Buddy Connect Fosters Connections Between Mentors and Mentees

The following was sent to us by SHS High School Students Alec Rosen, Gretchen Quill, Nicole Cohn, Amira Faden, Michael Emmerman, Sammy Friedland

In the Advanced Topics Social Entrepreneurship course at SHS (the capstone course for the STEAM program), we were tasked with finding and solving a problem in our community that would make a difference in others' lives.

Charged with creating a product or service that could improve someone's life, we quickly decided that we wanted to work with children with cognitive disabilities. After interviews, observations, and conversations with parents and professionals, we noticed that children with cognitive disabilities sometimes feel disconnected from their peers, and don’t always have sufficient opportunities to engage socially. The six of us contemplated the best ways to approach this problem. The result is “Buddy Connect.” Buddy Connect focuses on fostering genuine connections between mentors and mentees in activities that the two of them enjoy. Our free program provides children an opportunity to feel like they have a “big-sibling,” and gives high schoolers the chance to gain new perspectives and create connections with children who have different needs from their own. While Buddy Connect is up and running, we are working to refine the process. Here's how it currently works:

The volunteer and the child are both sent interest forms and paired by their similar interests.

Before the session, the volunteer connects with the parent(s) to discuss concerns and/or logistics of the meetup.

In each session, children can engage in activities such as baking, sports, board games, arts and crafts projects, or anything else the child likes.

After the first meetup, additional sessions can be scheduled to continue fostering a connection.

In addition to being a school project, we are trying to make our program and ultimate vision last beyond this year and hopefully for years to come. We are currently looking for partners in the community to work with us to ensure our project becomes something that is sustained beyond our tenure at SHS.

If you are a high school student interested in volunteering, or a parent of a child who might be interested in Buddy Connect, reach out to us at [email protected].