About Club Mentor

Why Become a Club Mentor?

To engage young people in Club, build personal connections with and for them, and keep them coming back to Club. A great Club Experience helps youth build strong, supportive, trusting relationships with each other, and with caring adult role models and mentors. But this takes time. Thus, one of our Club’s primary focus areas is to make a concerted effort to increase the attendance of the youth we serve. We know that the more time our youth spend at Club, the greater the impact we can have on them.

Individual or One on One Mentoring:

This approach creates a sense of safety and ownership over the subject matter. For example, if a youth struggles with reading, this stays between the youth and adult. To build your connection, think about and use conversation starters. Support the young person in learning and practicing new skills, and help regularly measure their progress. This approach allows the young person to reflect deeply on lessons learned.

To preserve everyone’s safety, staff, volunteers and other adults should never be alone when working one-on-one with a child. The pair should meet in a spot in the Club where it’s somewhat quiet, but also visible to other staff and youth, being situated among them. Examples of individual interactions between mentors and Club Members:

Situational or planned guidance sessions that address personal problems, such as relationships with others, self-concept, school or family.
Lessons or skill instruction conducted individually. Some members may need additional help in an activity or skill before they can compete effectively in larger groups (i.e., homework assistance, sport or game-related skill, art-related skill).
Teachable moments, when a young person spontaneously expresses a particular interest, observation, or a concern to a staff member that leads to further exploration of and guidance on that subject.

A focus on Power Hour (homework & tutoring)!

By becoming a mentor at one of our Clubhouses, you will need to consistently be able to visit the Clubhouse to keep the relationships building. Club Staff will help match you with up to 5 members that match your interests or skills. You’ll be asked to focus on building relationships with those specific members. These relationships take time to build the trust needed to help build the skills and confidence of your mentee’s, but is worth it in the long run, all working towards Boys and Girls Club’s mission: “...To realize their full potential as caring, responsible, and productive citizens.” Thank you for your interest in mentoring our youth! It truly takes a village to raise a child and these one-on-one relationships are essential to ensuring every young person in our Club has a caring adult in their lives.

Application Process

Complete an online volunteer application here:

https://www.bgcmissoula.org/volunteer