Ideas as the school year ends

Mentoring Tips and Ideas


Here are a few ideas to help you think of ways to spend quality time with your mentee:


Find Favorite Memories
Take a few moments to share a favorite story of growing up. Build a personal connection over time that can be the foundation of your mentoring relationship. Let it happen naturally. Find out what you both enjoy, what makes you laugh, what kind of movies and books you like and topics you can talk about.

Expand Borders
Find out what kinds of things are outside of your mentee's comfort zone and then set a plan to take them there. Maybe it’s a restaurant or a specific part of the city. Maybe it’s a different type of movie or visiting the opera or a play. Plan a time to take on those issues one at a time and break through the self-imposed borders that plague our youth.

Read Together
If you have been involved in a mentoring relationship with a child for over six months, try reading a book together. Probably no more than 150 pages on a subject you both enjoy. If your mentee struggles with reading, make it part of your meeting time and read together.

Learn Local History
Plan a short vacation in your own city. Many young people are unaware of the history of their city. Schedule a day to visit important local sites with your mentee. It could be a museum, a historical park, or even the old cemetery. You can talk about what life used to be like, how people lived, what kind of careers they might have had. Share stories of how you would like to be remembered.

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Other places to look
Explore MN 

Minnesota offers an endless array of things to do! Outdoor pursuits include fishing and boating, great golf, and some of the country’s best bike trails. There are excellent museums of all types, and options for live theater abound.

Do you want better health? VOLUNTEER!!

"Volunteering makes an immeasurable difference in the lives of others. But did you know how much you help yourself by giving back? From lowering stress to boosting self-confidence, volunteering offers many health benefits—especially for older adults. 

Just search the web: There are over 19 million hits for articles on how doing good helps people lead better, healthier lives. Start reaping these mental and physical health benefits today:

1. Decrease your risk of depression. Volunteering with and for others increases social interaction and helps build a support system based on common commitment and interests—both of which have been shown to decrease depression.
2. Enjoy a sense of purpose and fulfillment—and increase your self-confidence while you’re at it!
3. Stay physically and mentally active. A study released by Johns Hopkins University in 2009 revealed that volunteers actually increased their brain functioning. Volunteer activities get you moving and thinking at the same time.
4. Reduce stress levels. By savoring your time spent in service to others, you’ll feel a sense of meaning and appreciation—both given and received—which can be calming.
5. Experience “The Happiness Effect.” You know that feel-good sense you get after a vigorous workout? It comes from a release of dopamine in the brain. Helping others has that exact same effect—so the more you volunteer, the happier you become!

Get active now!"

See HERE for more!!

"Research demonstrates that volunteering leads to better health and that older volunteers are the most likely to receive physical and mental health benefits from their volunteer activities.

Volunteering, Life Satisfaction, and Mental Health Why might we see a connection between volunteer activities and longer and healthier lives? Evidence suggests that volunteering has a positive effect on social psychological factors, such as one’s sense of purpose. In turn, positive social psychological factors are correlated with lower risks of poor physical health. Volunteering may enhance a person’s social networks to buffer stress and reduce risk of disease. This connection between volunteering, social psychological factors, and social networks has been captured by what has been termed “social integration theory,” or “role theory,” which holds that an individual’s social connections, typically measured by the number of social roles that an individual has, can provide meaning and purpose to his or her life, while protecting him or her from isolation in difficult periods. However, research also suggests that volunteer activities offer those who serve more than just a social network to provide support and alleviate stress; volunteering also provides individuals with a sense of purpose and life satisfaction"

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