January 23, 2025 • 13 mins
January is National Mentor Month and we are fortunate to have an amazing mentoring program right here in the OSD. Today we are going to hear all about the Be A Champion Mentor program from the program coordinator, and two pairs of mentors / mentees.
If you are interested in volunteering to be a mentor, you can find information about the Be A Champion Mentor Program here: https://www.oregonsd.org/community/volunteer
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER1:
January is National Mentor Month, and we are fortunate to have an amazing
mentoring program in our district. (00:00):
undefined
Today we're going to hear about the "Be a Champion" mentor program from the program coordinator and two pairs of mentors and mentees.
SPEAKER2: Welcome to this episode of Inside the OSD podcast, where it's all about the kids. (00:16):
undefined
Here is your host, lifelong educator and our superintendent, doctor Leslie Bergstrom.
SPEAKER1: Thanks for being here, Carol. I'm excited to talk with you today about such an important topic, (00:30):
undefined
which is mentoring. So first, I'd like you to start by introducing yourself and talking about your role in the mentoring program here in the OSD.
SPEAKER3: Yes. Thank you. Glad to be here. My name is Carol Christopher and I am the district coordinator for the "Be a Champion" mentoring program for the Oregon (00:44):
undefined
School District. And, uh, in terms of how the program got started, we're in our fifth year here with the district
and it was a group of, uh, originally a collaboration between Friends of Oregon School Districts and the Oregon School District.
(01:12):
And they started out with a prototype of about 13 mentors.
And, uh, things just kind of blossomed. And in 2021, I was hired to coordinate across the district schools.
So we serve, uh, kids in fourth to eighth grade.
So any of the schools that have fourth to eighth graders have mentors.
(01:34):
Okay. Proudly, w e have over 70 pairings of mentors and mentees today.
Oh, we
SPEAKER1: started with 13 and we have 70?! Yes. Oh, that's such fantastic information. (01:40):
undefined
Okay. That's exciting. Yes. Are there any special skills that mentors have to have?
SPEAKER3: Great question. Uh, just an interest in, um, in kids and, uh, just really getting to know someone on a, (01:51):
undefined
on a personal level. And there are no specific skills that you have to have to be a mentor.
Just really that you care and you have the the time to come about.
(02:12):
It takes about an hour of our out of your week to to be a mentor.
Yeah.
SPEAKER1: This isn't about helping with homework or anything like that. (02:17):
undefined
I know sometimes people can be worried. "I don't know how to do that math." Well,
right. Absolutely. I've been with my mentee for five years.
We've never done math together. A lot of Uno, a lot of Jenga, which involves math,
maybe. Right, but never. Never. That kind of thing.
Right. It's--it's not a tutoring relationship.
SPEAKER3: Absolutely. It's not a tutoring program. (02:38):
undefined
It's a relationship based and really, um, building on that relationship and, um,
getting to know that person and being a positive adult and a support person for that student.
SPEAKER1: Thank you. So now I'm going to turn to a couple of our students and their mentors. (02:56):
undefined
And we have a few people here--a handful.
So if you don't mind, I'll ask you by starting--or introducing yourself as a way to begin.
SPEAKER4: Yeah. I'm Matt Kingsley. I'm a mentor here with with Keaton. (03:09):
undefined
And you want to introduce yourself quick and then we can kind of back and forth it?
SPEAKER5: Sure. I'm Keaton Campbell, and Matt Kingsley is my --is my mentor. (03:19):
undefined
SPEAKER4: Yeah. And I think we started, like, the tail end of when you were in--would have been fifth grade and then so sixth grade. (03:24):
undefined
And now Keaton is in seventh. So we're in year three or year two and a half.
So about half of the time that Oregon has had a mentoring program.
Um, you know, I think it kind of changed year to year.
Like what we do, you know, this year has been a lot of outside here at the new school,
(03:49):
uh, basketball, tetherball, football. Um, but, you know, occasionally inside, especially when it gets cold.
SPEAKER1: And do you play games inside? Because that's definitely what I've done before. (03:55):
undefined
SPEAKER4: We have. Yeah. Um, just I think last week we tried something new. (04:00):
undefined
New for Keaton, but I wish I knew the rules to Catan a little bit better.
You know, I'm sure we kind of make up our own rules sometimes.
SPEAKER1: That's the fun part. (04:12):
undefined
SPEAKER4: Yeah. Um, but, yeah, we've done some, some games. (04:13):
undefined
I think when we first started, we did a lot of chess and battleship, like the first year.
Yeah. And that was good. You were just kind of, you know, getting to--getting to know the game of chess a little bit.
And I can't get people at my house to play.
So it was--it was fun to be able to play it again after a few years off.
SPEAKER1: Um, definitely a bonus if he's helping you learn chess. (04:35):
undefined
That's pretty cool.
SPEAKER4: I think last year we, uh, we took over. One of the counselors at RCI would lend us her office while she was out on recess duty, (04:39):
undefined
and we hooped it up in there on the back of the door.
And so, you know, it was just some dunk contests, some one on one, some HORSE.
We mixed it up, but that was probably our most common, uh, thing last year.
(05:01):
And that was a lot of fun. That was that was probably my favorite.
That was
SPEAKER1: awesome. (05:05):
undefined
SPEAKER4: Out of all the ways we find to, you know, to spend time. (05:06):
undefined
That was that might have been one that I think we had the most fun on, I don't know.
SPEAKER1: Well, I was going to ask you about a specific event or memory, but it sounds like hoops in the counselor's office is one of those things. (05:13):
undefined
Is there anything else Keaton that you can think about, or is that stand out to you there,
too?
SPEAKER6: Sure. (05:25):
undefined
SPEAKER1: I liked that a lot. (05:27):
undefined
SPEAKER4: Thank you. That's what you always wanted to do last year and was like, that's perfect with me. I'm a basketball guy. (05:28):
undefined
I love basketball, so it's perfect. It's your
SPEAKER5: famous hoop shot or. (05:36):
undefined
SPEAKER4: My hook? My skyhook? Yeah. (05:38):
undefined
SPEAKER6: It's tough. It's tough with the low ceilings, but I can still. (05:40):
undefined
SPEAKER1: But you made it happen. Okay, I love it. (05:44):
undefined
SPEAKER4: It's a lot easier outside to show off the hook (05:46):
undefined
SPEAKER6: shot, but. (05:48):
undefined
SPEAKER1: All right, now I'm going to move to the other side over here. Do you want to do some introductions? (05:50):
undefined
SPEAKER7: Yeah. My name is Alex Marks. I'm the director of Oregon Community Education Recreation, (05:55):
undefined
and I'm also the co mentor of Austin.
SPEAKER5: Hello I'm Austin and my mentors are Alex and Noah. (06:02):
undefined
SPEAKER8: Yeah. My name is Noah Bertrand, and I am the program supervisor with Oregon Community Ed. (06:10):
undefined
Rec. Um, and like Alex said, I'm also the co mentor of of Austin as well.
SPEAKER1: All right. So what are your favorite things about being a mentor or a mentee? (06:18):
undefined
SPEAKER7: I think uh, getting to see how Austin has grown over the past several years. (06:24):
undefined
We've been with him since he was just finishing up third grade, and now he's in seventh grade here.
So it's probably the last couple months of third grade.
Um, but seeing how Austin has grown as a student and as a person, um, he's just gotten much more outgoing,
(06:45):
which is awesome to see. He has a lot of fun with us, but I also see him talking to a lot more kids and just having a blast.
Um, it's really cool to see.
SPEAKER8: Yeah, kind of going off that with Alex. What Alex said too, is just building the relationships. Um, (06:54):
undefined
kind of seeing how that's grown over the course of the last several years with Austin as well.
Um, his interests have kind of changed and shifted a little bit as well from more going outside and kind of kicking the ball around and doing things like
that to, um, just beating me in Sorry every single week and in Uno as well.
(07:15):
And kind of how those shifts and changes have kind of come up as well.
SPEAKER1: What's your favorite thing, Austin? (07:19):
undefined
SPEAKER5: Um, absolutely b eating Noah and Alex in Sorry. (07:20):
undefined
SPEAKER6: Um. (07:25):
undefined
SPEAKER1: All right, all right. So that kind of gets to what are the things you like to do together. So right now, it sounds like games are a big part of how you spend (07:27):
undefined
your time.
SPEAKER7: Yeah. As Noah said, we spent a lot of time, you know, kicking a ball around or shooting hoops. (07:35):
undefined
Um, then it's kind of transitioned to a few more board games, especially in the colder months. I mean,
um, last year we got a new, uh, origami a bit.
Um, we also did some paper plane contests in RCI's cafeteria, and unfortunately,
mine would always just take a hard hook to the side.
SPEAKER9: But Austin. (07:56):
undefined
SPEAKER7: Austin would get his to go pretty much the length of the cafeteria, which is, oh. (07:57):
undefined
SPEAKER1: Wow, that's pretty (08:00):
undefined
SPEAKER7: good. I'm terrible at building those things, so he would actually teach me how to do it. So, um, had fun with that. (08:01):
undefined
SPEAKER1: Yeah, I love that. It's a mutually beneficial thing. (08:07):
undefined
Right?
SPEAKER6: You can teach you things, for Yeah. (08:11):
undefined
SPEAKER1: That's very good. Is there any specific memory that stands out to you guys? (08:13):
undefined
SPEAKER7: I would say that paper plane building contest that we (08:18):
undefined
SPEAKER6: had. That was a big one (08:20):
undefined
SPEAKER7: for you? Fun. But, you know, it's just getting getting my butt whooped every week and. (08:21):
undefined
Sorry. Yeah, it's a great memory. Yeah, I'll cherish that
SPEAKER6: one for a long time. (08:28):
undefined
SPEAKER1: I like that. Okay, so mentors then. Um, what would you tell adults who are thinking about becoming a mentor? (08:31):
undefined
SPEAKER4: I would, I would encourage it. I know I was certainly encouraged to by a couple people that were already involved in the mentor program. (08:39):
undefined
"Oh, you should do it. You should do it." And so that's the first step is just, you know,
I think Carol mentioned that it's an hour a week commitment.
And I think most people have that, especially nowadays with more and more people, you know, working from home or having that kind of flexibility in their
(09:01):
schedule. Sure. Um, and, you know, it's--it's a lot of fun, right?
And maybe not for everybody. And I'm sure there have been cases where it hasn't worked out.
Uh, but I know that you guys really try and find like good pairings is how it was explained to me.
So you know I would encourage it. It's--it.
(09:25):
It just I don't know, it's just a good break from everything else.
And to come and to hang out with somebody that's fun to hang out with. And, you know,
I think the some of the other mentors down there talk about, you get to watch the growth and development and it helps you grow and develop as
well as a person.
SPEAKER6: So nice. (09:40):
undefined
SPEAKER1: Anything to add Alex and Noah? (09:42):
undefined
SPEAKER7: Yeah, I would--I would agree with all that. (09:44):
undefined
Um, I think, you know, Carol, you touched on it earlier how some people might think that,
oh, this is like a tutor program. It's not a tutor program.
You know, you're--you're having fun with--with your--with your mentee.
And I was I was encouraged to join by Amy Miller.
Um, when I first joined the district, and I, I, you know, enjoyed the time every week that we get to do it,
(10:05):
it's a nice break from maybe the day to day office grind of everything else.
So, um, I think I think it's very beneficial to both the mentee but also the mentor.
SPEAKER6: Yeah, yeah. (10:16):
undefined
SPEAKER8: Yeah I agree I was going to touch on that as well, where I think it's mutually beneficial to, um, (10:17):
undefined
to mentor and the mentee. Um, I think there's kind of this connotation that you're trying to help them,
but every time you go and you show up and you, you participate in these activities and these games, they're helping you just as
much. And you never leave in a worse mood.
You're always leaving in a better mood. You always
SPEAKER6: leave --day's. (10:37):
undefined
SPEAKER8: Your day's always, you know, kind of rejuvenated. And it's always fun, even when you, you know, you're getting your butt kicked in S orry every single (10:38):
undefined
week or whatever it might be. It's always the the camaraderie that you kind of, you know,
join in together. And it always kind of puts you in a better mood.
SPEAKER1: I really I appreciate that because you're right. I don't think there's ever been a time when I've left my time with my mentee where I haven't been lifted up in (10:51):
undefined
some way. Right? It's always been something that I've looked forward to and really enjoyed,
because it's very different from the majority of what I do.
And so just that one on one time and whatever however we choose to spend it, and it's changed so much over the years.
(11:15):
Um, it's always been something I look forward to every week.
Yeah. So then, Carol, how can someone become a mentor if they're interested?
SPEAKER3: You bet. We're definitely always accepting new mentors. (11:23):
undefined
And I'll just say, especially, um, we're in need of more male mentors.
We have a number of, um, male students who are interested in being paired with a male mentor.
So the easiest way is to go on to the Oregon um School District website.
(11:44):
Click on the volunteer link. Okay. And then once you click on that, you'll get to you'll see a dropdown of options.
And you'll want to go to the "Be a Champion Mentor" volunteer option.
When you click on that, it will take you to a very simple inquiry page and you can get more information there as well.
SPEAKER1: Okay, so that sounds pretty simple. (12:06):
undefined
SPEAKER3: Yes, yes it is. (12:08):
undefined
SPEAKER1: All right. Does anybody want to add anything else about the mentor program? (12:09):
undefined
SPEAKER7: I would give it a shot if you're on the edge. (12:15):
undefined
It's very, very much worth your time. Plus, there's a very fun picnic at the end of the year that we all get together.
It's a--it's a good time.
SPEAKER1: I agree. It is a fun picnic. Thanks for thanks for putting that out there. (12:26):
undefined
Thank you for spending a little bit of time today talking with me.
I'm really glad that you're enjoying the time together.
Your experiences are important, and I know that our listeners are going to love hearing about them.
SPEAKER10: Remember that you can find links to all episodes of Inside the OSD and submit topic ideas on our website at Oregon (12:44):
undefined
SD.org/Podcast. You can find this podcast anywhere you can find podcasts.
Make sure to subscribe if you're listening on one of these apps to get notifications on the most recent episodes.
(13:05):
We'll see you next time on Inside the OSD, where it's all about the kids.
undefined
Today we're going to hear about the "Be a Champion" mentor program from the program coordinator and two pairs of mentors and mentees.
SPEAKER2: Welcome to this episode of Inside the OSD podcast, where it's all about the kids. (00:16):
undefined
Here is your host, lifelong educator and our superintendent, doctor Leslie Bergstrom.
SPEAKER1: Thanks for being here, Carol. I'm excited to talk with you today about such an important topic, (00:30):
undefined
which is mentoring. So first, I'd like you to start by introducing yourself and talking about your role in the mentoring program here in the OSD.
SPEAKER3: Yes. Thank you. Glad to be here. My name is Carol Christopher and I am the district coordinator for the "Be a Champion" mentoring program for the Oregon (00:44):
undefined
School District. And, uh, in terms of how the program got started, we're in our fifth year here with the district
and it was a group of, uh, originally a collaboration between Friends of Oregon School Districts and the Oregon School District.
(01:12):
And they started out with a prototype of about 13 mentors.
And, uh, things just kind of blossomed. And in 2021, I was hired to coordinate across the district schools.
So we serve, uh, kids in fourth to eighth grade.
So any of the schools that have fourth to eighth graders have mentors.
(01:34):
Okay. Proudly, w e have over 70 pairings of mentors and mentees today.
Oh, we
SPEAKER1: started with 13 and we have 70?! Yes. Oh, that's such fantastic information. (01:40):
undefined
Okay. That's exciting. Yes. Are there any special skills that mentors have to have?
SPEAKER3: Great question. Uh, just an interest in, um, in kids and, uh, just really getting to know someone on a, (01:51):
undefined
on a personal level. And there are no specific skills that you have to have to be a mentor.
Just really that you care and you have the the time to come about.
(02:12):
It takes about an hour of our out of your week to to be a mentor.
Yeah.
SPEAKER1: This isn't about helping with homework or anything like that. (02:17):
undefined
I know sometimes people can be worried. "I don't know how to do that math." Well,
right. Absolutely. I've been with my mentee for five years.
We've never done math together. A lot of Uno, a lot of Jenga, which involves math,
maybe. Right, but never. Never. That kind of thing.
Right. It's--it's not a tutoring relationship.
SPEAKER3: Absolutely. It's not a tutoring program. (02:38):
undefined
It's a relationship based and really, um, building on that relationship and, um,
getting to know that person and being a positive adult and a support person for that student.
SPEAKER1: Thank you. So now I'm going to turn to a couple of our students and their mentors. (02:56):
undefined
And we have a few people here--a handful.
So if you don't mind, I'll ask you by starting--or introducing yourself as a way to begin.
SPEAKER4: Yeah. I'm Matt Kingsley. I'm a mentor here with with Keaton. (03:09):
undefined
And you want to introduce yourself quick and then we can kind of back and forth it?
SPEAKER5: Sure. I'm Keaton Campbell, and Matt Kingsley is my --is my mentor. (03:19):
undefined
SPEAKER4: Yeah. And I think we started, like, the tail end of when you were in--would have been fifth grade and then so sixth grade. (03:24):
undefined
And now Keaton is in seventh. So we're in year three or year two and a half.
So about half of the time that Oregon has had a mentoring program.
Um, you know, I think it kind of changed year to year.
Like what we do, you know, this year has been a lot of outside here at the new school,
(03:49):
uh, basketball, tetherball, football. Um, but, you know, occasionally inside, especially when it gets cold.
SPEAKER1: And do you play games inside? Because that's definitely what I've done before. (03:55):
undefined
SPEAKER4: We have. Yeah. Um, just I think last week we tried something new. (04:00):
undefined
New for Keaton, but I wish I knew the rules to Catan a little bit better.
You know, I'm sure we kind of make up our own rules sometimes.
SPEAKER1: That's the fun part. (04:12):
undefined
SPEAKER4: Yeah. Um, but, yeah, we've done some, some games. (04:13):
undefined
I think when we first started, we did a lot of chess and battleship, like the first year.
Yeah. And that was good. You were just kind of, you know, getting to--getting to know the game of chess a little bit.
And I can't get people at my house to play.
So it was--it was fun to be able to play it again after a few years off.
SPEAKER1: Um, definitely a bonus if he's helping you learn chess. (04:35):
undefined
That's pretty cool.
SPEAKER4: I think last year we, uh, we took over. One of the counselors at RCI would lend us her office while she was out on recess duty, (04:39):
undefined
and we hooped it up in there on the back of the door.
And so, you know, it was just some dunk contests, some one on one, some HORSE.
We mixed it up, but that was probably our most common, uh, thing last year.
(05:01):
And that was a lot of fun. That was that was probably my favorite.
That was
SPEAKER1: awesome. (05:05):
undefined
SPEAKER4: Out of all the ways we find to, you know, to spend time. (05:06):
undefined
That was that might have been one that I think we had the most fun on, I don't know.
SPEAKER1: Well, I was going to ask you about a specific event or memory, but it sounds like hoops in the counselor's office is one of those things. (05:13):
undefined
Is there anything else Keaton that you can think about, or is that stand out to you there,
too?
SPEAKER6: Sure. (05:25):
undefined
SPEAKER1: I liked that a lot. (05:27):
undefined
SPEAKER4: Thank you. That's what you always wanted to do last year and was like, that's perfect with me. I'm a basketball guy. (05:28):
undefined
I love basketball, so it's perfect. It's your
SPEAKER5: famous hoop shot or. (05:36):
undefined
SPEAKER4: My hook? My skyhook? Yeah. (05:38):
undefined
SPEAKER6: It's tough. It's tough with the low ceilings, but I can still. (05:40):
undefined
SPEAKER1: But you made it happen. Okay, I love it. (05:44):
undefined
SPEAKER4: It's a lot easier outside to show off the hook (05:46):
undefined
SPEAKER6: shot, but. (05:48):
undefined
SPEAKER1: All right, now I'm going to move to the other side over here. Do you want to do some introductions? (05:50):
undefined
SPEAKER7: Yeah. My name is Alex Marks. I'm the director of Oregon Community Education Recreation, (05:55):
undefined
and I'm also the co mentor of Austin.
SPEAKER5: Hello I'm Austin and my mentors are Alex and Noah. (06:02):
undefined
SPEAKER8: Yeah. My name is Noah Bertrand, and I am the program supervisor with Oregon Community Ed. (06:10):
undefined
Rec. Um, and like Alex said, I'm also the co mentor of of Austin as well.
SPEAKER1: All right. So what are your favorite things about being a mentor or a mentee? (06:18):
undefined
SPEAKER7: I think uh, getting to see how Austin has grown over the past several years. (06:24):
undefined
We've been with him since he was just finishing up third grade, and now he's in seventh grade here.
So it's probably the last couple months of third grade.
Um, but seeing how Austin has grown as a student and as a person, um, he's just gotten much more outgoing,
(06:45):
which is awesome to see. He has a lot of fun with us, but I also see him talking to a lot more kids and just having a blast.
Um, it's really cool to see.
SPEAKER8: Yeah, kind of going off that with Alex. What Alex said too, is just building the relationships. Um, (06:54):
undefined
kind of seeing how that's grown over the course of the last several years with Austin as well.
Um, his interests have kind of changed and shifted a little bit as well from more going outside and kind of kicking the ball around and doing things like
that to, um, just beating me in Sorry every single week and in Uno as well.
(07:15):
And kind of how those shifts and changes have kind of come up as well.
SPEAKER1: What's your favorite thing, Austin? (07:19):
undefined
SPEAKER5: Um, absolutely b eating Noah and Alex in Sorry. (07:20):
undefined
SPEAKER6: Um. (07:25):
undefined
SPEAKER1: All right, all right. So that kind of gets to what are the things you like to do together. So right now, it sounds like games are a big part of how you spend (07:27):
undefined
your time.
SPEAKER7: Yeah. As Noah said, we spent a lot of time, you know, kicking a ball around or shooting hoops. (07:35):
undefined
Um, then it's kind of transitioned to a few more board games, especially in the colder months. I mean,
um, last year we got a new, uh, origami a bit.
Um, we also did some paper plane contests in RCI's cafeteria, and unfortunately,
mine would always just take a hard hook to the side.
SPEAKER9: But Austin. (07:56):
undefined
SPEAKER7: Austin would get his to go pretty much the length of the cafeteria, which is, oh. (07:57):
undefined
SPEAKER1: Wow, that's pretty (08:00):
undefined
SPEAKER7: good. I'm terrible at building those things, so he would actually teach me how to do it. So, um, had fun with that. (08:01):
undefined
SPEAKER1: Yeah, I love that. It's a mutually beneficial thing. (08:07):
undefined
Right?
SPEAKER6: You can teach you things, for Yeah. (08:11):
undefined
SPEAKER1: That's very good. Is there any specific memory that stands out to you guys? (08:13):
undefined
SPEAKER7: I would say that paper plane building contest that we (08:18):
undefined
SPEAKER6: had. That was a big one (08:20):
undefined
SPEAKER7: for you? Fun. But, you know, it's just getting getting my butt whooped every week and. (08:21):
undefined
Sorry. Yeah, it's a great memory. Yeah, I'll cherish that
SPEAKER6: one for a long time. (08:28):
undefined
SPEAKER1: I like that. Okay, so mentors then. Um, what would you tell adults who are thinking about becoming a mentor? (08:31):
undefined
SPEAKER4: I would, I would encourage it. I know I was certainly encouraged to by a couple people that were already involved in the mentor program. (08:39):
undefined
"Oh, you should do it. You should do it." And so that's the first step is just, you know,
I think Carol mentioned that it's an hour a week commitment.
And I think most people have that, especially nowadays with more and more people, you know, working from home or having that kind of flexibility in their
(09:01):
schedule. Sure. Um, and, you know, it's--it's a lot of fun, right?
And maybe not for everybody. And I'm sure there have been cases where it hasn't worked out.
Uh, but I know that you guys really try and find like good pairings is how it was explained to me.
So you know I would encourage it. It's--it.
(09:25):
It just I don't know, it's just a good break from everything else.
And to come and to hang out with somebody that's fun to hang out with. And, you know,
I think the some of the other mentors down there talk about, you get to watch the growth and development and it helps you grow and develop as
well as a person.
SPEAKER6: So nice. (09:40):
undefined
SPEAKER1: Anything to add Alex and Noah? (09:42):
undefined
SPEAKER7: Yeah, I would--I would agree with all that. (09:44):
undefined
Um, I think, you know, Carol, you touched on it earlier how some people might think that,
oh, this is like a tutor program. It's not a tutor program.
You know, you're--you're having fun with--with your--with your mentee.
And I was I was encouraged to join by Amy Miller.
Um, when I first joined the district, and I, I, you know, enjoyed the time every week that we get to do it,
(10:05):
it's a nice break from maybe the day to day office grind of everything else.
So, um, I think I think it's very beneficial to both the mentee but also the mentor.
SPEAKER6: Yeah, yeah. (10:16):
undefined
SPEAKER8: Yeah I agree I was going to touch on that as well, where I think it's mutually beneficial to, um, (10:17):
undefined
to mentor and the mentee. Um, I think there's kind of this connotation that you're trying to help them,
but every time you go and you show up and you, you participate in these activities and these games, they're helping you just as
much. And you never leave in a worse mood.
You're always leaving in a better mood. You always
SPEAKER6: leave --day's. (10:37):
undefined
SPEAKER8: Your day's always, you know, kind of rejuvenated. And it's always fun, even when you, you know, you're getting your butt kicked in S orry every single (10:38):
undefined
week or whatever it might be. It's always the the camaraderie that you kind of, you know,
join in together. And it always kind of puts you in a better mood.
SPEAKER1: I really I appreciate that because you're right. I don't think there's ever been a time when I've left my time with my mentee where I haven't been lifted up in (10:51):
undefined
some way. Right? It's always been something that I've looked forward to and really enjoyed,
because it's very different from the majority of what I do.
And so just that one on one time and whatever however we choose to spend it, and it's changed so much over the years.
(11:15):
Um, it's always been something I look forward to every week.
Yeah. So then, Carol, how can someone become a mentor if they're interested?
SPEAKER3: You bet. We're definitely always accepting new mentors. (11:23):
undefined
And I'll just say, especially, um, we're in need of more male mentors.
We have a number of, um, male students who are interested in being paired with a male mentor.
So the easiest way is to go on to the Oregon um School District website.
(11:44):
Click on the volunteer link. Okay. And then once you click on that, you'll get to you'll see a dropdown of options.
And you'll want to go to the "Be a Champion Mentor" volunteer option.
When you click on that, it will take you to a very simple inquiry page and you can get more information there as well.
SPEAKER1: Okay, so that sounds pretty simple. (12:06):
undefined
SPEAKER3: Yes, yes it is. (12:08):
undefined
SPEAKER1: All right. Does anybody want to add anything else about the mentor program? (12:09):
undefined
SPEAKER7: I would give it a shot if you're on the edge. (12:15):
undefined
It's very, very much worth your time. Plus, there's a very fun picnic at the end of the year that we all get together.
It's a--it's a good time.
SPEAKER1: I agree. It is a fun picnic. Thanks for thanks for putting that out there. (12:26):
undefined
Thank you for spending a little bit of time today talking with me.
I'm really glad that you're enjoying the time together.
Your experiences are important, and I know that our listeners are going to love hearing about them.
SPEAKER10: Remember that you can find links to all episodes of Inside the OSD and submit topic ideas on our website at Oregon (12:44):
undefined
SD.org/Podcast. You can find this podcast anywhere you can find podcasts.
Make sure to subscribe if you're listening on one of these apps to get notifications on the most recent episodes.
(13:05):
We'll see you next time on Inside the OSD, where it's all about the kids.
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