Photo by Sarah Loehmer
College Mentors for Kids is a non profit organization which helps over 30 kids from Anderson Elementary School (little buddies) where they are paired with a student from Anderson University, and they take part in a multitude of different activities. This can range from arts and crafts, to athletic and musical talents, and career exploration experiences. College Mentors is an important aspect of not just building community and relationships with the younger generations, but also connecting with knowledgeable college students to create a sense of foundational skills.
It is more than just about the kids. It is also about who is there for them and who does everything to be able to connect with them and bring joy to their faces every week. While the kids get the opportunity to learn new skills, so do the university students. It takes a village to do what they do every week and accomplish what they are doing and have continued to do for years. Claire Dove, a sophomore nursing major, also Vice President of Programming works under College Mentors president, Kalyn Dilts, education major. Claire has a range of responsibilities. She knows how to take over most roles in the program and will step in wherever she is needed. As for her main roles: she inspires little buddies to join the program, that could even involve going into classrooms and speaking about her overall experience. She connects with parents on transportation and safety and connects with the bus drivers to make sure that communication is set-in-stone for the activities ahead. She is the head of both the general managers and transportation officers and just makes sure that they are consistently updated on the upcoming week and the schedule. She will oversee and write reports when incidents occur or when travel delays happen, and manages the newsletter and makes sure that it goes out to parents on time.
“It is refreshing to see the kids excited to see their mentors every week. It is a great learning experience for both the mentors and little buddies. It can be difficult at times to keep up with everyone, but I really enjoy getting to know all of the little buddies and learn all of their different personalities.”
Sara Wilson, a sophomore elementary education major serves as the General Manager for College Mentors. Sara serves as “the classroom teacher,” looking over the activity sheet for the week to make sure that everything is in order and ready to go out. She makes sure that all of the kids in the program get to the proper place and at the correct time, also facilitating conversation regarding activity.
“I really like being the GM for the first and second grade buddy families because I want to teach primary grades…this is giving me practice for what I will be doing as a teacher. College mentors is a good experience to be able to get volunteer hours and being able to be a positive influence in the kids’ lives. Dilts is also an elementary education major and I feel that her being in this major makes her a great role model.”
Lauren House and Sadie Hiday are both second year members of College Mentors, as well as being elementary education majors. This program helps to lead them in what they would like to do and prepare them for the future.
“I would be paired again with the same buddy that I had last year. I know how excited he was to have me as a mentor because I know how important these activities are to the kids. One thing I liked about college mentors was that its main focus was not solely on academics. It is important for the kids to have somebody to talk to and have someone to connect with and to look up to.”
Sadie Hiday agreed with Lauren in regards to the program.
“I enjoy connecting with kids non academically because I like to figure out ways to support them and I believe that academics is not everything when it comes to connecting with kids. I use the time with the kids as a learning experience and examples for my academics. An experience that I wouldn’t have anywhere else.”