BBBSO Blog Posts tagged 'Mentoring'

Tri-Buddies Outstanding Showing at Dunrobin Kids of Steele Event August 29th

tracym@bbbso.ca — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

There were three Tri-Buddies competing at the Dunrobin Kids of Steele Event at the Bonnenfant YMCA-YWCA Outdoor Education and Leadership Centre Sunday August 29th

The first and coldest par [...]

Group Activities Committee

aprilc@bbbso.ca — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Group Activities have just gotten better!

I am very excited to announce the beginning of the BBBSO Group Activities committee. Over the years, we have been fortunate enough to be able to organize group activiites for our Bigs and Littles on a monthly basis. Our goal is to continue to do so and to start introducing new and exciting activities to our matches while continuing some of our favorite activities that heve been organized in the past. We have also recognized the time and ef [...]

2011 Mentors of the Year

jenniferm@bbbso.ca — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa (BBBSO) is never at a loss for volunteers. With over 500 volunteers annually, countless hours are given to children in need of a positive role model. Many of our volunteers feel that outrageous displays of recognition are not needed but their value is too important to overlook which is why we are pleased to announce the 2011 Mentors of the Year.

The Cisco InSchool Mentoring Big of the Year award is given to a Mentoring InSchool Big who has demonstrated a [...]

Celebrating friendships, dedication and passion!

jenniferm@bbbso.ca — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa (BBBSO) 3rd annual Big Wrap Up was held on June 8, 2011 at the Delta Ottawa City Centre. With the incredible panoramic view of the city from the Penthouse it is the ideal setting to celebrate the agency's achievements, match friendship and volunteer dedication.

We would like to thank our hosts Big Sister Carrie and Little Sister Brianna, last year's Ambassadors of the Year, for their wit and humour during the event.

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Enrollment is rolling along!

angelab@bbbso.ca — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100

We’ve had an excellent response from volunteers to our announcement in December that we are now able to accept Big Brothers who are interested in the Community Based Match Program. With many spots to create new matches over the winter and spring, we are hopeful that many of the 45 Little Brothers who remain on the wait list will be paired up over the next year.

It has been a long process and it was a difficult decision in November 2009 to [...]

Looking for Big Brothers!

juliec@bbbso.ca — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100

It is with excitement and enthusiasm that Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa (BBBSO) announces that we are accepting applications for men interested in becoming Big Brothers!

Last year at about this time, we had to stop taking applications for the Bigs in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Buddy Up and Couples Match programs. With almost 200 Volunteers in process and a wait time of 6-12 months to be matched with a Little and our Mentoring Coordinators working at [...]

Age is just a number

stephaniec@bbbso.ca — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Throughout my experiences talking with people about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa, I get the sense that whenever people think of a Big Brother or a Big Sister, they get a certain mental picture of what a "Big" would be like. The usual picture seems to be a young adult who is very energetic and sporty and has a ton of experience with youth. Well, variety is the spice of life and we have no shortage of that here. It just so happens that, here at Big B [...]

Twenty-Four Littles Participated in BBBSO�s Annual Summer Day Camp

sueh@bbbso.ca — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

For the past nine years, BBBSO has hosted a week long day camp for our Littles called Kids n’ Kops where we partner up with the RCMP 'A' Division, Ottawa Police Service, Military Police, and Ottawa Fire Department...

Le pouvoir du positif

stephaniec@bbbso.ca — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

J�aime�prendre le temps de�t�moigner de la diff�rence qu�un(e) Grand(e) peut faire dans la vie d�un jeune m�me s�ils ne r�alisent que des activit�s simples ensemble.� Il est important que quelqu�un prenne le temps de�faire cette constatation puisqu�il peut �tre difficile parfois pour les Grand(es) de�le faire�par eux-m�mes.� �

J�ai r�cemment eu l�occasion de m�entretenir avec une m�re (Sylvie*) qui�m'a t�moign� des changements qu�elle avait remarqu�s chez son fils (Joey*) apr�s seulement quat [...]

This past year BBBSO celebrated its fourth year of the Go Girls!

tracym@bbbso.ca — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

This past year BBBSO celebrated its fourth year of the Go Girls! program. The 2009 - 2010 school year was our most successful year to date, with programs running in 17 schools throughout the Ottawa area. We had over 40 dedicated volunteers that delivered the Go Girls! program to over 200 children.

We are anticipating an even more successful 2010 - 2011 school year, and we are currently recruiting new volunteers throughout the summer months. Many of our past v [...]

Recognizing Outstanding School Liaisons

tracym@bbbso.ca — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Every year we have the opportunity to work with terrific schools and match Big Brothers and Big Sisters with Elementary School Littles. We like to take the opportunity to recognize those terrific School Liaisons, as they help us to serve more children each year.

For the Meet You In School Program we had a difficult time to select our single shining star from our sky of amazing people. This year's shining star was Lois Hoysted from St. John the Apostle Catholic Elementar [...]

Good times had by all!

stephaniec@bbbso.ca — Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

"What do other matches do for fun?" This is one of the questions I get asked the most by volunteers struggling to find new activity ideas for themselves and their Littles. In truth, I don't envy these volunteers. This has to be one of the hardest parts about being a Big. I'm sure many of us out there can relate to the difficulty of finding new and exciting activities for teens that don't break any rules. So how do you find these activ [...]

Une journee avec mon Petit!!

ericl@bbbso.ca — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

J'adore le mentorat scolaire de Grands Frères Grandes Soeurs d'Ottawa (GFGSO)! Jumelés pour la deuxième année, mon Petit et moi nous entendons très bien: nos rencontres ne sont pas toujours loquaces, mais il y a ces petits moments de grande complicité qui valent la peine de poursuivre la relation.

De voir l'aisance d'un enfant croître dans son école de mois en mois, c'est certainement l'un des expérie [...]

A changing wind

stephaniec@bbbso.ca — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

In light of our not-so distant office relocation, I thought that a blog on change would be very fitting. So, here goes...

I'm sure we can all relate to the fact that as time goes on, things around us change. Even though none of us wants to admit it, we ourselves change too. Well I've come to realize that the same is true for matches.

While change can sometimes be difficult, it can also be wonderful. I was recently privileged enough to [...]

The best kind of problem to have�

angelab@bbbso.ca — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Last year brought forth many challenges for our Enrollment department. We started off the year with 223 Bigs who were in process, and none ready to be matched. Thanks to a phenomenal team effort, we were able to give a huge push over the spring and summer, at one point, staff members from nearly every program were conducting Big Brother and Big Sister interviews! The result of this push, was the acceptance of almost 100 Bigs into our program - with a total of almost 150 Littles [...]

Celebrating A 3 Year Anniversary!

jenniferm@bbbso.ca — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

We are excited to announce that 1103 children were mentored in 2009 across all our programs. This would not be possible without such a motivated and enthusiastic team of employees.

We are thrilled to be celebrating Eric Lapierre's third anniversary as a Mentoring Coordinator, Mentoring InSchool with Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa (BBBSO)!

Eric has been part of the programs team since February 2007. His contributions to the Mentoring InSchool prog [...]

Feeling Like Part Of The Team

jenniferm@bbbso.ca — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

We are very fortunate to work with incredible placement students year after year. This year we had an overwhelming request from College and University students that we could not take them all. Corinne Miller is a 3rd year student in the Social Work program at Carleton University. Read on as she describes her experience.

"As a placement student at Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa (BBBSO) I have had the opportunity to work and learn in a great atmosphere. The staff here ha [...]

Mentoring InSchool 2010

ericl@bbbso.ca — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Michelle is a 3rd year student of the Bachelor of Social Work program at Carleton University. As part of the program, students are required to complete a certain amount of work hours at a placement. Michelle's considers herself fortunate to have started her placement at BBBSO last September. Read on to find out what she has been up to.

"Most of you are probably well aware that BBBSO is a nonprofit agency that creates matches between Bigs and Littles, and the primary job of the staff [...]

C��tait la fin, mais aussi un d�but

stephaniec@bbbso.ca — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Quand les jumelages se terminent avec l'agence, nous essayons toujours d'avoir une rencontre de fermeture avec tous les individus qui font parti du jumelage. Il y a beaucoup de réactions différentes de la part des participants, mais j'aperçois certaines réactions qui sont plus remarquables que d'autres. Je me souviens d'une rencontre en particulier, que je n'oublierai jamais...

Quelque mois passés, j' [...]

InSchool Mentoring Programs Need Your Support!

roberte@bbbso.ca — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Since September, our Mentoring Coordinators have been creating InSchool matches weekly. Bigs and Littles in this program meet up once a week over the school year. You may be asking yourself, how much of a difference can once a week make... well hear it from the kids.

"My favourite part of having a Big Sister is that we get to play games together because my brothers and sisters are too little to play with me. One of my favourite times was at Christmas when we made snowman c [...]