GO!!

This passion project is a ‘go’. I have thought of things I need to work towards to complete this goal. Some road blocks like “How am I gonna make this work or is this gonna work?” But I have also thought about the joy it will bring the ‘littles’ as well as the ‘bigs’. That is what is helping me to keep going through with the project. First of all I need to get the administration to back me up so I have to set up a meeting and need to ask if this is something that can even be done. Hoping that meeting goes well, I will talk to coaches from the fall sports and see if I can get this backed up by them. This is the best case scenario, things do not always go like that and I need to be prepared for everything. Like, what are the plans for this day? So, I was going to have various activities throughout both gyms. Like games or bored games or something that would be fun for the little kids but enough to keep the big kids entertained. While they’re all playing there would be a brake for snacks and a water break. Also some of the other kids that have been through the meetings with the administration have had a trouble with not having a sponsors beforehand so with that finding a sponsor needs to be done before the meeting. How will we get kids signed up? I will make up a flyer and send it home with all of the kids pre-school through first grade. On the flyer will be what we are doing and contact information to sign-up the kids beforehand. I will set up a deadline, so we know how many to plan for. With the sign-up form I will ask for contact information of the parents, so that way if anything were to happen we can get in contact of the parents. This is not going to be an easy process but I think the end result is going to be worth it. According to the Big Brother Big Sister website, the ages 10-16 have shown a huge decrease in the use of drugs anad alcohol and less violent behavior for those who are living in low income housing or single-parent houses. They stratigacally pick the mentor after careful consideration. The program makes sure it is safe for mentor as well as mentee. I have also thought about the struggle of making sure I chose the right ‘big’ for the right ‘little.’ I think that asking the parent to tell us a little bit about the child, will make this process a little easier. The BBBS found a 46% of the litles are less likely to use drugs, 27% less likely to use alcholo, 52% less likely to skip school, 37% less likely to skip a class, and 33% less likely to become violent in a situatiion. This research and data was found in 2018, in that same year they found that students were more confident in their schoolwork and were getting along with their families more. 80% of the kids that were serveyed in this research, live in a proverty neighberhood, and get free lunches. The volunteres ranged from younger then 18 and some older than 60. All of this is possible because, someone voluntered to help a kid who needed that influnce in their life.

Mitchell, Jessica “2018 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Annual Impact Report.” bbbs.org. Big Brothers  Big Sisters of Ameriaca. updated 2020. 25 Feb. 2020.