name tags

•          Puzzle pieces

•          Required paperwork

Best Practice: Check-in conference calls

Best Practice: Cousin matches

The BSW Program’s Impact: It’s Helped Us

•          Serve kids in harder to reach areas
•          Provide exposure to workplace environment
•          Increase corporate volunteerism
•          Identify dedicated funding

Impact on Children

Children mentored by Beyond School Walls Bigs (Mentors):

•          Improved their focus at school
•          Improved their grades
•          Believed that their Bigs (mentors) were important to them
•          Experienced a positive change in attitudes or perceptions
•          Enjoyed the program

“I used to want to be a teacher. Now I want to be a president of a company.”                     

Beyond School Walls Little

Impact on Employees

•         96% agree that the program has positively impacted them
•         90% enjoyed interacting with their Littles (mentees)
•         83% are more likely to work for a firm that has a reputation for volunteering in the community
•          85% plan to continue their mentorship beyond the first year
•          93% would recommend the program to colleagues

Note: In this post, we did omit challenges of the area in order to focus on the program model.

End of Part I of the Beyond School Walls adaptable model

Excerpts from the presentation PowerPoint                                                                      

National Mentoring Summit 2012, Washington, DC DC                                                                         1-25-12