Thank and/or Recruit Mentors, Borrowed Ideas

These ideas, borrowed from an online feature are Valentine ideas for school; however, most can easily be adapted for thanking or recruiting mentors.

Ideas by Kim Vij at The Educators’ Spin On It                 Ret. 2-12-14

Below are a few examples, which can be adapted by clever mentoring program staff. 

Remember the author of this blog is more corny than creative! You do, however, grasp the concept.

From commerical Blow Pops to homemade, wrapped cake or other pop treats, a tag can be added.

Perhaps: 

"Mentors pop above the rest."

http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/valentine-fruit-tags 

Feb 05 2013by Kori

Perhaps

"Orange You Glad We Are Friends (or Mentor & Mentee)?"

"Happy Thank Your Mentor Day"

http://makelyhome.com/diy-lifesaver-free-printable-valentine/

You could even use a full roll of LIFESAVERS. 

Suggestions:

"Friendship is a LIFESAVER. Thank you for being my mentor."

"Mentoring can be a LIFESAVER."

"My Mentor is a LIFESAVER. S/He buoys me up."

Consider:

"I'm BLOWN away by you! Thank you for mentoring me."

 "Happy Thank Your Mentor Day."

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/mustache-valentines/  Ret. 1-7-14

Recruiting perhaps:

"I 'mustache" you a question: Will YOU be my MENTOR?'"


Print special wrappers for various commercial candies.

karaspartyideas.com

Spell MENTOR. Add a note of thanks.


Buy or make and package cookies with a clever tag.

"You Are One Sweet Mentor"

"You are one Hot Tamale! Thanks for being my mentor."

Google names of commercial candies or snacks and think of quotes.

"Mentor [or name], You're over the moon."

Send your own examples or suggestions.

Updated 3-25-15    

Thank Your Mentor and a Best Mentoring Practice

At our monthly Mentor Feedback Luncheon each December, we give our mentors a “party favor”.  This year’s was a sock snowman hand-made for each of our mentors by our staff during our staff Christmas brunch.  

Attached to each snowman was a tag that read, “Snowbody’s a Mentor Like You”.  

The snowmen are simple to make and each one is unique just like our PAL mentors.  Simply take a white sock (women’s crew work well) and snip off the toe portion plus about ½ inch or so.  Then knot the open end you just created and turn the sock inside out.  Fill about 2/3 of the sock with rice and wind a rubber band around to create the belly of the snowman.  Continue filling the sock with rice and put a rubber band around the top to close and form the head.  Place the snipped off toe portion onto the head to cover the rubber band and hot glue it in place.  Tie a strip of bright cloth around the neck as a scarf and make a nose, eyes and chest buttons out of pompoms or buttons hot glued in place (or get more creative). 

Melynda Stone

Executive Director

Volunteers for Youth

www.volunteersforyouth.com

'Notice the best practice of a monthly mentor feedback/support event? 

Thank you, Mendy!

Thank and/or Recruit Mentors, Shared Creations

Here are two ideas shared in 2012 and published in our first and only mentoring newsletter. This blog is a much more effective vehicle for posting ideas and news.

Melynda Stone, executive director of Volunteers for Youth, Rogers County, created this recruiting and thanking mechanism. Mendy and staff take these to businesses where their mentors work and give them extra to recruit friends and coworkers. As we have mentioned previously, Mendy has a background in PR and a natural ability for creativity in general.   

Masie Bross, the founder and former executive director of Whiz Kids Oklahoma, and her team had these snowmen commercially made to thank and recruit mentors in Oklahoma City.

 

Share your ideas.  

Teen Trendsetters ™ Reading Mentors

T eaching  a child to read is one thing; getting  a child to

love reading sometimes takes a little more time and care.

 

Southmoore High School, Moore, OK

Southmoore High School, Cleveland County, is paired with Brentwood Elementary School for the Teen Trendsetters^TM Reading Mentors Program, program of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. The teens are mentoring 48 first, second and third grade students in 2013-14.

Teen Trendsetters^TM Reading Mentors is a hands-on, award-winning mentor program, a recipient of the prestigious Harris Wofford Award for "best youth program" in the nation.

It offers first, second and third graders an opportunity to take part in a program that will help boost their reading skills, reading scores and confidence in learning.


Meanwhile, teens are the true champions of this volunteer program, spending one-on- one time each week with their young mentee to learn and bond over books.


We pair a child – who is at least six months behind their peers in reading - with a local high school teen, who has been trained as a reading mentor.

Once a week, the two meet for a fun mentoring session at the elementary school or local community center. Each program has the oversight of an adult advisor, but the teens and their reading partners do the work, have the fun and reap the rewards.

Together, the elementary child and the teen mentor work with a series of educational and entertaining books and workbooks to improve reading skills.

Schools receive all materials that are needed, including the books and curriculum, which were developed in partnership with Scholastic, Inc.


Every elementary student who participates receives more than 14 books over the school year to add to their home library, promoting the joy of reading among families.

Teen Trendsetters programs take part in annual community service projects. Our mentors and mentees are giving back and making a difference in big ways by taking on and tackling important local issues. From feeding the hungry to collecting books for local charities to creating care packages for U.S. soldiers, these projects are just another reason why communities love Teen Trendsetters™ .

The program, first launched in Florida in 2002, has proven so successful it has garnered state funding for the past 12 years and has served as the model for Teen Trendsetters™ programs in states throughout the U.S.

For more information...BarbaraBush.org