One of my favorite parts of serving as Mentoring Director is the initial meeting between a mentee, the mentee’s family and the mentor. An ‘initial meeting’ is the meeting during which the family and mentor meet for the first time to officially kick off the mentorship.
Two weeks ago I matched one of our 2nd grade girls, Alice, with her mentor. As the mentor and I knocked on her door to have our initial meeting, Alice opened the door, gasped surprisingly, and with the most awed-struck look yelled, “Ms. Amy is my mentor?!”
Alice knew Ms. Amy from Kids Club (Ms. Amy has been volunteering with Kids Club for years). She lunged at Ms. Amy with a big hug and welcomed us into her home as she introduced us to the rest of her family. At first I was translating for both Alice’s parents and Ms. Amy, but then Alice’s dad started using all the English he knew. It was great to see the initial awkwardness of the meeting turn into the start of a warm friendship between Alice’s family and Ms. Amy. By the end, Ms. Amy had a list of new Spanish words that Alice’s dad had taught her and Alice did not want Ms. Amy to leave.
I can’t wait to hear the stories that will come from Ms. Amy and Alice’s mentorship as well as the next 5 new mentorships that are waiting to start. Since the beginning of September, we have added two new mentor matches to our mentoring family! It’s wonderful to see our Casa family slowly grow and as a fantastic start to the new school year. If you or someone you know would like to join our mentoring family, please email me at adriana@casachirilagua.org. We still have 11 kids waiting for a mentor like Ms. Amy!