AUBURN - Five-year-old Brian Bowers stares up at Adam Clary with great intensity, his yellow pencil lazily tracing rings around his mouth.
"Do you like school a little or a lot?," 17-year-old Clary asked his young friend.
"A little," Bowers responded, much to Clary's surprise.
Clary, a junior at Auburn High School and a member of the school-based Y-Pals mentoring program, is incredulous and asks the kindergartener the question again. This time the answer is more along the lines of what Clary hopes he'd hear.
"I like it a lot," Bowers said.
The youngster isn't fickle, nor is he confused; he was just distracted by the prospect of pizza and soda that awaited him and the other mentors and mentees at Owasco Elementary School. This was their last mentoring session and it was clearly cause to celebrate a successful year.
The school-based Y-Pals program has been around for about three years, but Sharon Collins, the program's director for the YMCA, said it didn't get started in earnest until this year. The program operates in all Auburn public elementary schools, as well as those in the Southern Cayuga and Moravia school districts.
Collins is pleased with the response so far. About 100 high schoolers, from National Honor Society and Character Education students to student-athletes, signed up to be mentors this year. And most have stuck with it.
"It's gotten really big," Collins said. "This is a service to the schools that doesn't cost anyone any money."
The high schoolers, like Clary, who participate don't get any extra-credit for mentoring and most are conscientious about meeting with their mentees once a week. Because Collins and her Y-Pals staff closely monitor mentor attendance, there have been relatively few problems with mentors showing up when they're supposed to.
The pairs meet weekly for an hour and do everything from homework to jumping rope to playing hide-and-go-seek. The important thing is that the elementary students, who were selected for the program because they were in a high-risk category, connect with an older student who can serve as a positive influence.
The bond between Clary and his young charge is obvious. Clary is patient as he helps Bowers fill out a program evaluation, a task that is somewhat daunting for a fellow who is just learning to spell. Bowers quickly loses interest in checking the proper boxes and by the end of the exercise, all the boxes are filled in, proclaiming that the youngster both loves and hates school and he's done better and worse in school since getting a mentor.
But this kind of activity is not what Bowers is used to. Normally when Clary comes to visit, the two goof around in the gym, work on spelling or play the piano, Bowers's favorite activity.
The 5-year-old likes to play Christmas tunes for Clary, especially his favorite, "Jingle Bells."
"He teaches me," Clary said, laughing.
Liz Vozga, a tenth-grader at Auburn High, sits in the cafeteria with her mentee, Mariah Lukowski, as the 9-year-old fills out her evaluation. It's the last time the two will meet before school ends for the year. But if the two girls have their way, they'll be working together next year.
Vozga came to the program through the National Honor Society. The Y-Pals program fulfills the community service element of the NHS membership. But the 16-year-old's work with Lukowski is more than just a requirement.
"I want to be an elementary school teacher, so this has been a good experience. I want to be a teacher even more," Vozga said.
Lukowski thinks her mentor would be a great teacher, especially if her duties involved playing cards, hide-and-go-seek or basketball, activities the pair like to do together.
Owasco principal Mickie Post is enthusiastic about the mentoring program and thinks it's important not only for her students, but for the high school students as well.
"It's a very beneficial program for all participants," she said.
"The high-schoolers learn about confidence and service and gain an understanding of what it takes to become a teacher. And the young students do look forward to it as a one on one experience with someone older."
Post says the high school students are old enough to have some perspective, but not too old as to be inaccessible for the youngsters.
"It's the best of both worlds," she said. "They're not so far removed from remembering what it's like to play."
Staff writer Lauren Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext 245 or lauren.ober@lee.net
"A little," Bowers responded, much to Clary's surprise.
Clary, a junior at Auburn High School and a member of the school-based Y-Pals mentoring program, is incredulous and asks the kindergartener the question again. This time the answer is more along the lines of what Clary hopes he'd hear.
"I like it a lot," Bowers said.
The youngster isn't fickle, nor is he confused; he was just distracted by the prospect of pizza and soda that awaited him and the other mentors and mentees at Owasco Elementary School. This was their last mentoring session and it was clearly cause to celebrate a successful year.
The school-based Y-Pals program has been around for about three years, but Sharon Collins, the program's director for the YMCA, said it didn't get started in earnest until this year. The program operates in all Auburn public elementary schools, as well as those in the Southern Cayuga and Moravia school districts.
Collins is pleased with the response so far. About 100 high schoolers, from National Honor Society and Character Education students to student-athletes, signed up to be mentors this year. And most have stuck with it.
"It's gotten really big," Collins said. "This is a service to the schools that doesn't cost anyone any money."
The high schoolers, like Clary, who participate don't get any extra-credit for mentoring and most are conscientious about meeting with their mentees once a week. Because Collins and her Y-Pals staff closely monitor mentor attendance, there have been relatively few problems with mentors showing up when they're supposed to.
The pairs meet weekly for an hour and do everything from homework to jumping rope to playing hide-and-go-seek. The important thing is that the elementary students, who were selected for the program because they were in a high-risk category, connect with an older student who can serve as a positive influence.
The bond between Clary and his young charge is obvious. Clary is patient as he helps Bowers fill out a program evaluation, a task that is somewhat daunting for a fellow who is just learning to spell. Bowers quickly loses interest in checking the proper boxes and by the end of the exercise, all the boxes are filled in, proclaiming that the youngster both loves and hates school and he's done better and worse in school since getting a mentor.
But this kind of activity is not what Bowers is used to. Normally when Clary comes to visit, the two goof around in the gym, work on spelling or play the piano, Bowers's favorite activity.
The 5-year-old likes to play Christmas tunes for Clary, especially his favorite, "Jingle Bells."
"He teaches me," Clary said, laughing.
Liz Vozga, a tenth-grader at Auburn High, sits in the cafeteria with her mentee, Mariah Lukowski, as the 9-year-old fills out her evaluation. It's the last time the two will meet before school ends for the year. But if the two girls have their way, they'll be working together next year.
Vozga came to the program through the National Honor Society. The Y-Pals program fulfills the community service element of the NHS membership. But the 16-year-old's work with Lukowski is more than just a requirement.
"I want to be an elementary school teacher, so this has been a good experience. I want to be a teacher even more," Vozga said.
Lukowski thinks her mentor would be a great teacher, especially if her duties involved playing cards, hide-and-go-seek or basketball, activities the pair like to do together.
Owasco principal Mickie Post is enthusiastic about the mentoring program and thinks it's important not only for her students, but for the high school students as well.
"It's a very beneficial program for all participants," she said.
"The high-schoolers learn about confidence and service and gain an understanding of what it takes to become a teacher. And the young students do look forward to it as a one on one experience with someone older."
Post says the high school students are old enough to have some perspective, but not too old as to be inaccessible for the youngsters.
"It's the best of both worlds," she said. "They're not so far removed from remembering what it's like to play."
Staff writer Lauren Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext 245 or lauren.ober@lee.net
