‘A ripple effect’: TeamMates helping youth connect with mentors | Local

Editor’s notice: Every week, the Columbus Telegram can be profiling an area service group to spotlight what every group does for the neighborhood.

Each time an adolescent has a mentor to look as much as, it creates a butterfly impact throughout the neighborhood, TeamMates Mentoring Program co-coordinator Tricia Faust stated.

Faust and program members have witnessed quite a few native success tales.

“Mentoring has such an incredible ripple impact locally,” Faust stated. “It doesn’t solely assist that little one immediately by giving them one other caring grownup of their life and one other constructive position mannequin however in flip, if it helps that little one, it’s going to assist that little one’s classroom, their dwelling and the neighborhood as a complete.”

TeamMates is a school-based mentoring program the place the group pairs a pupil with a volunteer who visits the youth throughout one class or lunch interval as soon as per week all through the college yr, Faust stated. The mentors can partake in quite a lot of actions with their mentees comparable to taking part in basketball or board video games, happening a stroll or sitting and speaking so long as it’s on faculty grounds, she added.

“One of many largest issues is we wish the youngsters to have a way of hope when there’s one other caring grownup of their life,” TeamMates co-coordinator Tim Hamilton stated of what he hopes the youths can take away from this system. “You possibly can’t all the time measure it or articulate it particularly however only a sense of hope in life basically while you’ve acquired a caring grownup is – sounds easy – one of many biggest issues.”

At the moment, there are mentors at native colleges like Columbus Center, Columbus Excessive, Lakeview Junior-Senior Excessive, Scotus Central Catholic, Platte Creek Elementary, Shell Creek Elementary and Boys City Duncan Day Faculty.

Columbus Center Faculty counselor Kim Shevlin stated the scholars cherish having a mentor.

“They get pleasure from having that grownup who’s there each week and that they’ll rely on to be there,” Shevlin stated. “… They sit up for the visits.”

Teammates was began in 1991 by former Nebraska Cornhuskers coach Tom Osborne and his spouse, Nancy, as a method to create an influence on younger college students’ lives, in line with the TeamMates web site. It has since develop into a statewide program that has additionally grown throughout 5 states.

In the meantime, Columbus’ chapter is at the moment in its twenty third yr, Faust stated.

There are a number of methods during which the kids are chosen. Children will generally self-nominate whereas in different situations TeamMates will get referrals from different businesses, Faust stated.

Moreover, based mostly on a volunteer’s faculty choice, Faust stated she’s going to name the academic institute that there’s a mentor who needs to assist. The varsity employees members then match the volunteer and pupil, Faust added.

“That’s not the way it all the time occurs however plenty of instances that’s the way it goes,” Faust stated. “As I get volunteers I notify the college they usually can pull a child that they really feel can be an excellent match and would benefit from the mentoring expertise and profit from having one other caring grownup of their life.

“The colleges have a ton of youngsters that they’d like to have in this system. Each little one can profit from one other mentor and position mannequin of their life.”

TeamMates is searching for such volunteers to mentor space youths. For extra data, contact the group at both 402-564-8326 or teamne@megavision.com or visiting teammates.org. The TeamMates web site consists of an software to develop into a mentor.