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Beachwood Bison Buddies Connects High School Mentors With Hilltop Kids

The collaborative mentoring program was reborn thanks to four students

Beachwood Bison Buddies, a collaborative mentoring program between Beachwood High School and Hilltop Elementary School, almost disappeared after the 2009-10 school year because its funding was not renewed.

That’s when four high school students — Jodi Fish, Scott Janovitz, Melissa Felman and Samantha Felman — stepped in and asked what they needed to do to get the program back.

“The fact that I had four students approach me about how they missed coming here and sharing their time and experience with the little kids spoke volumes to me,” said Deborah Pilarcik, Hilltop guidance counselor and program director. “They made it work, they volunteered their time, recruited and got donations for the program.”

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The kids recruited fellow high scholars through an activities fair, solicited donations and got help from Giant Eagle and both principals to get the program up and running last February, albeit a shortened year.

“We weren’t overly concerned that we couldn’t start it again,” Janovitz said.

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This year the program has 11 mentors, or bigs, paired off with 11 littles from the elementary school. They will begin the year with a collaborative puzzle project where each paring will design a different piece. The younger kids are always eager to see who they will be paired off with.

“We saw how much the kids liked the program,” Samantha Felman said. “They always like it when we arrive on Mondays.”

The bigs are not the only ones doing the teaching: having a little that is dependent on them to show up every week forces the high school students to make Monday a big priority.

“It gave us a sense of responsibility,” Fish said. “We not only helped the kids but they helped us too.”

It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then a big has to miss a week. Whenever it happens, there is a bit of a letdown.

“At first they’re disappointed because they want their buddy to be there,” Melissa Felman said. “They’ll join another group, but they are disappointed when their person isn’t there. We’ve learned a lot about reliability and dependability. They’re always here waiting for us so we have to be here.”

The younger kids just appreciate the little things their older mentors do for them. All their bigs have to do is show up and give them a little attention.

“I love watching the faces of the littles when the bigs walk through the door,” Pilarcik said. “They light up, they look forward to it. When their bigs get here they are greeted with a smile and a hug. Their bigs are an experienced friend. They quickly learn that this is someone who is there just for them. This is their person and they become comfortable very quick.”

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