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6
A turn around in academics
and attitude
www.bigsnyc.org
Kimberly and Roseann
“I can’t imagine an easier volunteer experience,”
exclaims Roseann, a Big in her 8th year at the
RR Donnelley Workplace Mentoring Program
(WMP). While still in touch with her previous
two Littles, Roseann is now focused on helping
her current Little Sister, Kimberly, prepare
for college.
“I was a very rebellious person. I argued with
teachers and students and I didn’t care about
the consequences,” admits Kimberly as she
describes herself when she started the program
in her freshman year of high school. They are
now in their fourth year together, and both are
amazed at Kimberly’s transformation.
From absentee
to mentor
Before they were matched
Kimberly attended school
only two or three days
a week, and didn’t care
about graduating.” Roseann
pointed out to Kimberly
that if she didn’t finish high
school she would only earn
minimum wages, and if she
finished high school she
could earn slightly more.
But if she really wanted to support herself and
buy nice things, she’d have to go to college for
greater earning power. This motivated Kimberly
to not only improve her grades, but also to go
from a 62% attendance record to 98%.
Roseann helped Kimberly focus on areas she
might want to study in college such as business
and culinary arts, and to prepare and register for
the SATs. Kimberly has learned to communicate
more effectively with teachers and peers and
no longer fights with teachers and students.
“Roseann has been so helpful to me not only
in the educational aspects of my life, but in my
personal life as well,” Kimberly adds.
Looking back, Kimberly is amazed at how far
the two have come. “The first time I met Roseann
I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to talk to
her. She worked at a big company and wouldn’t
have anything in common with me,” Kimberly
reflects. But despite her reservations, Kimberly
connected with Roseann quickly, and after four
years they still continue to find things they have in
common. They see each other at their bi-monthly
sessions at the RR Donnelly offices, and stay in
touch in between by phone, email and text.
Not only has Kimberly turned her life around,
she has also been able to help other students in
similar situations. Impressed by her improvement
in attendance and grades, a family friend asked if
she would tutor their son, a high school student
who had to repeat his freshman year due to poor
attendance and grades. Kimberly offered to help
tutor him weekly after school. With assistance
from Kimberly, who spoke to his teachers and
helped him make up missed
classwork, the young man’s
grades and attitude improved so
much in the past year that he is
now placed in his proper class
as a junior. “It feels good that I
helped someone just like me,”
Kimberly admits with pride.
Connecting with others
The impact of this match has
reached beyond the both of
them. While the WMP is limited
to 15 employee Bigs, Roseann
finds that the entire company looks forward to
the visits from the students. “The other employees
feel that they are also contributing and sharing
their knowledge when the students visit different
departments within the company,” explains
Roseann, who is now in charge of running the
program on behalf of the company. She noted that
for the coming school year there were only two
available spots for new Bigs, and eight employees
had immediately contacted her to be considered.
In addition, the 15 Bigs all work in different
departments, so they’ve been able to connect with
employees they might not have connected with
otherwise. “The program definitely
boosts morale among staff, and
the group of volunteers has
really become a team,”
comments Roseann.
Roseann, Big
“The
program
definitely boosts
morale among staff,
and the volunteers
have really
become
a team.”