eMentoring

The sun has finally decided to show itself and we at eMentoring are getting energized as we continue to work tirelessly at recruitment.  Mentor and mentee applications are starting to come in and we are getting excited that the fall eMentoring term is going to great!

In other news we are happy to announce that we have a new addition to our team.  Cailin Lau is our new work study student who will be helping us out with mentee recruitment, event planning and anything else that needs done around the office.  Welcome Cailin to the eMentoring team!

We are beginning recruitment for the fall intake!  Our community leads, eMentoring staff who oversee the mentees in each community, are working diligently to recruit new students who are interesting in participating in the eMentoring program.  Each community lead is situated within the community so that there is always someone close by to encourage and facilitate.

Any Aboriginal youth in BC between the ages of 11-18 can participate in the program!

eMentoring is an online mentorship program that matches Aboriginal youth with a mentor, where together, they will work trough a Personal Quest in which mentees gain the confidence and skills required to pursue a university education and possibly a career in the health sciences.

Mentees benefit from the program by:

-Getting a chance to communicate and build a relationship with a post-secondary student who has similar interests
-Supporting youth to believe they can graduate high school and enter university or college
-Learning how to develop attainable steps to reach a goal
-The program may spark an interest in the health sciences, which is an area that desperately needs more Aboriginal professionals!

Interested in becoming a mentee? Know an Aboriginal youth who would benefit from having a mentor?

Click here to download an application: Aboriginal eMentoring BC: Mentee Application Form

Got a question? Contact our Mentee & Mentor Coordinator!

Nahannee-fé Gillett
(t) 604-875-4111 ext. 69152
(e) nahannee-fe.g@ubc.ca

To be held on Sept 28, 29, & 30, 2012 – Chase, BC

Hosted by:  Adams Lake Indian Band,  Education Department

The 3 day conference features hands on workshops and activities; where youth get a chance to explore and exposes them to:

• Careers
• Restorative Justice
• Canoe Journey
• Traditional Games
• Digital Filming
• Fish Camp
• Technology
• Survival/Spirituality

Scheduled evening events:

• Lahal Tournament
• Shuswap Idol
• KASP

Please view video clip from last year’s Dreamcatcher Shuswap Youth Conference 2011. I would like to acknowledge Doreen Manuel and her students (Indigenous Independent Digital Filmmaking Program, Capilano University) who worked with youth and put together this video:

http://youtu.be/TdA5YUFDesU

If you are interested in attending the Dreamcatcher Shuswap 4^th Annual Youth Conference, please complete and submit this registration package: Dreamcatcher Complete Registration Package-2012

Additional information contact Adams Lake Band, Education Department – 250-679-8841.

Show your support for eMentoring via twitter by checking out our twitter account @ementoringbc and join the conversation at the Ashoka Inspiring Approaches to FNMI award ceremony using: #ashokafnm and #fnmisummit

Don’t forget to watch the award ceremony that is streaming live right now at:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/inspring-approaches-to-fnmi-learning-summit

Hey eMentoring supporters! Tomorrow Ashoka will be streaming live the “Inspiring Approaches to First Nations, Métis and Inuit Learning” summit in Gatineau, Quebec at 10:45am (PST-Vancouver).  Be sure to check out the link below to see Katherine receive the 2 awards we won!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/inspring-approaches-to-fnmi-learning-summit

Wow! I can’t believe it is the end of the University term already! So far this year has just flown by.  Although the school year is winding down, here at eMentoring we are gearing up to finish off the eMentoing term with a bang!  We have received research approval to begin recruiting in School District 23; which is the Central Okanagan area.  We are hoping this will increase our recruitment of mentees for the fall.  We are planning an end of the year celebration for active and potential new mentees to celebrate our successful year of eMentoring.  We also hope the event will give potential mentees a chance to check out the program. We are discussing the potential of making eMentoring a credit course for mentees, if this is achieved it would be a great way at making our program sustainable over the long term.  We have begun asking our mentors to give us feedback on how our personal quest is structured.  This is only the beginning in improving our program so that it will continue to grow and develop over the years to come.

eMentoring won two awards:

1.  The J. W. McConnell Family Foundation Award for the top entry for post-secondary education from across Canada
2. The Donner Canadian Foundation Community Award for being one of the top entries from across Canada from the online community vote

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Changemakers and their partners* for all of their great work!

*Partners for the initiative include: the Ashoka Changemakers, Chagnon Foundation, The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, The Counselling Foundation of Canada, Donner Canadian Foundation, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, The First Nations Education Council, The Girls Action Foundation, The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Lawson Foundation, Mamow Sha-way-gi-kay-win: North South Partnership for Children, Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation, Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative, Ontario Trillium Foundation, RBC Foundation, Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec, Small Change Fund and Vancouver Foundation

We couldn’t have done this without everyone’s support - so thank you very much!

We have begun the interview process for our second mentor intake.  We have already met alot of promising candidates and we are only half way through the interview process.   We are seeing many more applicants from universities outside of UBC  including SFU and U-Vic.  This means that eMentoring is expanding and we are successfully reaching out to other schools and communities across the province. We can’t wait to meet the rest of our mentor applicants!

Over 30 pairs of mentors and mentees are communicating online through the eMentoring site! We are well on our way to reaching our goal of 50 mentors and 100 mentees. As mentees go through their Personal Quest, they will cover many topics around educational goals and career exploration in health science programs and beyond! Below is an image of the Personal Quest units. Note that each unit is intertwined with a metaphor. Remember that since mentees are in grades 6-12 across the province, they work at their own pace – most are currently working their way through units 1 or 2.