Congratulations to our recent matches
Sheila with her new little sister Shechinah- CB, NP
Nancy with her new little sister Roxanne - CB, NP
Mentor Monthly Meeting New Plymouth’s next bi-monthly meet is on Tuesday 12 June at 7.00pm, at the Tasman Club, Octavius Place, New Plymouth. Stratford‘s next meeting is on Monday 7 May at 7.00pm, in the Stratford Community House, Juliet Street, Stratford. Although these meetings are not compulsory, we do encourage you to attend. It’s a good place to share ideas and resources, and to meet your new fellow mentors.
Match Profile Helen and Ruby
Congratulations To Margaret Butterworth and Stacey who are our second match to reach their 4 YEAR match anniversary this month. Awesome! Congratulations also to Teu Cash and Hamuera who celebrate their 3 YEAR match, along with the following matches who celebrate their 2 YEAR match anniversary this month: Mark Louis & Helen Alldridge and Loka Ben Tarrant and Aaron Alex Nash and Sarahphine and to the following matches who celebrate their 1 YEAR match anniversary this month: Nic Willis and Wiki Ally Hammond and Leilyn Amy Hitchcock and Chloe These milestones really are a wonderful achievement, and one that we know has taken much time and dedication from you and your families. A huge well done to everyone, and congratulations!
What is the mentors' role? It seems simple at first, the notion of being a mentor: someone who spends time with a young person. But once you are in the mentor role, you may find yourself in situations where you are uncertain about your part in the relationship. Is it appropriate to provide discipline when my young person is out of line? What if I suspect my little brother or sister is experiencing trouble at home – what is my responsibility? How can I have the most positive impact on my young person? There is no one answer concerning what your role is or is not. Your Case Manager will be able to provide clearer direction for you. You Are: a friend, a role model, a confidant, a nurturer of possibilities. You Are Not: a mentor to the family, a social worker or doctor, ........a saviour.
School Based Update
Our School Based programme has had a busy start to the year. We now have five matches at Highlands Intermediate as a number of our young people have transitioned from primary school this year. We would also like to welcome three new schools onto our School Based programme, Sacred Heart Girls College, Manukorihi intermediate in Waitara and Marfell Community School. Thank you to the staff at these schools for making the transition a smooth one. Recently our school based mentors caught up with each other for morning tea and a discussion of how the new school year is starting out for them and their young person. Everyone is adjusting well to their new school environment and the different challenges it b r i n g s . M e n t o r s commented on how much their young people had matured since beginning at their new schools. All in all it was a very successful get together and we plan on Mentors Judy & Anna with their little sisters Sabrina and Ashley at a recent activity meeting again later in the year.
Stephanie with her new little sister Samantha - CB, NP
Judge Andrew Becroft
His Honour Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft has agreed to be the guest speaker at our Mentor & Partner evening in July. Judge Becroft is an interesting speaker with a wealth of knowledge on young people, especially in the area of youth offending. This is definitely an event not to be missed, so please book the evening of Tuesday 31 July in your dairies, more details to follow...
Quote of the Month: Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them. ~ Lady Bird Johnson
Start Something
In June 2012, Ruby and I will celebrate our two year match anniversary. Since we were first matched, I have noticed that she takes more care in her appearance and seems a bit more confident. The biggest difference is that she is able to concentrate on a task for longer than 5 minutes – yesterday we played Scrabble for half an hour…record breaking!! She is getting a little more gracious at losing but still has a way to go though! Ruby has taught me to go with the flow and not be upset or stressed when things change at short notice. Ruby makes me think when she comes out with some of the most profound sayings at times as if she's quoting Helen and Ruby on their match day in June from a self-help book – who knows 2010 where she picks that up from but it makes for some interesting discussions between us. Our favourite activity to do together is swimming in the river at Corbett Park – complete with goggles & fins!! Some highlights for me since being matched with Ruby are hearing / seeing how excited she is to see me when I pick her up from after school care, being invited to go to her graduation from primary school – and hearing that one of the parents present said that Ruby's face lit up when she saw I was there. Yesterday's outing has to be a highlight because Ruby, for the first time in 18months, wasn't her usual well behaved self and her behaviour was more like how I imagine she really is….is that good? I'm hoping it's a sign she trusts me more and isn't trying to impress me. Helen Hosie
Did You Know.. .
...that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Taranaki currently have 105 matches, with another 5 matches planned for the next few weeks? Nationwide, Big Brothers Big Sisters has over 500 current matches with over 280,000 matches worldwide! Isn’t that brilliant! ...that we all have new email addresses? Don’t worry, we can still access emails from our old addresses. The change has been made to bring uniformity between all the Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies within NZ. You will be able to contact us using our new addresses e.g firstname.lastname@bigbro thersbigsisters.org.nz. You may have already noticed that we are e-mailing you from these addresses. ...that we are no longer on the second floor of the Atkinson Building? We can now be found on the Fourth Floor of the Atkinson Building. This will be our temporary office until we make the move into the new Police Station in approximately 15 months time. ...that the South Taranaki Kindergarten Association is bringing Nathan MikaereWallis to New Plymouth? You can hear Nathan on Wed 11 July 2012, from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Nathan is a lecturer in Human Development at the Christchurch College of Education, and will be presenting on brain development in children and young people. Cost will be $20 per person. ...that if you are a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters that you can have free access to Tawhiti Museum in Hawera? Just show your mentor ID card. ...you can get a reduced rate at the YMCA to use the climbing wall? Great for those wet afternoons when you have a very energetic young person!