Big Sister 2011 Annual Report - Big Sister Association of Greater ...

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22 2010 Annual Report www.bigsister.org
The first thing you notice when you meet Little Sister Zaire is her self-confidence. She is a smart and bold fifth grader at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School. She knows what she likes and doesn’t like and isn’t afraid to tell you. This quality often so rare in girls her age who are struggling with self-esteem and who are starting to exchange “I want” with “whatever you want”, often gets her into hot water. In her own words, it has also gotten her mistakenly labeled as a “trouble kid”. In describing why she wanted a Big Sister, Zaire wrote that she wanted to be able to share life stories with her, to be able to socialize, to practice her multiplication tables and to be able to tell her the important things that were going on in her life. The subtext is also that she wanted someone who would understand her and who could see through her impatience and occasional brashness to the real her. She wanted “her Big Sister to know that she’s a good kid, [and that she’s] really fun and a jokester.” Twenty-four year old Big Sister Katie Abarr has been matched with Zaire in our School-Based Mentoring program for a little over a year now. She wanted to be a Big Sister because she remembered the women in her life who had made an effort to spend time with her as a child and how much it had meant to her. “I will always remember the people who went out of their way to take care of me or mentor me or just make me laugh,” says Katie. “That made a big impact on me and I’d like to do that for someone else.” According to their match support social worker Sara Pizzute, Katie turned out to be the perfect mentor for friendly and thoughtful Zaire. A coordinator at the Westin Boston Waterfront, Katie remembers being equally opinionated at Zaire’s age. She would also get reprimanded for testing and trying to bend rules that didn’t make sense to her, such as not chewing gum or the requirement to keep her uniform shirt tucked in at all times. As a mentor, she is very understanding of Zaire’s temperament, but sets firm limits and helps her become more patient and positive in her overall attitude towards Big Sister Association of Greater Boston Little Sister Zaire Big Sister Katie teachers and her fellow students. Zaire is grateful to know that she isn’t alone. She is also happy to have guidance on how to constructively deal with her feelings of frustration and to have a cool adult she can laugh with and be goofy. Zaire recalls that the pair got along immediately when they first met with “no awkward moments”. They had a lot in common. They liked yoga, were self-proclaimed girly-girls, and both had a good sense of humor. Zaire also approved of Katie’s fashion sense. “She knows how to dress. Like me.” On Friday afternoons when they are together, they often do homework and talk about their New Year’s Resolutions -- Zaire’s are to get good grades, have a more positive attitude and stop biting her nails. Katie’s resolution is to talk to her mother more often. Sometimes though, they don’t need to say a word and can just sit in comfortable silence and color. They understand each other. And then there are those multiplications tables. According to Zaire, Katie “really likes math”. Big Sister Katie has increased Zaire’s appreciation of math and has helped her recognize her skills in the subject. “She’s actually really good at math. She just thinks that she isn’t. … She’s really smart.” When asked about her experience as a Big Sister, Katie answers that it has taught her to stop and make time for the things that are more important in life, the things that are more heartfelt, “which is how I feel about hanging out with Zaire.”
Page 2 and 3: Our History
Page 4 and 5: 85% of girls with a Big Sister expe
Page 6 and 7: Dear Friends, As we write this lett
Page 8 and 9: 60 Years Big Sister Association of
Page 10 and 11: 2,567 girls throughout all of our p
Page 12 and 13: Our Big Sister volunteers are the h
Page 14 and 15: Big Sister’s service area covers
Page 16 and 17: Community-Based Mentoring (CBM) is
Page 18 and 19: Little Sister Joannie Big Sister Je
Page 20 and 21: School-Based Mentoring (SBM) is a s
Page 22 and 23: Big Sister partnered with 51 public
Page 26 and 27: 24 www.bigsister.org
Page 28 and 29: 26 2010 Annual Report www.bigsister
Page 32 and 33: 30 2010 Annual Report
Page 36 and 37: Big Sister offers two Group Mentori
Page 38 and 39: “Big Sister’s programs help the
Page 40 and 41: Intentional Mentoring (IM) is an in
Page 42 and 43: 71 corporations, colleges, and comm
Page 44 and 45: Big Sister Association 1986 Life Ch
Page 46 and 47: Big Sister prides itself on our fis
Page 48 and 49: Each year Big Sister hosts a variet
Page 50 and 51: Individuals Big Sister Association
Page 52 and 53: Individuals Craig & Eleanor Meyer J
Page 54 and 55: Corporations & Foundations $100,000
Page 56 and 57: In Kind Donations, Gifts in Honor &
Page 58 and 59: It takes skill and experience to pr
Page 60 and 61: My name is Lisbett. I ’ m 12 and

Big Sister 2011 Annual Report - Big Sister Association of Greater ...

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