Mentoring: How can we make it better?

I did not have the best experience with my mentor. My mentor never talked to me or tried to give me words of encouragement. I believe that in the past few years, the bond between chorus members has been broken and I really hope that with this year, we can improve that. One way to do that is by improving the mentoring program and the bond between mentors and mentos. Brian, Louisa and I are running the mentoring program this year. I definitely believe that we have to focus on truly bonding mentors and mentos because bonding will both help to create a positive environment but less of a disconnect between the two chorus. As we have done in the past, we have been thinking of having a mentoring party in which any member in Concert Chorale or Mixed Chorus is welcome, regardless if you have a mentor or mento. This would be a great opportunity for mentors and mentos to meet up and get to know each other. I also think that we should have something similar to the "Mentoring Mondays" that Deirdre Spatola set up last year. But I was thinking that maybe, once a month, we could meet up and have a pizza party or something similar so we could all get to know each other better. I know that I could not make it early in the morning on Mondays so maybe at night sometime, that would be a great idea. I definitely believe that the mentoring program could solve some of the chorus woes and I know that all the mentors, including myself, are very excited to be helpful, positive and to give encouragement to our mentos. I believe that this will be a fantastic year and I cannot wait!

Sabrina Clarke

I completely agree that improving the mentor/mentee program will strengthen the bond we have in chorus. This program is a great way to introduce the freshmen and new people to chorus, and it's a way to bring Mixed Chorus and Concert Chorale together. Although I had a great mentor this year, I still felt that Mixed Chorus was very distant from Concert Chorale. The pasta parties before/after concerts and our gatherings once a month we started at the beginning of ther year were really fun, and I felt closer to the Mized Chorus people after going to them. I think if we continue to do those things the entire school year, we can become even closer. I definitely agree that having something like a mentor/mentee pizza party or some other gathering every now and then will strengthen the relationship between mentors and mentees. That way, the new people in Concert Chorale won't feel so separated from people in Mixed Chorus, and chorus won't feel so "segregated".

I think that the Mentoring Program is a great opportunity to create new friendships and to build the chorus program as a whole, but I don't think that we are taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I think that one of the biggest problems that developed this year for the Mentoring Program was that we simply never saw our mentos! The best way to address this problem is to meet up more with the younger chorus members and to really get to know them. This can be done through chorus outings. I know that we tried to do some trips this year, but I think that during High School timing is everything and that the timing just didn't work out. So maybe if before the trips are planned we talk with everybody and see what days are better, there might be a larger turnout. I also think that organizing rides would be very helpful and more students would be able to go.