2008 Woodie Awards
Campus Spotlight: Bit Brothers Big Sisters
Inspiring lives, one child at a time.
Natalie Hess, Staff Writer
Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: Features
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The B.B.B.S. program is known for weekend activities between 'bigs' and 'littles,' but a site-based mentoring program helps already busy college students find time to spend with their "siblings" during the school week. In the mentoring program across Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Manhattan, supervised and structured sessions are set up once a week to accommodate both the bigs' and littles' schedules.
"I'm happy I'm getting involved with it," said Kevin Thompson, 19, a junior communications major and creative writing minor. "I'm happy just to know that I'm influencing someone else to do something better for themselves and not just going to school and then going home."
Thompson joins the B.B.B.S. chapter at SJU for the new semester sessions that begin October 25. In NYC and SJU, a lack of volunteering males to match up with Little Brothers remains an issue.
Each semester, Nicole Hernandez, the Program Manager with School Based Mentoring, makes her way to SJU to set up a recruitment table and talk with students about B.B.B.S. Ideally the group is looking to have 30 matches of bigs and littles to start this year. As of now, there are 10 matches including returning members from last year.
"It's a great experience and you definitely reach out to the community," said Latoya Phillips, 21, a senior accounting major and Big Sister. "Most importantly you learn how to connect with the younger generation. I'm used to having my own younger sister with me all the time, but this was a different experience."
Every Thursday, a bus leaves the St. John's Queens campus and travels to a middle school to work with eighth graders for sessions lasting a little under an hour. At some sessions, lunch is provided.
B.B.B.S. plans vital topics to address during its sessions such as nutrition, diversity, study skills, high school prepping and future goals. The main objective is to provide each child who needs an adult mentor with a positive reinforcement that will benefit them in all aspects of their lives.
Some events this semester that the pairs can participate in include Halloween parties, a St. John's Basketball game at Madison Square Garden and bringing the littles on a college tour of SJU. For middle school students, matching up with a Big Brother or Big Sister gives them the college exposure they might not receive first hand.
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