Glenwood's Mentoring With Heart Program Helping To Build Strong Relationships

When Andrea Zielstra took over Glenwood’s Mentoring With Heart in 2011, she inherited a program that not everyone was sure would stick around. Nearly six years later, she and a team of mentors are meeting with 55 students each week in a one-on-one setting.

Each mentee is paired with their mentor through a very selective and thoughtful process, said Zielstra, program coordinator and mentor. Mentors go through an application process, interview process and background check before being paired with a student that they can connect with on a personal level with similar interests and personalities.

“Some of these kids started in this program in elementary school and have been involved for four or more years,” Zielstra said. “They keep the same mentor and they really build a relationship. The volunteers we have really make the commitment to these kids. I’ve been with my mentee for the past five years now. It’s been really great to see how she has developed over the last few years.”

Students are, for the most part, referred to Mentoring With Heart by a school faculty member for a number of reasons, from home-life to school life and all of the in between moments.

“That’s when I contact the child’s parents to let them know about the opportunity to join this program,” says Zielstra. “If the parents are on board, the next step is to see if the student wants to take part. That’s the key. If the student wants to be involved, they can, but if they don’t wish to partake, that is their choice as well.”

Zielstra also stated that she always has students that want to start in the program, but that she needs mentors for that.
“Right now, all of my mentors are paired up. We’re always in need of those individuals who meet the criteria to be a mentor for these students.”

The mentors that volunteer for Mentoring With Heart meet weekly with their mentees during school hours, but do not cut into core class time. Quite a few meet over the lunch hour and share conversations over a meal. The pairings that do meet at other times have games and activities available to them to use. They can also take part in sports-related activities, but they mostly meet in their designated room for a quiet, one-on-one setting.

“Last year, I had a mentor donate a ton of fabric to us,” said Zielstra. “So all of our middle school mentees and their mentors made tie blankets and we donated them to Love Tree.”

Thomas Gregg, a mentee from Glenwood Middle School and his mentor, Rich Van Dellen, meet for lunch once a week and talk about things that are going on with them.

“We’ve been doing this for five years” said Gregg as he grabbed a slice of pizza his mentee had brought them for lunch that particular day.

“When I was moving to Gretna, Thomas asked if that meant I wasn’t coming to see him anymore,” said Van Dellen. “I said ‘no way, I’m still coming.’”

Whether the students want to talk about home, school or how their weekend was, their mentors are there to listen. The goal of the program is to create a mentor/mentee relationship that will last and create a positive impact for both parties.

“My mentee loves to write and so over lunch, we may go over something she has written recently,” says Zielstra. “She even sends me stuff throughout the week. We have fun with it and the short lunch we do spend together is always worthwhile.”

Adults interested in becoming a mentor in the program, can contact Zielstra at 712-527-4887.