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Ensuring every child has a positive role model

BEAM and STARS connect kids with the community

By Fiona Green - Staff Writer | Jan 29, 2024

Blue Earth Area Mentors (BEAM) has been serving the Blue Earth area since 1997, while Success Through Adults Reaching Students (STARS) has been serving the eastern Faribault County Area since 2001. BEAM director Nicolette Bock is pictured at left, and STARS program coordinator Hallie Raimann is pictured at right.

‘Who doesn’t need a mentor?” reasons Nicolette Bock, director of the Blue Earth Area Mentors (BEAM) program.

In recognition of the universal value of mentorship, January has been designated as National Mentoring Month since 2002. It is a time to unify and expand the mentoring movement, celebrate the power of relationships, and raise awareness around the importance of youth mentoring in the United States.

Two programs in the county, BEAM and Success Through Adults Reaching Students (STARS), aim to do those things not just in the month of January, but all year long.

Blue Earth Area Mentors (BEAM)

Established in 1997 by Jean Bierly and Brian Koranda, BEAM seeks to provide youth in the Blue Earth area with the opportunity to be hopeful for the future, and see the community as a place of love, support and acceptance.

To accomplish that goal, BEAM pairs adult mentors with area youth to build meaningful, mutual connections.

“We ask mentors to commit to two meetings per month, at least,” Bock explains, adding that a mentor/mentee meeting can take a variety of forms – chatting over hot cocoa, watching a movie or visiting the library, for example.

BEAM has funds available for mentors and mentees to participate in such activities, as well as resources at its office on Nicollet Street.

BEAM also offers group meetings for mentors and mentees alike, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas parties over the holiday season.

Additionally, the program debuted a new fundraiser last October: a fall festival held in Gazebo Park.

Bock says she departed from BEAM’s former annual fundraiser, the Tour of Tables, because she wanted to hold an event which both children and adults could enjoy.

“I was hoping it would be more inclusive of the whole community,” Bock explains.

The fall festival offered live music, pumpkin painting, face painting and a caricaturist. A hot dog meal was donated by Kwik Trip, and other food items were donated by Farmer’s Daughters Kitchen.

Bock was pleased with the success of the festival, and plans to hold another in October of this year.

“We had people stop and say how much they loved it – it was a wonderful feeling,” she recalls. “When you’re a non-profit and rely on the support of the community, it’s really special when the community embraces you.”

Apart from being grateful to the community at large, Bock also wishes to express her gratitude to those who contributed donations to BEAM in honor of Koranda, who passed away recently.

“He was fabulous,” Bock says. “He did many, many things for the community.”

Bock notes that BEAM – one of Koranda’s legacies – is seeking mentors to join the fun.

“We have more kids now than ever, but we don’t have enough mentors,” she explains.

Those who are interested in becoming a mentor can visit BEAM’s website at beammentors.com, where an online application is available. Bock notes that prospective mentors will be asked to complete a background check as part of the application process.

BEAM is always accepting mentees, as well.

“Any school-age children are welcome to join,” Bock says. Mentees, too, can apply to join BEAM at its website.

Even if a child is not matched with a mentor right away, Bock says BEAM frequently hosts mentorship opportunities that are open for all mentees to attend.

“We will find a way for (all mentees) to become involved,” she promises.

Bock believes that any child, from any background, can enjoy and benefit from becoming a BEAM mentee.

“We’re really working to get rid of that stigma of who does and does not need a mentor,” Bock says. “It should be something that every parent should see as a benefit.”

Success Through Adults Reaching Students (STARS)

According to STARS’s website, one in three young people grow up without a supportive mentor in their lives.

Since 2001, STARS has sought to change that statistic by providing youth with adult mentors who empower them to make positive life choices so they can develop to their fullest potential.

The non-profit serves youth and families in the eastern portion of Faribault County and in Freeborn County.

Program coordinator Hallie Raimann says that serving youth and families often means connecting youth with not only a role model, but also with resources in their community.

“I think kids need to be a part of the community,” she explains. “My hope is to give them a network.”

In pursuit of that goal, STARS hosts regular group activities every six to eight weeks which bring mentors and mentees out into the community to enjoy a fun experience. For example, STARS recently took a group out kayaking.

Resources are also available for mentors who want to spend their one-on-one time with their mentee doing an activity.

“If there is something you want to do that is a financial hardship, reach out to us and we can help make it happen,” Raimann urges.

However, she also observes that meetings between mentors and mentees can be as simple as cooking dinner together and talking.

“Sometimes, that’s what kids need,” she reasons.

STARS asks that mentors meet with their mentees for four hours each month, whether it is for one hour once a week, two hours twice a month, or even a four-hour monthly session for older children.

“Mentors can meet as fits their schedule, as long as they are consistent,” Raimann explains.

She says STARS is currently seeking more mentors, admitting, “Mentors are hard to find.”

Anybody who is interested in becoming a mentor through STARS can visit its website at www.starsforkids.org, or contact the STARS office at 507-383-5272, or by email at programcoordinator@starsforkids.org.

Raimann explains that mentorship starts with a one-year commitment. Mentors and mentees are matched based on their interests and compatibility – for example, a mentee who is a soccer fan was recently matched with a mentor who played soccer in college.

Raimann notes that connections cannot be forced, and mentors and mentees are able to end their partnership after a year if it is not working out. However, she adds that oftentimes, connections are successful and they result in a years-long mentorship.

“We have some in the program who have stayed together for eight years,” Raimann says.

Mentees between the ages of seven and 17 are welcome to join STARS. Some mentees also find STARS through their school district, as the program partners with four school districts in the area.

Raimann has a few ideas for ways STARS could expand its programming in the future. For example, she would like to embed a career-readiness piece in the STARS program to help mentees develop important skills for adulthood.

In the meantime, Raimann would like STARS to remain a program which connects area youth with opportunities and caring adults.

“The kids I have in the program are wonderful kids,” she concludes. “They just shine when they’re mentored.”