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Group
of Bigs and Littles at Woodland Heights last year.
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Big Brothers Big Sisters
High School
Mentors Impact Lives of Local Children
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby and Darke County is excited to
announce that another great year of the Big Buddies program is up and
running. This is the thirteenth year the program has been in
place. The Buddies program is an eight-month commitment where
high school sophomores, juniors and seniors agree to work with and
mentor elementary aged children two times per month. During these
meetings, the high school students, under the supervision of Big
Brothers Big Sisters staff, work with one or two children on different
educational and recreational activities. The program continues to
promote social and educational enhancing activities, as well as
fitness, nutrition, and personal safety.
The Buddies program this year is at a total of five different sites in
both counties for the 2012-2013 school year. These sessions are
held at Woodland Heights and Versailles in Darke County, as well as
Longfellow, Northwood, and Whittier Elementary Schools in Shelby
County.
High school mentoring programs have become a widespread component of
many nationally affiliated Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies.
Studies prove that children from who spend time with a positive role
model are more likely to become healthy productive adults. The
Big Buddies program has proven beneficial not only for the “Littles”
but for the high school volunteers, as well.
The agency is pleased to announce that all after-school programs are up
and running! This year we kicked off the programs with a total of 86
volunteers from Ansonia, Anna, Botkins, Christian Academy, Fort
Loramie, Greenville, Houston, Jackson Center, Lehman, Russia, Sidney
& Versailles.
The following high school volunteers for the fall of 2012 are:
Ansonia: Jennifer Mayo. Greenville: Ryan Simons, Jessica Thompson,
Chloe Lance, Britnee Dunfee, DarPan Kaur, Celeste Kenworthy, Caitlyn
Jetter, Hannah Cloyd, Will McCabe, Sidney Hunt, Faith Penn, Jeanna
Gnade, Sydney Hunt, Michelle Mead, Alexis Minnich, Kayla Gilbert,
Bhavneer Kaur. Versailles: Cole Albers, Kori Oliver, Casidy
Condon, Jessica Heitkamp, Alex Cordonnier, Tori Bulcher, Bridget
Berger, Madison Keiser, Kacie Lawrence, Brittany Brand, Jenna
Hoelscher, Ashley Cochran, Courtney Rose, Todd Hilhefort, Kristin
Shimp, Megan Hemmelgarn, Katie Grieshop, Samantha Kremer, Allison
Grilliot. Anna: Alissa Brown, Corey Abbott, Jodie Scmitmeyer,
Danielle Nolte, Ryan Smith, Courtney Littlefield, Kiarra Ibarra,
Samantha Heitkamp, Megan Card. Botkins: Abby Russell, Logan
Pitts. Christian Academy: Caleb Ordean, Derek Spencer. Fort
Loramie: Katie Ahrns, Kristen Chaney, Meghan Bruns, Sara Koverman,
Ashley Siwek, Megan Bolheimer, Jena Drees, Becka Stricker, Morgan
Pleiman, Jerrica Holthaus. Houston: Alex Vondenhuevel.
Jackson Center: Jackie Tidd, Riley Morris, Jessica Hilyard.
Lehman: Olivia Sehlhorst, Alyx Meyers, Makenna Cabe, Lauren
Goettemoeller, Karly Baird, Joe Fuller, Maria Pannapara, McKenna
Guillozet, Madilyn Brown, Jacob Haller. Russia: Nicholas Frazier
Sidney: Suesanah Compton, Morgan Stiffler, Sarah Beck, Bethany
Erickson, Courtney Cox, Chelcy Murray, Ashley Wright, Amanda Mitchell,
Gold Barnes, Deidra Drees, Katelyn Larger. Please
note that these are the current list of volunteers posted the date of
this press release. The agency is currently still accepting
additional volunteers at some of our sites.
In addition to our after-school program the agency has 101
community-based matches throughout Shelby and Darke County. These
matches meet with each other twice a month for outings which are
planned around the volunteers own schedule. The goal of the
community-based program is to match a local child with an adult mentor,
who can serve as a positive role model, and expose the child to
enhancing and uplifting activities. Currently the agency has 10
children waiting for a Big Brother or Sister in the program, so now is
the time to think about how you could put a little sparkle into the
life of a child! If you are interested in becoming a mentor in
our community-based program, please call 547-9622 or 492-7611 for more
information.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County is a United Way
member agency and an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America. The Buddies program is partially funded by the Ruther
and Emerson Booher Committee advised fund for Versailles and The
Amie McClurkin Foundation administered through the Hope
Foundation. If you would like more information about
how to become a volunteer, you may visit the agency web site at
www.bigbrobigsis-shelbydarke.org or call the Sidney office at
(937)492-7611 or the Greenville office at (937)547-9622.
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Group
of Versailles Bigs and Littles.
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Group
of Bigs and Littles at the Whittier site.
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