Mentoring: Douglas and Means, one of the first pairings

The Sidney Schools’ Teammates Mentoring program is a completely volunteer program that matches up youths with adults, offering the child another responsible caring adult in their life.

Both adult and child volunteer to be a part of the program that was brought back to the Sidney Schools two years ago for children in the fifth through eighth grades.

When her daughter brought home the flyer and paperwork on how to become a mentor, Rhonda Douglas signed up to be a mentor and was paired quickly.

Rhonda’s reason to become a mentor was straight forward. “It was a way to be a positive influence on the youth in our community.”

She was paired with Allie Means, a fifth grader at the time, who also jumped at the chance to be a part of the program as a mentee.

Allie’s reason to want a mentor was “I thought it would be fun because I like meeting new people. I thought it would be fun because I get to do a lot more stuff and learn more with my mentor.”

Though her mentor would not end up being a new person, something Douglas said was not common for the program, Means did not mind because Rhonda was “one of my best friends’ moms.”

“They don’t normally match up people with children of the same age as their mentee,” Douglas said to the pairing. “That was kind of an oops. But because we were already matched up and we had already had a couple meetings together, Angie Jacobsen talked to Allie and I both separately to make sure we were okay with the arrangement.”

Douglas said this talk was to ensure both parties were comfortable with being paired and that Means had no worries about Douglas having a daughter she was friends with ensuring a bond of trust between the two could form.

The meeting with Douglas was to making sure she was comfortable with mentoring a child that was both the same age as her own daughter and with someone she would see more often than just within the program due to children’s friendship.

“The mentor and mentee (normally) should not see each other outside of our meetings, but I do see Allie a lot because she and my daughter are in the same sports,” Douglas explained. “So it’s kind of a different match up for what is the norm for the teammates program.”

However, Douglas believes she would be and can be just as good a mentor to another mentee if that is how it had ended up.

“When we got matched up I did know Allie from being in school with my daughter and also being in sports, but I didn’t know her personally. So, when we got together the first thing we did was ask questions,” Douglas said.

The questions they asked each other were ones that would allow for them both to actually get to know each other on a more personable level, such as favorite activities, pets and likes and dislikes.

All in all the two don’t mind the out of the norm unique pairing, they feel it gives them a bit of an advantage within their relationship.

“Sometimes we talk about her school work and I totally understand the level she is speaking of because I check McKenna’s homework at home,” Douglas said. “And also with Allie bringing situations to me I can relate better to who those people are, so I can better explain where they are coming from or how she should behave on handling those people.”

From Means’ perspective, “talking to a complete stranger I couldn’t talk to them about my problems and stuff, but since I know Rhonda I can talk to her about them.”

It isn’t just the two who are happy about the pairing though, Means’ parents were glad she was paired with someone they knew as well.

For the past two years therehasn’t been anydifficultyfinding things to do or even decide upon what would be fun for the time they spend together, especially since Douglas said she can identify with Means well.

“We do some crafts, we’ve done bracelets. Last December when we first met we had a snowman and a wreath project we did together. We usually go with the season, if it’s basketball season we play basketball, if it is volleyball season we play volleyball. We like to play games, we like to go outside. Sometimes I just bring a soda and a candy bar and we just talk for a while,” Douglas said.

Mean’s favorite part, “I get to hang out with Rhonda and we have a lot of fun. I like playing sports with Rhonda she helps me get better at it, and it’s really fun. We get to talk a lot. I tell her some of my problems and she helps me through that.”

Means said the relationship with her mentor is helping her look at things in a different way when she has problems.

“When I think of something and I don’t know how to do something, she helps me find a way to do it a different way,” Means said. “

The plans the two have together are to stick together until Allie has graduated from high school; that is as long as both agree the pairing is still working Douglas said.

Means’ time with her mentor has been very beneficial to the point that she would recommend a mentor to other children.

“It’s really fun and it can help you a lot,” she said.