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Photo
is of Aliyah Taborn from Sidney daughter of Leigh Allspaw &
Big Buddy Mentor Shelby Baker from Sidney.
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High School Big Buddy
Mentors Make Big Impact in the Lives of Local Children
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby and Darke County is excited to
announce that another great year of the Big Buddies program is up and
running. This is the Sixteenth year the program has been in
place. The Buddies program is an eight-month commitment where
high school freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors agree to work
with and mentor elementary aged children two times per month.
During these meetings, the high school students, under the supervision
of Big Brothers Big Sisters staff, work with one or two children on
different educational and recreational activities. The program
continues to promote social and educational enhancing activities, as
well as fitness, nutrition, and personal safety.
The Buddies program this year is at a total of seven different sites in
both counties for the 2015-2016 school year. These sessions are
held at Ansonia, Woodland Heights and Versailles in Darke County, as
well as Emerson, Longfellow, Northwood, and Whittier Elementary Schools
in Shelby County.
High school mentoring programs have become a widespread component of
many nationally affiliated Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies.
Studies prove that children from who spend time with a positive role
model are more likely to become healthy productive adults. The
Big Buddies program has proven beneficial not only for the “Littles”
but for the high school volunteers, as well.
The agency is pleased to announce that all after-school programs are up
and running! This year we kicked off the programs with a total of 164
volunteers from Anna, Ansonia, Botkins, Christian Academy, Fairlawn,
Franklin Monroe, Greenville, Jackson Center, Lehman, Mississinawa
Valley, Russia, Sidney & Versailles.
The following high school volunteers for the fall of 2015 are: Ansonia
High School: Amber Bergman, Megan Bergman, Ashton Bergman, Tawni
Brewer, Megan Christman, Ryleigh Cloyd, John Fischer, Elizabeth
Fullroth, Abigail Helmke, Trinity Henderson, A’Tyah Knowles, Cierra
Longenecker, Katelyn McKenna, Katelynn Overholser, Libby Price, Trenton
Rader, Maggi Shrock, Taylor Thwaits, Haley Wampler, Katelyn Warner,
& Katie Werts. Franklin Monroe High School: Amy Besecker, Shelly
Brumbaugh, Betsy Roberts, Elisabeth Williams, Carly Wray. Greenville
High School: Michelle Fannin, Katelyn Avore, Heidi Brickler, Emily
Fulton, Geanette Hennin, Alli Hill, Kourtney Kretschmar, Hayley Maher,
Kyra Maloy, Justin McMiller, Cassie Rapier, Karsyn Shaffer, Maddie
Shepard, Dylan Stepp, Jade Valdez, Taylor Ward, & Karli Wicker.
Mississinawa Valley High School: Jennifer Terriquez. Versailles High
School: Payton Berger, Zoey Berger, Olivia Bruening, Kayla Bruns, Sarah
Cordonnier, Lauren Durham, Kristen Gower, Nicole Gower, Brittney
Hiestand, Janelle Hoelscher, Kara Langenkamp, Kylie Lyons, Jessica
Meyer, Natalie Parin, Danielle Poor, Katie Pothast, Rachel Shellhaas,
Brooke Stuck, & Ashlee Voisard. Anna High School: Brooke Gephart,
Brooke Haynes, Samantha Hentrich, Alisha Holtzapple, Blake Ike, Olivia
Maurer, Chloe Spence, Ashtin Barnes, Hannah Eilerman, Sarah Gilchrist,
Courtney Hollenbacher, Anastasia Kovalenko, Brittany Phillips, Sidney
Sasko, Lydia Zimpfer, Alyssa Benavente, Audrey Barhorst, Tessa Beatty,
Allysondra Bolin, Morgan Brunswick, Nathan Bulle, Nick Bulle, Elaina
Crosson, Robert Ehemann, Krista Gehret, Rachel Gehret, Sarah Layman,
Catie Millhouse, Grace Ontrop, & Leona Roe. Botkins High School:
Elizabeth Will, Crystal Alstaetter, Michelle Alstaetter, Noah Burton,
& Madison Wagner. Christian Academy High School: Charissa Divens,
Ethan Pollard, & Alexis Boersma. Fairlawn: Clara Strunk &
Rachel King. Jackson Center High School: Maelee Enochs, Emme Farley,
Madison Yarkosky, Kasey Copeland, Abigail Nash, Jaclyn Schmiesing,
& Courtney Gasson. Lehman Catholic High School: Eli Baker, Lauren
Riley, Tessa Brown, Sarah Gibson, Caroline Heitmeyer, Alvarro Barrera,
Samantha Edwards, Claudia Fatone, Sara Fuller, Elizabeth Gibson,
Meaghan McDonald, Grace Olding, Natalie Schmidt, Ana Vazquez, Madison
Heffelfinger, David Potts, & Jacquie Schemmel. Russia: Olivia
Quinter, Cameo Wilson, Amanda Frazier, & Megan Frazier. Sidney High
School: Connor Armstrong, Cole Cartwright, Talia Herron, Ian Humphrey,
Tinara Johnson-Cox, Olivia Jones, Kyle Mann, Kristina Manocchi, Kayla
Slife, Emily Sauers, Rachel Trudeau, Devin Williams, Kelsey Underwood,
Alexis Younker, Emma Zerkle, Arielle Snider, Rheba Vonderhuevel, Taylor
Williams, Janae Drees, Kaitlyn Graber, Allysia Kindell, Stephanie
Macke, Skylar Parker, Josh Wagner, Shelby Baker, Mackenzie Bates, Allya
Bolin, Bobbi Lowe, Logan Schultz, & Amanda Thomas. Please note that
these are the current list of volunteers posted the date of this press
release. The agency is currently still accepting additional
volunteers at some of our sites.
In addition to our after-school program the agency has 83
community-based matches throughout Shelby and Darke County. These
matches meet with each other twice a month for outings which are
planned around the volunteers own schedule. The goal of the
community-based program is to match a local child with an adult mentor,
who can serve as a positive role model, and expose the child to
enhancing and uplifting activities. Currently the agency has 21
children waiting for a Big Brother or Sister in the program, so now is
the time to think about how you could put a little sparkle into the
life of a child! If you are interested in becoming a mentor in
our community-based program, please call 547-9622 or 492-7611 for more
information.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County is a United Way
member agency and an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America. The Buddies program is partially funded by the Ruth and
Emerson Booher Committee advised fund, Harry D. Stephens Memorial, Dr.
Marlin Thompson Founder’s Fund, & The Versailles Foundation Fund
for Versailles If you would like more information about how to become a
volunteer, you may visit the agency web site at
www.bigbrobigsis-shelbydarke.org or call the Sidney office at (937)
492-7611 or the Greenville office at (937) 547-9622.
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