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10 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 9, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Appleby mentors learning from little brothers and sisters By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF DEREK WOOLLAM / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER MENTORS: From left, Marlo, Barbara Burton of United Way of Oakville, Elaine Collins of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton, Ibrahim, Christina Fung of the Telus Community Investment Board and Anne Miskey of The Community Foundation, showcase a video project created during the unique First Mentor program at Appleby College. There's a Big Brothers Big Sisters program unique to Appleby College. And if you ask its co-founder, it's hard to tell who benefits most from the partnership ­ the kids in the program, or the Appleby senior students running it. "It's such a huge benefit for everybody involved ­ the mentors, the kids, the volunteers," said Appleby drama teacher Kip Longstaff, who began the program a few years ago. "It's a pretty amazing across the board benefit for everybody." First Mentor is a program that sees Appleby senior students work once a week with a group of about 20 kids from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton over a month-long period. In four separate sessions each year for kids ages five to 15, they'll do art projects, sports, computer projects, drama and more during any given session, which are all stu- D 11 E PLAC 10th AN H ILLE AKV N MARC O th T 8 A OURT O rd TO 1 C 3 TRE RCH AT CEN MA S N US E DEMO JOI AT COL CHO LIVE th dent-run. Last week, part of the program was rock climbing. "It's all about empowering not only the children that come from the Big Brothers Big Sister agency, but also the Appleby students. They really complement each other," said Longstaff, who runs four different sessions each year at Appleby. "The kids are having an enriched program that gives them something to look forward to, gives them some skills, lets them have fun and make friends with kids that aren't at their schools. "Meanwhile the mentors are learning all sorts of wonderful things they can use throughout their life." Not to mention developing great relationships. "When this first started, I thought, that's a pretty short period of time, I really hope we make a connection," said Longstaff. "Well, they're best friends by the end of the first session. You would be amazed at the relationships that are created in a very short time." Big Brothers Big Sisters and Appleby recently showcased this First Mentor program during the last week of the third month-long session for the year, which was for teenaged kids. One of many things they did over the course of the month was create a video project. Each of the kids brought a copy of the DVD home with them. "The key thing for me is that they have a keepsake, a take-home project, and it's very tailored to the age-range," said Longstaff. "The little ones in the fall built a mask, and in the fourth week they wear it as part of a costume for Halloween." The videos presented last week were made entirely by the kids of Big Brothers and Big Sisters right down to designing a label for the cover. "The girls chose to make it about a boy asking a bunch of girls to a dance and finding out he was triple timing him and then they dumped him," said Longstaff. "At the end it's a boy looking rather sad, and he pulls out his cellphone and calls his mom, which I thought was quite funny." The boys did a video about police officers, "and had all sorts of silly cops," said Longstaff. "They're really very engaged in this program, and from week-to-week. For the children that we're servicing, that is huge. Just the consistency of having four things in a row is huge." The program also provides what Longstaff calls "a double-whammy" of fun mixed with valuable training for school. "They've created the video, if they're taking media, that's going to improve their skills. If they're playing basketball here that's going to improve their skills if they're on the school team or in gym class," she said. About 15 Appleby students help run the program, and over the course of the year, 80 kids from Big Brothers Big Sisters will be mentored through it. BERTIN STABLES March Break Camps Now Booking · Weekday Lessons 4/$107 or $35/Lesson · Saturday at Farm 10am-3pm $40 (Children 5-12 yrs.) (905) 827-4678 www.bertinstables.com