January--Mentor of the Month 2021
Pam Johnson represents this month’s TeamMates Match of the Month. She can tell you about the importance of being a positive role model in a young person’s life. She has been in the TeamMates mentoring program for 6 years, and she is currently serving a second term on the TeamMates Board. Her mentee is in the 9th grade.
Pam meets with her mentee every week for about 30 minutes to an hour. They usually make use of the TeamMates room and activities there.
The two of them usually talk about how the week has been going for the mentee while they play games such as Checkers, Connect 4 or Mancala. “My mentee is very competitive and comes up with some great strategies to win.”
When first beginning with the match, Pam said that they asked each other questions that were suggested from the TeamMates website. Those served as good conversation starters and helped them learn about each other. Spending quality time together on a regular basis is the best way to establish a good relationship according to Pam.
Being a mentor is fulfilling and Pam feels that it is good for today’s youth to have another positive person in their life. Today’s world is sometimes challenging for youth with busy schedules and responsibilities, but mentors can encourage and build trust with mentees. She says that it is fun to get to know her mentee and find fun things to do together. Her mentee seems to have a great sense of humor. Although, we are in the middle of a pandemic, her mentee “rolls” with it and is thinking ahead to his future.
“TeamMates is a great program started by Tom Osborne many years ago. If you would be interested in supporting our youth of Osmond, I would strongly encourage you to become a mentor. We currently have mentees that need a mentor.” Please go to www.teammates.org if interested.