Mentoring In Schools: BBBS Mentor Programs in Elementary, Middle & High School

Information About School Mentoring Programs for Broward County Educators, Students, Families & Volunteers

Bigs Inspiring Scholastic Success (BISS)

BISS pairs Bigs (adult mentors or high school mentors) with Littles (k-12 students) who are academically at risk, so they can help them improve their grades and classroom behavior. Bigs encourage their Littles to graduate and pursue higher education or a career path.

As part of our BISS initiative, BBBS asks Bigs to:

• Commit to a 2-year match with their Littles
• Meet once a week for one hour
• Help their Little improve their grades in core subjects
• Encourage their Little to improve school attendance
• Help instill a sense of self-confidence in their Littles

BBBS of Broward County offers school-based mentoring programs and community-based mentoring programs for kids of all ages and backgrounds, but especially those who are at risk academically.

Mentoring Programs for Elementary and Middle School Students

The school-based programs for elementary and middle school are excellent opportunities for busy working professionals who are looking for volunteer opportunities to help younger kids who are struggling. Kids in kindergarten through 7th or 8th grade take part in the school-based mentoring program, where adult mentors or high school students meet with them one-on-one, once a week to help with homework or work on other educational type activities.

These elementary school and middle school mentoring programs are a great way for Bigs to ease into the BBBS program; many of our site-based Bigs transition into community-based programs.

Are you a high school student who’s looking for volunteer opportunities, and you love working with kids? Click here to learn more about volunteering with us!

Mentoring Program for High School Students

In this section, you’ll learn about two types of programs for high school students facilitated by BBBS of Broward: one where the high schooler is the mentee and another where the high schooler is the mentor.

Workplace-based mentoring: BBBS also offers a career-focused mentorship program where the high school Littles go to the Bigs’ places of work to shadow them for a couple of hours once a month. This School-to-Work mentorship program is a great opportunity for Broward-area businesses to open their doors to high school students and make an impact on their futures!

Community-based mentoring: The community-based BISS for high schoolers builds on BBBS’s traditional community-based mentoring programs. Adult volunteers are matched with teens who are at risk academically. They follow the traditional mentoring program with Big Brother Big Sisters with an added emphasis on education, graduation and post-high school success.

Big Futures: A college and career readiness initiative designed to equip young people for post-secondary success through career mentoring, education and access to key opportunities. Big Futures embodies a network of programs that help youth graduate with a plan for their future and a mentor whose impact will last a lifetime.

Volunteer opportunities for high school students

High school students who demonstrate excellent leadership potential and who love working with younger kids will be interested in BBBS’s peer-to-peer school mentoring programs. BBBS matches high school students with area elementary and middle schoolers. In this type of program, the high school student is the Big, and the elementary or middle school student is the Little. Our peer-to-peer mentoring programs are excellent ways for kids to help other kids.

Monthly Mentoring Curriculum

As part of BBBS’s school mentoring programs, we offer resources to help Bigs come up with ideas for activities that they can do with their Littles. We do this in conjunction with Broward County Schools’ Kids of Character initiative.

Each month, BBBS offers a theme-based curriculum that Bigs and Littles can use to focus on specific areas. For example, February’s Kids of Character theme is honesty and BBBS’s theme is mindset. The BBBS curriculum helps Bigs and Littles talk about what a healthy mindset is, what it looks like, and how to adopt a healthy mindset. Each week in February includes lessons with a different theme on “healthy mindset.”

How to Become a Mentor in Broward Schools

Students with mentors do better in school, are less likely to end up in the penal system and report fewer instances of substance abuse. (Learn more about how mentoring in schools benefits kids, which includes statistics about the benefits of mentorship on academics, crime prevention and reducing substance abuse.)

If you are a high school student who wants to become a volunteer, complete BBBS high school volunteer application online. You’ll need to provide references from teachers and answer short essay questions explaining why you want to volunteer as a mentor for BBBS.

If you are an adult who’s interested in a site-based or community-based program, please start by completing the BBBS volunteer application.

If you are a student or parent of a student who wants to be matched with a Big, complete the BBBS Broward youth application online. Participation requires the permission of a parent or legal guardian, and we keep any information you share through the applihttps://bbbs.tfaforms.net/4843054cation confidential.

Lastly, if you are looking for a charitable nonprofit to support financially, please consider Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County. Donate to BBBS once or monthly, or become a BBBS partner.