Boys mentorship program in high demand in Perth County, organizers say

The Perth County Health Unit is looking for men to volunteer to mentor young boys as part of their Elements program that teaches life skills to Grade 5 and 6 students.

The program has male mentors from the community draw on their own experiences to help the boys navigate healthy relationships tomanaging screen time to conflict resolution, and it's all done in the classroom.

With the start of the school year approaching, the health unit is seeking new mentors in order tooffer the program in more schools.

"This program is really focused on resiliency, so that ability to bounce back from life's challenges, and we do know that having positive role models is very important to helping you develop that resiliency," said Karen Trussler, a public health nurse with the program.

Donna Bentz is the volunteer co-ordinator for the program and said they would like to have 30 mentors, the same number of volunteers as the equivalent girls' program.

"We're looking for men who have an interest in supporting kids in the community and also have some flexibility with their daytime availability and that might be the trickiest piece for people," she said.

Sharing feelings with other males

Jeff Hulley currently volunteers as a mentor with the program.

He said successful candidates should be good listenersand open to sharing their own lives with the students. He said that in his case, this was essential to building trust.

"Men don't wear their feelings on ... the outside sort of thing. So it's sort of neat to even put that across. You know, you can talk to a man and you can tell him about your feelings ... and it opens all kinds of doors for them." said Hulley.

He said the program was personally rewarding because he found the students' ideas and perspectives to be refreshing. For the students, it was about feeling comfortable with sharing their feelings with other males.

Anyone who wants to volunteer can get in touch with thePerth County Health Unit through their website.