Mentoring

I used to be the Algebra Readiness teacher at a local high school. My students were the ones who were either failing Algebra or who had already failed the Algebra Standards of Learning test.  My job was to help them pass the test and the class...not an easy task.  A lot of my students were very bright, they just chose to not do their homework.  Or they were acting out because of problems at home.  Or they were being bullied...the list goes on.  It was a difficult job but very rewarding.  In the beginning the kids would test my limits,call me names, get sent to the office for doing things such as climbing on their desks to try to touch the ceiling during class (I am not joking). But as the year wore on, they would start to trust me...I don't know why. Some of my most disruptive and mean spirited kids would come see me during their lunch because they were having a hard time at home or one of their friends was spreading gossip about them and they wanted to ask what to do. I was always amazed at the questions they would ask me.

 "Mrs. Wright, do you think abortion is wrong?
 "Mrs. Wright, I want to drop out of school, what do you think I should do?"
"Mrs. Wright, I think my girlfriend may be pregnant."
"Mrs. Wright, I'm living at my friend's house because my mom and I had a fight and I don't know what to do."

They invited me into their lives and asked my opinion on so many things.  I really miss them and I hope and pray that the advice I gave them helped them in some way.

I still work in a school, but as a bookkeeper, so the only time that I see students is when they are paying for a lost book or they lost money in the vending machine.

So at the beginning of last summer I decided I wanted to become a mentor with a local youth shelter. The program is called Mentoring Children of Prisoners. I went through the background checks and training and was finally matched with my mentee.  She is a middle schooler and both of her parents are in prison so she lives with other family.  It has been so fun and rewarding getting to know her and doing activities together.  I was really nervous in the beginning though.  What if she thought I wasn't cool? What if she never wanted to hang out? What if...

But  the more we hang out, the more fun we have.  We both love to read so we go to Barnes and Noble and hang out in the YA section...because that is our favorite genre. I taught her to use the knifty knitter so we go to Starbucks and knit. She also likes to cook so we made dinner at my house one night and it turned out great. And of course she loves to shop...what middle school aged girl does not like to shop?

She has taught me a lot.  I am learning all of the texting abbreviations. IDK, TBH, IKR, DNFTT...etc (look it up!) Apparently when something is about to get crazy you are supposed to say "it's bout to get LIVE in here".

She asks me a lot of questions...about relationships, school, life, careers, etc. I hope I am giving helpful answers and I hope I am making a difference in this girl's life.  She sure is making a difference in mine. It is good to look outside of myself even in the midst of having my own problems. It puts things in perspective for me.

I know a lot of people have made New Years Resolutions this year about getting involved in the community; making a difference.  I highly recommend mentoring! If you have any questions about mentoring, please don't hesitate to ask me and I will try my best to answer or point you in the right direction. Here are a couple of organizations you can get involved with:

Seton Youth Shelter
Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program
http://www.setonyouthshelters.org/programs/87-programs/101-mentoring

Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Hampton Roads
929 Ventures Way, Suite 108
Chesapeake, Virginia 23320
Phone Number: 757-549-7437 ext. 10
Visit Website: http://www.bbbsofshr.org