The joy of building pre-teen confidence

This column previously appeared in the Telegraph-Journal on August 10th, 2010.

The article was written by FUSION Saint John’s Claire Ryan:

A new program aimed at helping students in Grades 7 and 8 build confidence and develop life skills will be offered at middle schools in Greater Saint John this fall.

Kids.now, a national charity for youth development, is recruiting volunteer mentors to help deliver the program to students in schools throughout the area.

“Having the opportunity to mentor a group of kids is a very rewarding experience for both the students and the volunteer mentors,” says kids.now’s Paula Sanchez. “To be in a position of influence and be able to positively impact their lives is a positive and live-changing experience.”

Kids.now was created in 1999 by an Ontario teacher who saw a need to complement the school curriculum with life skills development. The free, weekly after-school program is run over 12 weeks and encourages life skills development through thought-provoking games, skill-based activities and group discussions, which teach goal-setting, effective communications, positive conflict resolution, stress management and other important life skills.

The program focuses on employability skills identified by the Conference Board of Canada as necessary for success in the workplace and builds life-success skills that aim to improve family and peer relationships; provides youth with tools to make positive choices and turn away from risky behaviour; enhances self-esteem and encourages healthy thinking, leading to a more productive and rewarding life.

“The ideal kids.now mentor is someone who is a positive leader,” says Sanchez. “Kids.now volunteer mentors are enthusiastic about life and about giving back to youth in their community. If you’re fun, dynamic and feel you can be a great mentor to kids, you’re the right person to be a kids.now volunteer mentor.”

The program will be offered at schools in Districts 6 and 8: Prince Charles, Forest Hills, Millidgeville North, Hazen White/St. Francis, Princess Elizabeth, Lorne Middle, St. John the Baptist-King Edward, Beaconsfield, Rothesay Park, Harry Miller Middle and Quispamsis Middle.

Kids.now is looking for Saint Johners interested in participating in the program as volunteer mentors.

For people who want to get involved in the community, kids.now offers an opportunity to mentor within the framework of a nationally recognized program.

The experience is as rewarding for the volunteer mentors as it is for the students, as they are able to establish a connection; this is reflected in the high volunteer retention rate in other regions.

Kids.now is looking to recruit and train potential mentors during the summer, as the programs will begin shortly after school starts in September. Volunteer applications are completed online, followed by an interview with the kids.now program manager.

For more information please visit www.fusionsj.com.

Claire Ryan is on the FUSION Saint John board. Reach her at cryan@mtlpr.ca.