In-School Mentor of the Year!

Heather Whittick has been matched with Mouna in the In-School Mentor program for almost 3 years. This program matches Bigs and Littles to meet for one hour a week at the Little.'s school. Mouna was only 8 when they were first matched and Heather was a first year university student.

Fast forward to today and the once shy young girl, Mouna, has come out of her shell in the last three years - which is certainly a credit to Heather. She speaks in class more often and seems happier to be at school. Their match has really blossomed through time and even with busy school schedules they have consistently met every week. Heather makes Mouna feel special by showing up every week and she really looks forward to the days they are together.

Heather is not afraid to do silly things to entertain Mouna and makes her feel comfortable. Mouna thinks Heather, "does funny things like pretending she's a bird, and has great voices."

Some of the things they do together are; dodge ball, baking cookies, playing dress up and drawing. Heather always thinks of fun "outside the box" things to do in the one hour they spend together a week. One of the unique ideas that Mouna loved was bringing in a tent so they could set it up and have a pretend campfire and read books together. That's quite an effort for such a short amount of time together, but that effort has created a lasting memory for Mouna.

Heather has shared with us that through this experience she's learned to be a kid again and enjoys spending time with Mouna.