Big Brothers Big Sisters celebrates Mentorship Month

WASILLA — Mentorship can take many forms.

Just ask the Wasilla participants in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska.

Big Brother Greg Emery said he likes to take his friend — his “Little” in the group’s parlance — out to eat or hunting or riding ATVs.

“It varies. Sometimes we’ll do things a couple of weekends in a row. Sometimes we won’t do things for a month,” he said.

Nikki See takes her Little ice skating or out to do other active things.

Her Little, fifth-grader Natasha Tolbert, enjoys being active.

“I’ve never been ice fishing, so I want to try it,” she says when Director of Development, Recruitment and Partnership Rita Goetz suggests a group-wide ice fishing excursion.

January is national Mentorship Month and thus an important month for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Goetz said the program has about 30 pairs of Bigs and Littles — “matches” in the vernacular — but is always looking for more.

“We need more Bigs,” she said. “Especially males.”

Chelsea Fields, the Mat-Su Program Specialist for the organization and herself a Big, adds that it’s not as easy as matching the first Big through the door with the next waiting Little. The group tries to make matches based on interests, pairing up people who like video games or who like the outdoors.

“We’re looking for Bigs from all walks of life,” she said.

Some of those matches are out in the community, others are strictly based in schools. The group is looking to expand in to the military community.

Each Big goes through an interview process and reference and background checks. The commitment is for a yearlong mentorship, with meetings two to four times a month with your Little.

The group points to statistics showing that mentorship helps kids stay in school and be more successful there.

At a get-together at the group’s offices Friday, it was clear that it’s not just the kids who benefit.

“Sometimes as adults we forget to have fun and it’s good to have a play date,” said See, who works as a nurse at the Alaska Native Medical Center.

She said she grew up in Northern California and basically lived out of the Boys and Girls Club. That’s where she honed her basketball skills. She said she got a lot out of the experience and, as an adult, wanted to do something for other kids.

Emery, who spoke about the program in a phone interview, said that his Little is good motivation to get up out of his chair to do something. Adults, he said, are often very busy folk, hard to connect with.

“I get a lot out of it. I get to be friends with somebody who has a much younger and more innocent perspective on life who is still developing their thoughts and personality and also a jolt of youthful enthusiasm as far as getting off my butt and going and doing things,” Emery said.

Emery, a mechanic for the state Department of Transportation, said that his own son is grown and on his own. He said “mentorship” is a good word, but that it doesn’t encapsulate all this relationship is about.

“Really it’s about friendship and just trying to be a positive influence on someone who is developing towards adulthood,” he said.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.