Adventures in Mentoring
By Carianne Capalongo Bernadowski

Mentoring has been viewed as an intervention for kids who appear unprepared for adult life and as a way to help inner-city kids avoid negative life situations such as dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy and unemployment. Taking the concept of mentoring to a personal level, I began to think about my own eighth graders and what their mentoring needs were.

When I decided to implement mentoring for my students, I found that growing up in a low socioeconomic area and living in one-parent homes were issues for many of them. I had several of these students and knew I couldn't be a mentor to them on an individual basis and still make enough of a difference in their lives. And what about the younger kids at the elementary school? They'd be my students too, someday. The task was mind-boggling.

Eighth grade buddies (above), edited and illustrated their own children's books for their kindergarten friends.

Taking it to the kids. The only way to solve this problem was to take it to the kids. I decided that as they were helping themselves become better students and individuals, they could help their fellow citizens, too. They agreed, so I then introduced my own idea of mentoring – "The Buddy System." My eighth grade students would be paired with kindergartners at the local elementary school. It worked perfectly.

Our adventure began when I randomly assigned big kids to little kids and gave each eighth grader two younger buddies. They had a buddy in the morning kindergarten and one in the afternoon kindergarten. My students were ecstatic. We spent three days discussing the rules and responsibilities of being a buddy. The kids brainstormed and came up with The Buddy Rules.

We posted the rules in the classroom as a constant reminder. Each student then prepared a letter to send to his or her buddies.

Buddy letters. The first letters were introductory, with very few sentences. This was intended to help the kindergarten teacher who had to read all 50 letters to his students. The eighth graders also included a simple activity for their buddies – a word search, for example, or a coloring page. Snapshots of all buddies were taken and the kids exchanged photos with their first letters. My students designed mailing envelopes, which were used to send the mail from one school to the other.

The excitement in my classroom was unbelievable as my students awaited the kindergartners' responses. Every day they asked if the buddy letters had arrived. I had to explain the learning process of kindergarten students, which led to our next unit on "beginning reading."

One of the books created by an eighth grader for her buddy. Everything the kids shared with their buddies was either handmade or donated.

Writing for real purposes. Once my students researched what beginning reading was all about, they began their own journey into children's literature. We read and studied various authors and illustrators of children's books.

Each eighth grader had the huge task of writing, editing and illustrating two children's books – one for each of their buddies. They spent weeks preparing storyboards, which I checked during conferences with each student.

Some of my students created ABC books, while others wrote fiction. The variety was astonishing and the learning tremendous. I heard one student say to another, "I'd draw a dog for you, but I have a deadline to meet," which shows you how engrossed they were in the project.

Our first meeting. After many letters had been exchanged through the school mail, the students were anxious to meet face to face. My eighth graders prepared a holiday celebration for their buddies. They began by making pins that featured their buddies' pictures so their buddies could identify them.

Each eighth grader also brought a decorated bag containing the book he or she had made, a personalized holiday card, a coloring book, crayons and a candy cane with a personalized message. The day was filled with readings, songs, laughs, hugs – and tears as we left.

Meeting again. The correspondence continued throughout the winter and into early spring when my students became restless; they wanted to see their buddies again. How could I say no?

The kindergarten teacher told me that many of his less well-behaved students were being good so they could see their buddies again. The kindergartners weren't the only ones. My students' attitudes and behaviors had changed dramatically from the beginning of the school year. They wanted to learn and they wanted to be mentors.

Excitement in the air. Our spring get-together was filled with just as much excitement as the first time we met. We created a station where my students helped their younger buddies put together puzzles they'd created. Another station featured a seed-planting activity, where students planted a marigold seed in a cup a kindergartner had decorated. At a third station, cupcake decorating was demonstrated (a parent donated the cupcakes and icing) and at a final station, there was a read-along activity (by this time, many of the kindergarten students were emergent readers).

As I mentioned, many of my students come from low-income, one-parent homes. The families do not have the financial means to support such a program. Nor does the school district and nor do I. Everything the kids shared with their buddies was either handmade or donated. I had some very supportive parents who were able to help, and I consider myself lucky. I also asked local companies to support the program. They did. All I had to do was ask.

As for the kids, they plan to stay in touch with their buddies and I hope they do. They've learned more about literature and life than any language arts text could've ever taught them.

Carianne Capalongo-Bernadowski teaches eighth grade in McKeesport, PA and is currently working on her Ph.D.

August/September 2003, Vol.34, No.1