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In-school mentoring: An hour a week goes a long way (4 photos)

Wayne Brown meets Keegan at his school every week; Big Brothers Big Sisters hoping to put a dent in wait list

When Wayne Brown and nine-year-old Keegan met for the first time, it seemed like a match made in hockey heaven.

Brown was wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs shirt. So was Keegan. However, Keegan had Auston Matthews’s name on his shirt, and he quickly noticed Brown’s Leafs loyalty lay with Mitch Marner.

A friendly rivalry was born.

“As soon as he got comfortable and started busting my chops, I knew we were fine,” said Brown, a child and youth care student at Georgian College’s Orillia campus.

That initial meeting took place in September, when Brown began volunteering as an in-school mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orillia and District.

Every week, Brown and Keegan get together for an hour at Lions Oval Public School. How they spend that time together is up to Keegan. Sometimes he just wants to talk. If the gym isn’t being used, they play floor hockey.

They’ll talk hockey stats and rib each other about their favourite players’ performances. That’s often a matter of opinion. Keegan’s prowess at certain games, though, is a matter of fact.

“I really like to beat him at Jenga and stuff,” Keegan said.

“He beats me at everything,” Brown added.

That was proven Thursday, when Brown fell to Keegan three games in a row while playing Connect 4.

Regardless of the activities they take part in during their visits, Brown recognizes the value of that one hour they spend together weekly.

“I have kids. I know what my little guy is like when I get to spend a couple of extra hours with him,” he said.

He feels he, too, could have benefited from a similar program when he was a kid. When he was a young boy, his dad died.

“My mom worked all the time, so she didn’t have a lot of time,” he said. “Having someone (to whom) I could’ve explained what I was going through and how I was feeling would’ve been nice.”

Each meeting begins with “TNT” — Keegan tells Brown “three new things” that are going on in his life.

“A lot of people bully me, so I might want to talk about what’s happening,” Keegan said.

Their relationship is at the point where Brown can immediately recognize what kind of mood Keegan is in.

“Sometimes he’ll get there in the morning and he’ll be down or fidgety. After the hour’s up, he’s a different person,” Brown said.

Keegan keeps a positive outlook even during the toughest times. For that, he credits Brown as well as his brother, who tells him, “Don’t leave the badness in you because when you grow up, you’ll be angry.”

“When you wake up the next morning, you’ll forget (the problems) and wash them out of your mind,” Keegan said.

Not all children are as fortunate to have found a match. The local Big Brothers Big Sisters agency has a wait list of about 20 kids looking for an in-school mentor and 15 seeking a traditional, community-based Big Brother or Big Sister. About 75 per cent of those on the wait list are boys looking for male role models.

Some of the students on the wait list will see their peers spending time with mentors, which can make them “anxious,” Brown explained.

“If one of their friends get a mentor, they might be jealous,” he said. “There are a lot of emotions.”

Sometimes, while visiting other schools, Brown will be approached by kids who have become aware of his involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters and they’ll tell him, “I’m waiting for one.”

That’s why he encourages other men to spare some time to help out kids in need.

“If more males in general knew what the program was, they’d see what just an hour a week can do,” he said. “I thought Big Brothers would be a massive commitment. It’s such a small amount of time. For (the kids), it could be the highlight of their week.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orillia and District is always looking for volunteers for its various programs, including Game On, for boys, and Go Girls — both of which focus on healthy eating and active living.

Anyone who questions the positive influence a mentor, Big Brother or Big Sister can have on a kid should look no further than Keegan and Brown, said mentoring co-ordinator Miranda Chaffey.

“Their story says it all. They are making an impact,” she said.

To find out more about the agency and ways to help, email [email protected], call 705-325-3151 or visit orillia.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca.


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Nathan Taylor

About the Author: Nathan Taylor

Nathan Taylor is the desk editor for Village Media's central Ontario news desk in Simcoe County and Newmarket.
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