Mentoring News – June 2013 | Alberta Mentoring Partnership

Bursaries For Key Staff / Volunteers

National Mentoring Symposium 2013

Provided through a generous grant from

Family and Community Support Services Association of Alberta (FCSSAA)

The Alberta Mentoring Partnership has a limited number of bursaries to allow staff / key volunteers to attend this event.

The applicant organization must be located in ALBERTA.
Priorities will be given to mentoring programs located in rural & remote communities throughout Alberta as well as programs supporting Aboriginal or Newcomer communities.
We are accepting and reviewing applications until the Bursary fund has been expended.
Applications are accepted on a first-come first-served basis.

DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION

Submit applications to: Provincial Coordinator
Michelle Anderson Draper michelle.andersondraper@albertamentors.ca

The Youth Mentoring Leadership Forum

Presented by the:

will be held in conjunction with the National Mentoring Symposium taking place at the Banff Centre Nov 5-7, 2013
Youth will have an opportunity to attend Keynote Sessions with speakers including Tom Jackson, Michael Unger and Max Valiqutette as well as presenting their perspective on the future of mentoring to the symposium attendees. In addition, youth will participate in a reception hosted by The Honorable Alison Redford, Premier of Alberta!
The forum will be designed to have a twofold benefit for youth;

Garner feedback from the youth about what mentoring should look like for the next 100 years
Increasing their knowledge base with respect to mentoring and developing leadership and communication skills

More information can be found at http://www.nmsevent.ca/
High school aged youth from across Alberta with a particular interest in community engagement and mentoring are encouraged to apply. 25 youth will be selected to attend with all costs associated with travel and conference attendance covered by grants from our generous sponsor.

Applications forms will be available at www.albertamentors.ca beginning on June 28, 2013
Applications are due September 27, 2013
Confirmations will be sent to successful applicants on October 4, 2013

For more information, please feel free to contact us through the following link: http://www.albertamentors.ca/admin/Contentx/default.cfm?h=-1&PageId=10980
Click here to read more

Promoting Inclusion, Learning and Meaningful Relationships Using Peer Support Strategies

Dr. Erik Carter of Vanderbilt University presented in Calgary and Edmonton

to staff of schools, community agencies and the Department of Education on

May 29, 30 and 31, 2013. He outlined the strengths of peer support programs

for students with significant disabilities, in terms of creating a sense of

community, providing social interaction and assisting with access to the

curriculum. In addition, his research showed clearly the benefits of peer

support programs for students who do not have disabilities. Students acting

as peer supports saw their marks either increase or stay the same – a

powerful outcome. Dr. Carter offered staff clear direction in setting up and

sustaining peer support programs.

Staff interested in setting up or looking for additional assistance with

peer support programs in their junior or senior high schools are invited to

take part in a community of practice. Complete and send the following form to the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium to apply: http://gallery.mailchimp.com/1629a732b0d681202c0d44ac8/files/Invitation_to_Participate_2_.docx

Promoting Inclusion, Learning and Meaningful Relationships Using Peer Support Strategies Workshop
From left to right: Ann Gardner (Alberta Education), Dr. Erik Carter (Speaker), Sue Bell (Alberta Education), Mike Dreimanis (Alberta Education).

The Society for Safe and Caring Schools & Communities: Peer Mentoring Initiatives

The programs which have the greatest impact on young people are the ones that actively engage them in creating positive changes in their lives. Peer mentoring provides an opportunity for students to do just that.

The Society for Safe and Caring Schools & Communities has worked with schools across Alberta over the past two years to implement peer mentoring. During the 2012/2013 school year, 162 students from Grades 7 to 12 were trained as mentors and mentored 225 students either from their own school or a nearby feeder school. Staff facilitators and mentor students participated in an initial training workshop and received a variety of materials and peer mentoring resources to use throughout the year. A staff facilitator shares, “This project has helped to increase staff awareness about some school issues related to bullying.”

As a mentor, the students are asked to provide friendship, guidance and support for their younger peers. “Other students in the school ask us about what we’re doing and why? It makes me feel good!” notes a mentor student. As a result, these mentors have positively influenced the skills, behaviours, and attitudes of their mentees. “I don’t get in as many fights now and making friends is easier for me. My mentor helps me keep out of trouble,” says an elementary aged mentee. Mentors and mentees have participated in a variety of activities as a result of the peer mentoring project which focuses on building relationships and increasing the awareness of relational aggression all while spending time together and having fun.

As we all know, in today’s digital age, concerns surrounding cyberbullying have become a significant issue in schools across North America. It is for this reason that next year’s Peer Mentoring Project will focus on cyber safety, digital citizenship, increasing awareness of cyberbullying and helping youth keep themselves and their peers safe online. The students involved in next year’s project will also be responsible for creating a cyber-safe awareness campaign within their respective schools.

We are excited to announce that The Society for Safe and Caring Schools & Communities is partnering with Telus and The Alberta Mentoring Partnership to offer the peer mentoring experience to Alberta junior and senior high schools in 2013/2014.

If you are an Alberta junior high or high school and interested in being involved in next year’s peer mentoring project or would like more information about the project, please contact Bev Dekker at the Society for Safe and Caring Schools & Communities at 780.822.1505, email bdekker@sacsc.ca or visit our website at http://www.sacsc.ca.

Parent Resources

AMP will be launching a Parent Portal in the upcoming future with online resources for parents of children and youth. Below are links to two interesting resources that will be linked in the Parent Portal:

A Government of Alberta website that informs adults how to teach kids to think critically when sharing information online.
http://humanservices.alberta.ca/InternetSafety/internetsavvy.html

A well-done video for kids based on the book “My Body Belongs to Me,” by Jill Starishevsky. This video is a tool for educating children, parents and educators about sexual abuse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-5mdt9YN6I&feature=youtu.be

Principal Got Rid of Security Guards and then Something Unbelievable Happened
Where most people saw a “drop out factory” and “career killer,” Andrew Bott saw a school with potential.
Bott was the sixth principal in seven years when he took the job at Orchard Gardens, a failing K-8 school in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He proceeded to eliminate the school’s security infrastructure and used the money to jumpstart the school’s arts program. It now has one of the fastest improvement rates in the state, and students feel more safe, not less.
It just goes to show what can happen when a school invests in their students.
Watch a report on the school by clicking here .

If you and/or your organization are looking to broaden the communication of an event or program, a professional development opportunity, a mentoring success story, or valuable resource, contact us at mentor.resource@albertamentors.ca to have it included in a future newsletter.
Contact: mentor.resource@albertamentors.ca
Alberta Mentoring Partnership
Phone: 1-888-342-6514

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