The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

10 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, November 3, 2011 Big Brothers Big Sisters could use youths' help grams beyond the traditional one-to-one number of different areas. relationship. Murphy said his organization is eager to match men and women 19-and-older oneAaron Murphy, diversity recruitment If you're in high school or older, area on-one with "littles" aged 5-14 for weekly Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations co-ordinator of Big Brothers Big Sisters of or bi-weekly visits. The minimum commitHalton, is hard at work trying to find volneed your help. ment is for one year so that a rapport can There are hundreds of youngsters just unteers to cut a waiting list that has grown be built between the big and little brother waiting for the chance to spend a little bit to about 170 children. The catchment area or sister. includes Acton, Georgetown, Oakville, of time with you each week. There are, however, a number of other The local organizations have long his- Milton and those in Burlington willing to programs in which volunteers can take come into Oakville. The offi ce is located at tories of pairing young people with older part. `bigs' in a winning combination from 464 Morden Rd., Oakville. In-school mentoring allows a volunteer "We need all the volunteers we can get," which everyone benefits. the chance to visit during the school day, What many don't realize is the Big or- he said. Only on the job for about two once a week, and spend an hour with a ganizations also offer many different pro- weeks, he is trying to find matches in a child chosen by staff. The mentor can do arts and crafts, games, sports, or reading with the aim of helping the child socially. "It may be a case of a child having trouble fitting in or with bullying. The mentor's role would be to help him or her out with that," said Murphy. The age range of children is from five to 12 and the program lasts for the duration of the school year. Another school-related program is the homework club. The need for volunteers includes high-school aged students as well as adults. Each session runs 90 minutes during the school year. Third Line immediately south of 10 Side Road The age range of children is from 5-18. will be temporarily closed. The high school students act as mentors for the younger students while the adults Specific notices and instructions will be provided to are mentors for the high school students. "If the high-school student has a quesaffected properties. The temporary road closure is tion, the adult can answer that question for required to facilitate the construction of the new Halton them. If the kids get rowdy, the adult can oversee the program. The adults can make Region feeder watermain and Zone 5 Reservoir. By TIM KELLY Metroland Media Group sure the kids are getting their homework done. Some children have started in the program, then have gone on to being highschool mentors and have finally become adult mentors," said Murphy. The final after-school program is specifically for young teenage boys and girls aged 12-14. Called Go Girls and for boys, Game On, the programs are non-academic and take place once a week, after school. Game On is being tried as a pilot program in Georgetown while Go Girls is in place in several locations in Halton. It features a focus on active learning and living, positive body images, being healthy, balanced eating and writing, to name some examples. Requested volunteers should be between 18-28. "We want young men and young women who can relate well to young teenagers and who can share their life experiences with them for Go Girls and Game On," said Murphy. Finally, there is a group recreation program for children not yet matched. It involves a commitment of about four hours per month and involves such events as trips to Canada's Wonderland and floorhockey tournaments. "We're looking for volunteers 19 and older for the group recreation program. It can be used to see if volunteers like it," said Murphy. For more information, contact Murphy at 905-339-2355, ext. 220 or visit www.bbshalton.ca ROAD CLOSURE Contract Number: Scheduled Start Date: Scheduled Completion Date: Contact Person: W-2649C Monday, November 7, 2011 Wednesday, November 9, 2011 Marek Braczek Tel. No.: 905-825-6000, ext 7128 Email: marek.bracek@halton.ca Monday Nov. 7 Tuesday Nov. 8 Wednesday Nov. 9 Thursday Nov. 17 Wednesday Nov. 23 Clinics 10 AM to 7:30 PM 142 1 Halton Hills Drive, Halton Hills, Ontario L7G 5G2 Telephone: 905-873-2601 ext. 2300 · Fax: 905-873-3036 · Email: inf@haltonhills.ca