Posted on November 29, 2007
Days before his 13th birthday, Bradley met his Big Brother, Matt Maskell, one of nearly 300 James Madison University students who volunteer to be mentors for children in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Maskell said that as he met his Little Brother, he heard Bradley, who was grinning from ear to ear, whisper to his guidance counselor that this was the best birthday present ever.
Thirty years ago, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County, which pairs adult mentors with children, made its debut in Harrisonburg. Since then, it has paired thousands of children with adult mentors.
Today, the local agency serves more children than any Big Brothers Big Sisters agency in Virginia and the majority of its volunteers are James Madison University students, said Aaron Nussbaum, a staff member at the agency. According to Nussbaum, James Madison University students currently account for 276 of the 456 mentors.
“[The goal is to] make a positive impact on the lives of children in our community through one-on-one mentoring and to form long-lasting relationships,” Nussbaum said.
By 2010, the agency hopes to increase its impact, by serving 1,000 children annually.
The mentoring program of Big Brothers Big Sisters focuses on prevention. According to Nussbaum, youth in the program show improvements in academic performance, attendance at school and are less likely to become involved in gangs and use drugs.
Currently most mentors participate in the community-based program or the school mentoring program, which gives mentors the opportunity to meet with a child one-on-one. Participation in the community-based program allows the Big-Little pair to spend two to three hours together in the community doing anything from playing sports to reading books to baking cookies. For one hour per week, Big-Little matches in the School Mentoring program visit each other at school, spending half the time on academic activities and the other half on relationship-building activities, such as eating lunch or playing computer games.
Recently, the local agency received a $600,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund the newest program “Amp it Up,” according to Nussbaum. “Amp It Up” is a school-based mentoring program, that allows mentoring in the school setting and encourages academic enrichment activities outside of the classroom as well.
Maskell volunteers in the School Mentoring Program.
“Every time I go I try to do different things,” he said. “You can tell [Bradley] appreciates every little thing, whether it be kicking a soccer ball, launching a rocket or playing dominos.”
Tammy Shearer, a fourth-grade teacher at Plains Elementary, said she has witnessed the positive impact of the organization on her students.
“These children glow,” she said, “They also become much more academically focused. They feel like there’s that positive adult role model in their life, someone they can count on and who they can trust.”
Maskell has known Bradley for approximately one year and said Bradley did not have a strong, older, male figure in his life. Maskell said that as a mentor he strives to emulate his own older, biological brother. He explained that the Big Brother Big Sister organization enables him to leave the same positive impact that his older brother left on him.
According to Nussbaum, many of the agency’s mentors learn about Big Brothers Big Sisters through programs such as JMU’s Community-Service Learning.
“Without the students that work in the non-profit organizations in the community, a lot of the organizations would not be able to exist,” said Walt Ghant, assosciate director of community service learning. “JMU students bring energy, creativity, and skills.”
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