Nicolette Bock began her position as BEAM director a few weeks ago, on Jan. 11. Bock shares she hopes to use her experience in marketing and human services to grow BEAM's future membership.

To ‘beam’ at someone is to shine brightly upon them. A ‘beam’ can also be a piece of timber or metal serving as a means of structural support.

In Blue Earth, a local program lends a third definition to the term. The Blue Earth Area Mentors (BEAM) program seeks to pair adult mentors with area youth to build meaningful, mutual community connections.

As BEAM’s website explains, the program’s overall mission is to match children with mentors who “put forth a positive demeanor,” “show an affirmative attitude toward life decisions and dilemmas,” “build the child’s self-esteem,” and “model a healthy lifestyle.”

In a sense, BEAM does provide opportunities for mentors to shine brightly upon their mentees and serve as structural support while their mentees navigate the process of growing up.

Nicolette Bock adds that her role as BEAM’s director is to make these meaningful mentor-mentee relationships possible.

“My role is to facilitate those partnerships,” Bock explains.

Bock intends to forge new BEAM partnerships by locating interested community members who could become program mentors. Bock also hopes to connect with local social workers to find children who may enjoy participating in the program.

Bock herself is relatively new to the BEAM program. Her first day as BEAM director was on Jan. 11. Peggy Olson, the former director of the program, had held the position for four years previously.

Bock shares Olson left the position due to a family emergency.

“I’ve known Peggy (Olson) for years, and I reached out to see how I could help,” Bock remembers. Olson requested Bock accompany her to a BEAM board meeting, after which she inquired whether Bock would be interested in taking over the director position.

“Peggy is amazing; those are huge shoes to fill,” Bock says. Nonetheless, she accepted Olson’s offer and has now been hard at work in the local BEAM office for several weeks.

Bock brings several relevant skills to the BEAM program which she hopes to implement while serving as its director.

After receiving a degree in social services, Bock worked for several years at a group home for youth in the Twin Cities.

Following her marriage to Brian Bock, however, Bock pursued a slightly different career path.

“My experience shifted from human services, and I took an online position in marketing and sales,” Bock explains.

One way in which Bock has successfully combined her marketing and human services experience is through creating a nonprofit organization, Pink and Blue Ribbon Foundation, which serves families facing infertility, pregnancy loss and infant death.

“We make a bridge between resources and people who need them,” Bock explains.

Though Bock enjoys her work for the Pink and Blue Ribbon Foundation, she is eager for the opportunity to serve the Blue Earth area exclusively through BEAM.

A native of Blue Earth and graduate of Blue Earth Area High School, Bock is excited to return to and serve the community where she grew up.

“I’m excited to dig my heels into the community and to be home,” Bock says. “It’s nice to plug back in to area youth.”

Bock has several hopes and dreams for BEAM’s future.

“It’s a proactive program, not a reactive program,” Bock notes. “I want to create a safe space for any youth that needs that.”

However, she also hopes to grow the program in terms of numbers.

“I look forward to using my marketing experience to grow the program,” Bock says. “We definitely need more mentors. I’d love to bring in mentors who can really maintain consistency.”

“I also want to make an effort to include a wider variety of youth in the program,” she adds.

Finally, Bock seeks to grow BEAM’s funding and mentor-mentee event offerings.

“I’d like to create some group events and get a chance to have some social activities, not just one-on-one events,” Bock says.

BEAM also hosts occasional fundraising events to make outings for mentors and mentees possible. Annual events such as BEAM’s Tour of Tables have served as fun, engaging opportunities for the community to support BEAM.

“I want to thank people who have donated, and local businesses who support us,” Bock says. She believes the support is worthwhile.

“Any time we can focus our efforts on area youth having the environment they need and the resources they need, we are making an impact on future generations,” Bock concludes. She sees mentorship as a valuable resource for any child in the community.

“Who doesn’t need a mentor?” Bock reasons. “Being a mentor is really rewarding, too. It’s a win-win situation.”