Resources from CDE
- Video of Dana Scott – LINK
- CDE SCOOP: Weekly e-newsletter featuring news and announcements – LINK
- CDE 21st CCLC Out of School Time Grant Program – LINK
- CDE: A Framework and Toolkit for School and District Leaders – Feedback requested – LINK
- CEI Survey Reveals Technology and Other Needs of Students During Pandemic – LINK
Breakout Room Notes
What we’re hearing from schools:
- Most schools are talking about a hybrid model
- Schools will be getting creative with classroom use to use the entire school for 1-2 grade levels each day
- Still waiting to hear on the ruling on after school programming
- Look to summer camps to gain some insight
- Schools will be limiting outside adults in the schools
Concerns:
- Security/screening online
- Security of matches meeting online (specifically peer to peer)
- What schools will look like in the fall
Things that have worked or are working:
- Increasing & deepening individual connection between mentoring staff and students
- Virtual Curriculum delivery
- Group events that are focused on fun/silly or acknowledgement/celebration
- Graduation Event
- Skits led by students
- Slideshow of in-person events/meetings from the first half of the school year
- Writing letters between mentors and mentees
- Virtual Mentor HappyHours or informal mentor huddles
- Easing back into mentoring in the school – remember that kids won’t be the same after distance learning and no activities
- Zoom office hours
- Looking for other locations to run peer to peer program where social distancing can happen
- Proposing to schools to mobilize volunteers for them
- Schools are more open to mentoring agency to help as they’re the experts in screening/training
- Good communication with schools – admin are worried and we can be a support and schools are looking for outside resources to help them bridge the gap of what they’ve never done before
- Identify what the school’s goals are and help them achieve those goals
- Great relationship with classroom teachers helps
- Coming up with contingency plans in case schools close completely again
- Focusing on building strong relationships at the beginning in case we have to go completely virtual again
- Suggest to schools that they designate space specific to mentoring program (program does cleaning)
- Utilize outdoor spaces in the fall
- Zoom calls between matches (many online game options to play on zoom)
- Making multiple plans for the fall to see what the world looks like then
- Communication with school
- Schools see mentoring as more important than ever
Planning on how to deal with virtual/blended learning with limited/no-access to students this fall?
- BBBS Mentor 2.0 is looking at expanding the way that their post-secondary planning curriculum is delivered so that it’s more self-paced and asynchronous (less rigid), but still including a synchronous virtual group mentoring event once per month.
- Friends First – they are too early in their planning phases to have anything definitive to share.
- PRC – thinking about continuing their SBM program with volunteers instead of paid mentors, but also leaning heavily on those schools where good partnerships exist (and perhaps dropping others where it was heavily dependent on the paid mentor). Additionally, they are getting more flexible in program options for schools, by allowing schools to choose which components of the SBM program to continue (e.g. in-person mentoring, after-school groups, in-school tutoring, etc).
- SOS Outreach – is planning on increasing their connection with critical teachers who can support and expedite referrals…but are very worried about access to the students who need this the most (who have school-access/device-access/internet-access issues.
Other Resources Discussed and Shared:
MENTOR Colorado Free Consulting (Technical Assistance): https://comentoring.org/program-resources/technical-assistance/
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