'Mentor Monthly' Newsletter

November 2024

Mentor Engagement

November was a great month for mentor engagement! We held roundtables at HSE High School, an Elementary Mentor Coffee and Convos, and an inaugural Happy Hour event. We realize the importance of building our mentor communities and giving our volunteers opportunities to connect with each other outside of their weekly commitments to their students.

We're looking forward to announcing a volunteer Mentor Ambassador program at the beginning of the year. One of the responsibilities of this role is to cultivate the relationships between mentors at each of the schools.

We are so grateful for our mentors and these opportunities for connection. YMI would not exist without our great volunteers!

YMI mentors at Happy Hour

Five year - ROLE MODEL

Jon Guzman

Katie McCarthy

Three year - ENCOURAGER

Chris Block

Tony Butt

Reggie Cloyd

Leslie Francis

Rob Loy

One year - MENTOR

Meghann Ayers

Tyler Brown

Eric Cole

Julia Welzen

Bloomerang Feedback - YMI has been using Bloomerang Volunteer for almost one semester. As we reach the end of the calendar year, we are taking time to evaluate how our mentors are using Bloomerang, what features are missing, and where we can make improvements/changes. If you have feedback, we'd love to hear from you HERE.

Testimonial Video - In the meantime, our Development Coordinator would love to meet with you to film a short testimonial video for us to use in social media and other mentor recruitment strategies. Interested? Sign up HERE!

Mentor Appreciation Trivia Night - It's back! We would like to invite you to our mentor appreciation night on January 21 for an evening of dinner & Hambone's Trivia.

This event will be held from 6:00 - 8:00 pm at the Delaware Township Community Building.

Mentors are encouraged to bring a friend -- bonus points will be given to the teams of mentors who bring a prospective mentor as their guest.

Registration is required HERE.

Giving Tuesday - Join others in the annual generosity movement and consider YMI in your Giving Tuesday plans. Your gift helps YMI support over 250 matches each year in the journey to increase a students' motivation, confidence, and control over their emotions and stress. You can find next steps on how to give HERE.

Monette Nelson is a two year mentor with YMI. Her first match was at the high school level, then intermediate, and now she's matched with an enthusiastic elementary student. Learn a bit more about her below. Thanks, Monette!

As a parent of an HSE, FHS alum, and a current FHS student, I have been very involved in my daughters' educational experience through the years at HSE. I am constantly inspired to find impactful ways to support the next generation. This passion for nurturing young lives drew me to get involved with YMI, an organization that aligns with my commitment to positively shaping the future for our youth.

The mentoring environment is safe, supportive, and filled with excitement, and it’s clear the kids appreciate the time we spend together. Our one-on-one sessions allow us to focus completely on them, talking through life’s challenges and joys. This personal time provides a special opportunity to connect, listen, and just be there for them.

The tools below have been helpful in getting to know the students and their many likes and allows me the opportunity to incorporate them into our time together. For example, through the "All About Me" forms I was able to discover that my current student LOVES a show called Julia and the Phantom, so I was able to find some free printable coloring pages to color at our next meeting...SO FUN! 

About Me Templates HERE and HERE