We are currently seeking volunteers available to mentor every other Tuesday at 11am at Stanley Elementary School in Tacoma.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound and Stanley Elementary School in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood are excited to partner on a brand-new program, called “Lunch Buddies”. Lunch Buddies is a midday hour-long mentorship program where adult mentors eat lunch with an assigned first grade student at Stanley Elementary School. Each approved mentor will be matched with a student and meet during the students’ lunch time to eat together and get to know each other.
Stanley Elementary Principal James Ball is looking forward to bringing more of the community into the school, and says, “Our young people benefit when the community steps up in support. I’m looking forward to building a stronger community connection to support and make a difference for our students.”
According to the Chronicle of Evidence Based Mentoring, mentored youth are more likely to improve their grades, with a 45% increase in the likelihood of earning higher academic marks, and youth with mentors are 55% more likely to enroll in college than their peers without mentors.
While college seems a long way off to a first-grader, outcomes at this age are leading indicators for lifelong success. Research shows that mentorship is most effective when mentoring is introduced earlier in life. Mentoring increases resilience in young people, helping them navigate and overcome adverse experiences and the everyday challenges of growing up. Through the simple sharing of a meal, Lunch Buddies provides a comfortable way for kids to get to know their mentor and have fun. Over time, these shared meals become shared memories – the basis of strong, lasting relationships that make a BIG difference for kids.
Steps to Become a Lunch Buddy
Lunch Buddies is a midday, lunch-time program that matches students with an adult mentor for about 30 minutes every other week. Mentors (called “Bigs” in BBBS language) will spend that half hour session getting to know their matched student (called a “Little”) through chatting about their day, common interests, and anything that comes to mind! The goal is to provide young people with mentorship and connection, give them another person in their “village” that they can lean on for support, and to create intergenerational community for both the students and the mentors.
To become a Big with Lunch Buddies, you must attend a Big Orientation and submit an application. Once we have your application and you have attended an Orientation, we will reach out to you to schedule a virtual interview. These interviews are about 30 minutes to an hour, and we will ask you some in-depth questions about who you are, your interest in mentoring, your experience with working with youth (if any—experience is not required!), and preferences for a potential mentee. After the interview, we will assess your responses and determine whether you will be a good fit for Lunch Buddies. There are three answers to this question:
Acceptance: you’re in! I will be in touch with further information and a match.
Denial from Lunch Buddies but acceptance to other programming: If you’re otherwise a great fit for mentoring with BBBS but can’t make the time commitment, you’ll be referred to other opportunities within BBBS. This could look like Community-Based mentoring, where you’ll collaborate with a family to make your own schedule and spend time with your Little out in the community. This could look like other types of Site-Based mentoring that have a different age range, focus, or schedule. This could also look like volunteering with BBBS at future events, or even being added to our mailing list for upcoming opportunities to get involved.
Denial: After consulting with leadership, we’ve decided you are not a good fit for volunteering with BBBS. Denials are rare and usually accompany a safety issue we’ve identified from the background check and/or interview.
You will meet with your Little in Stanley Elementary school’s lunchroom at 11:30am every other Tuesday. First meeting is on October 15th. Lunch runs for 25 minutes. You have the option to stay for recess, but this is not required—the only requirement of the program is eating lunch with your Little. If you don’t know where the lunchroom is, I will be at the school to greet Bigs and guide you to the lunchroom.
There are 18 sessions in the 2024-2025 school year. Bigs are required to attend at least 75% of these sessions—in other words, 13 sessions at minimum. If you need to miss a session, contact me directly at ashe.palmer@bbbsps.org or phone call or text at (206) 456-9801 as soon as you can so our team can make adjustments.
We understand things come up and you may not be able to make a session. Please let us know ASAP! You can email Ashe at ashe.palmer@bbbsps.org or phone call or text at (206) 456-9801. If you miss a session without prior heads up, I will follow up with you that day via phone, text, and email. Please get back to me within 24 hours. Due to the nature of our programming and the commitment we make to the school and the students, more than two no call/no shows will result in termination from the program and potential inability to enroll in any BBBSPS programming in the future. If your availability changes throughout the year, we ask that you be proactive and tell us so we can all prepare for the change.
As a Big, you will be making an impact in a child’s life, and we want to work with you to ensure it’s a positive one. That is why it’s so important to show up on the designated days and to contact me if you can’t.
A BBBSPS facilitator will be present for all Lunch Buddies sessions. Plus, you will participate in regular match support calls throughout the school year so we can check in with you, see how your match is going, and answer any questions you might have. These phone calls are perfect opportunities to bring up concerns and bounce potential conversation ideas off your Specialist! We will also send out emails periodically in preparation for matching you with a Little in the fall. Our goal is to support our Bigs so that they can be their best selves when spending time with their Little.
No. Since you will only be spending time with your Little during their lunch hour, you will not be communicating with their parents/guardians. Before matching you with your Little, we will send home information about the program and contact info with each child. Parents/Guardians will also fill out a permission slip prior to their child being matched.
