Buena Vista Youth In Action
Youth In Action (YIA), a branch program of Chaffee County Mentors, enrolls middle school youth and pre-school children each September to participate in cross-age peer mentoring. Meeting weekly after-school, Youth In Action focuses on supporting the social-emotional and literacy development of the pre-schoolers while also providing a unique opportunity for middle-school aged youth to take on responsibility and use leadership skills in a fun and supportive environment. Middle schoolers volunteer their time, participate in six hours of training, and are rewarded with fun field trips a couple times during the year.
The budding mentors could barely contain their excitement last week when we went to the pre-school – they were going to meet the little ones for the first time. The first two weeks of YIA involve meet-and-greet activities in which mentors and mentees get to know one another and then name the people with whom they particularly connected. Next week, the youth will be “matched” based on their choices. The Match Day is a special time when the youth plant the seed for friendships to build through the rest of the school year.