Big Brothers Big Sisters of The Bridge Newsroom

Welcome to 2009 to all School-Based Matches, and Visitors! 

Here is the calendar for January for the school-based program in the Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West School Districts.  Please keep in mind that if there is a delay for the school day, program will go as planned. The only way we are impacted is when there is school closing or early dismissal. Also, keep in mind that the calendar is subject to change. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.  

Let’s Make It a Great Year! 

Please be advised that this is separate from the Gift Request Forms we sent out to our families. This is not part of Big Brothers Big Sisters and is open to the public. 

Applications: Toy and Food applications will be taken at St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank on the following days…. 

Monday, December 1^st from 9:00 to Noon and 1:00 to 3:00

Tuesday, December 2^nd from 9:00 to Noon and 4:00 to 6:00

Wednesday, December 3^rd from 9:00 to Noon and 4:00 to 6:00

Thursday, December 4^th from 9:00 to Noon and 1:00 to 3:00 

* Parents / Guardians making the request need to have identification with them and have the social security number of each child they are making a request for. 

Food Distributions: The food will be distributed at St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank located at 39 East Jackson Street on the following days… 

Thursday, December 18^th from 9:00 to Noon and 4:00 to 6:00

Friday, December 19^th from 9:00 to Noon and 1:00 to 3:00

Saturday, December 20^th from 9:00 to Noon Only!

Toy Distributions: The toys will be distributed at Sacred Heart School located at 607 North Main Street on the following days….

Well we are in the middle of October, and another month is almost passed, so it is time to roll out the calendar for November. Where is the time going?

Please remember we follow the district schedule and if the school is closed, we don’t have program on that day. This includes early dismissals. The programs have been great, thanks to the support of our families, Little’s and the awesome groups of Big’s we have. In Wilkes-Barre many new matches have been added with hopefully many more on the way. Attendance has been great as well and I ask that we keep up the good work.

In our ongoing effort to educate our Little’s and promote positive living, we started to do Lion’s Quest activities in the after-school programs, each week, for about 15 minutes per week. Lion’s Quest is a comprehensive curriculum we used over the summer in the community to educate young people about self-esteem, decision making, peer pressure and the dangers of substance abuse with much success. The groups will go until December or January.

We plan to have another update soon, with some pictures and articles for the returning school-based matches and introduce everyone to the new matches we added over the past few weeks. As always, if you need to contact us, you can do so at (570) 824-8756.

The September and October schedules for after-school programs in the Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming Valley West Area School Districts are set. Please keep in mind that we follow the district schedule for holidays,  half-days and early dismissals and as a result the calendars are subject to change. We ask that all mentors be on time for program and that all parents / guardians arrive on time to pick the kids up.

It was one of the first encounters some of these college students had with the Wilkes-Barre Area and they all seemed to have a blast. First year students from King’s College and waiting list youth from Big Brothers Big Sisters participated in the annual Buddy For A Day Event. This annual event is held with incoming first year students at King’s College, usually at Betzler Fields. The goal is to provide some of the waiting list youth the opportunity to participate in fun, structured games while getting the college students oriented in their community.  

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a program of Catholic Social Services and a member agency of the Wyoming Valley United Way.The program matches youth ages 7 to 14 with a suitable mentor for at least one year. The matches meet for at least one hour a week or three times a month and are supported by a Big Brothers Big Sisters caseworker.  

Approximately 20 kids from Big Brothers Big Sisters and about 40 King’s students total, 20 for the am session and 20 for the pm session, participated in a variety of activities.  The first activity was a relay race where the kids used their youth and agility to beat the college students.  I am sure the fact that the college students were blindfolded helped the kids a little bit.  A hula hoop off was the next order of business where once again the kids dominated. The King’s students were even allowed to twirl it on their arms, but they just couldn’t keep up. They moved on to an exciting game of kickball where we still haven’t figured out what the final score was. The kids seemed to score points even when they were in the field! A water balloon fight, I mean toss, was next on the agenda and they finished the day with a relaxing game of duck duck goose.   

If success was measured in smiles, I would say the kids and the King’s students had a great time. The King’s students were rally a class act and they checked their competitiveness at the gate and did what they had to do to let the kids shine like stars for the day. Well in our eyes, you were all stars, and our thanks go out to the students for giving the kids great time.  

For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters contact us at 1 800 955-4376 or online at http://www.bbbswb.org.

Pictured above are some of the kids who took part in the program.

What started a few months ago as an opportunity to work with kids in local neighborhoods and talk to them about topics such as peer pressure, self-esteem, and drug abuse, turned into a learning experience for the instructor as well as the kids.  The Lion’s Quest Programs started in May and June at five sites in communities in Glen Lyon, Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre and Exeter. The program was run by Big Brothers Big Sisters, with funding from The Blue Ribbon Foundation. The goal was to help youth develop skills they can use in everyday situations. Although many kids would come to the program when they could, a core group of about 50 kids attended on a regular basis.  

The program gave kids the opportunity to share their ideas with other peers and at times strategize on how they can solve some of their own problems. Crystal, a girl at one of the sites, gave another girl some ideas how she can resolve the conflict she was having with her mother over a curfew. Crystal told her that maybe she needed to do what she did with her mother. She worked it out so she could stay out later as long as she let her mother know where she would be and how she can be reached.  

During one conversation about drug usage, the Lion’s Quest group took a walk through the neighborhood and the kids pointed out all the “hot spots” where the older kids get together to do “bad things”. One of the locations was very close to the playground and the kids remarked how they get thrown out by the bigger kids. One of the members of the Lion’s Quest group expressed her frustration on how the park belongs to them where they can play and not for people who want to do bad things. She remarked how she wanted to go to the people who run that city and complain.  

On thing that was clear to the instructor is that it is a much different word today and many times kids act a certain way or do certain things for survival. It would have been easy to label some of the kids by the way they dressed or acted, but if that would have happened, a much softer side would not have been seen. In each site the idea was the same from the kids…we just want to be kids and be able to be safe while doing it.  

During the course of the ten week program, there were some ups and some downs but overall everyone seemed to agree they learned something in the process.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a program of Catholic Social Services and a member agency of The Wyoming Valley Uniyted Way. For more information contact us at 1-800 955-4376 or onlie at http://www.bbbswb.org

Big Brothers Big Sisters of The Bridge would like to thank everyone who made the 2^nd Annual Walk Around Wilkes-Barre a success. We would like to also thank the following for their support Bart & Urby’s, Community Computers, George Ritz MD, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, and Sheetz. Special mention goes to Alison Splendido, Kristi Capel from WBRE TV and Psycho Mike from 98.5 KRZ. It was a wonderful evening of food, fun and companionship all to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters.  

The evening began with hors d’oeuvers at the FM Kirby Center with the piano music of Paul T. Oschal. Walkers or riders, for those who took the trolley, moved on to Oyster Restaurant for soup and salad for the next stop. Diner was served to the soothing sounds of the violin by Suzuki School of Strings at The Ramada. Desert and more entertainment, this time by Sparrowsong, was held at Barnes & Noble. The evening ended at Bart & Urby’s with an evening drink.  Door prizes were awarder to lucky winners at each stop.  

Big Brothers Big Sisters of The Bridge is a mentoring program that matches youth ages 7 to 14 with a suitable mentor for one year. The program has been operating with the support of the community since 1974. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a program of Catholic Social Services and a member agency of The Wyoming Valley United Way. 

Take a look at more pictures of the event online at http://www.bbbswb.org.

Above are some images from the school-based programs last year.

It is hard to believe but in about two weeks, most schools will be back in session. Where did the summer go? It seems like the 4^th of July was just yesterday. Before long the school buses will be on the roads and the sound of school bells will be heard. Those sights and sounds also mean back to school time for the Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentors and their Little Brothers and Little Sisters. All the programs will be the same day and same time as they were last year in the Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West School Districts.

Just as a reminder, the programs are as follows: Dan Flood School is on Monday from 3:05 to 4:30, Boyd Dodson School is on Tuesday from 3:05 to 4:30, Kistler School is on Wednesday from 3:05 to 4:30 and Main Street School in Plymouth is on Thursday from 3:30 to 4:50.

In the school-based program, matches work on homework and study skills for at least 30 minutes. This is a great opportunity for the kids to get one-to-one, extra help they might need in particular subject areas. After that, they can continue with schoolwork if they choose, it not the rest of the times is theirs. Matches are provided with a snack and can play individual or group games such as kickball, dodge-ball, and soccer. If group games are not for you, that’s OK, because matches can play a variety of board games or just spend the time hanging out.  No matter what you are interested in, we are sure you can find it at the program.

We are looking at a start date around mid-September for all programs, but we will post the exact date for the return of the programs once we have that set. Keep posted here in the newsroom for information about this and all programs we offer. Until then, cook out, sleep in, take a swim and enjoy the final few weeks of vacation you have left.

If you are interested in information about Big Brothers Big Sisters as a participant or volunteer call us at (570) 824-8756 or you can register online here at http://www.bbbswb.org.