Buddies
Big Brothers Big Sisters has been successful at implementing community-based mentoring programs for a number of years in Iowa City and surrounding areas. Although this is a successful program, it is not able to reach all children who could benefit from a mentor. Recently, many new students have been entering the Iowa City Community School District at Twain Elementary from larger metropolitan areas and other countries. These children often have low self-esteem, lack of social skills, problems with behavior and problems academically. Although Big Brothers Big Sisters could be a great resource for such children, the community-based services rely heavily on parental responsibility for enrolling their children in the program. Many parents face communication or transportation barriers that impede their ability to enroll their children in the mentoring program. Also, there is a long waiting list for the community-based program due to lack of volunteers.
(2) RSVP volunteers will participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters �Buddies� program. This school-based program will allow volunteers to spend one-on-one time with students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The volunteers will visit their �Buddies� at school weekly and act as a mentor. The Buddies program will foster relationship building through games and activities.
RSVP volunteers will mentor students from Twain Elementary. Each volunteer will participate in a one-hour training by the RSVP Director, the �Buddies� program coordinator and a representative from Twain Elementary. The training will include information on what to expect with the program, tips on working with children to improve self-esteem, social skills, problem behaviors and academics, and how to report suspected child abuse. RSVP and Big Brothers Big Sisters will screen volunteers, including police, sexual abuse and child abuse background checks. The program will be funded by a $5000 grant from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Iowa City will be responsible for all materials used for games and activities, as well as evaluating the impact of the program. Teachers from Twain Elementary will be responsible for referring students to the program.
The twenty-five students from Twain Elementary will be mentored by RSVP volunteers through the Buddies program. Volunteers will spend approximately fourty-five minutes with their student weekly. The program will also plan to expand into other elementary schools in the Iowa City School District by utilizing RSVP volunteers. The Buddies program will be able to expand because the school-based has a shorter time commitment than the community-based program.
According to school-based mentoring programs that have already been established through Big Brothers Big Sisters, children in the program will have significant improvement in their self-esteem, social skills, behaviors and academics. As measured by POE (performance evaluation) through Big Brothers Big Sisters, approximately 55-65% of students in the Buddies program will develop a more positive attitude toward school, achieve higher grades, be better able to express their feelings, have higher levels of self confidence and be more likely to trust their teachers. Those students not reached through the community-based mentoring program will have the opportunity to reap the benefits of having a mentor within the school setting.
