Karla Beiler, director of Pequea Valley elementary advocacy with The Factory Ministries, Paradise, was disappointed when COVID-19 restrictions closed schools in March of 2020 just as she was about to launch the Brave Buddies mentoring program. However, Beiler viewed the changes with optimism. "(The shutdown) gave us time to revamp (the program). There are benefits to having to wait because we could make the program better," she said.
By spring of 2021, the Braves Learning Center, which is located in the Together Community Center, had opened, giving Beiler a convenient place to hold the program. The first eight-week session kicked off in the spring of 2021 with 11 Pequea Valley School District (PVSD) students and mentors.
The 2022 session opened on Feb. 16 with eight students and eight mentors. The group meets each Wednesday after school from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Students from Paradise Elementary School walk to The Factory, which is next door. Salisbury Elementary students are bused to the site. "We start all together with an after school snack and then they play a game," said Beiler. "Then we break into 25 to 30 minutes of Buddy Journal time." During Buddy Journal time, the learner meets one-on-one with the mentor to read a story with a different theme each week. Beiler noted that themes include "Believe in Yourself," "Be Persistent," or "Effort Is Key." "The format is to help the mentor and mentee to have something to focus on together," she noted, adding that each story is followed by a discussion. "For example, it will say, 'Think about a time you made a mistake or failed at something and describe what happened,'" said Beiler. "At the end of the eight weeks, we have a closing ceremony, and the (students' families) are invited so the mentor can meet the mentee's family and (the family can) see all the hard work they did."
Pequea Valley High School student Shyanne Laird, who is an intern in the learning center, is also a mentor. "Some of the students are really open, and they are excited about the journals," she said. "You can tell which ones really want to engage with the book."
Students are surveyed about their mood each time they arrive for mentoring and again when they leave. Laird added that students can also check a box to indicate they would like to talk to their mentor about something. "One little girl wanted to talk more about her inner feelings and how to overcome (issues)," said Laird. "I sat down with her, and she opened up about how she felt."
The mission of the program is "to offer a safe and positive environment ... where learners will benefit from one-on-one mentoring with a caring adult, focused on gaining a growth mindset and increasing self-efficacy." To that end, participants also take pre- and post-test growth mindset evaluations. "That's how we track seeing a difference in perspective," said Beiler, who noted that in 2021, 82% of students grew in six of the seven growth mindset indicators.
More information about The Factory may be found at https://thefactoryministries.com or by searching for "The Factory Ministries" on Facebook.
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