Information about Mentoring at Macaulay

 

What is Macaulay Child Development Centre?

Macaulay Child Development Centre has been working the former city of York since 1932. Although Macaulay’s roots are in providing child care, Macaulay is now a multi-service agency serving children and families in northwestern Toronto.

 

What is a Homework Club?

What began as a safe place for several children to come after school at one site has become a program delivered to over 100 children in 2005. The homework club begins with a nutritious snack and then children work on homework or academic worksheets for an hour. The final part of the homework club includes group activities and social skills training. Each homework club runs for 2-hours each week (3:30-5:30pm).

 

Where are the Homework Club located?

Homework clubs are offered in 3 neighbourhoods in northwest Toronto; Jane & Lawrence, Weston & Lawrence and Highway 27 & Finch. They run in schools, libraries and public housing space.

 

What is a mentor?

A mentor is a person who is learning. At Macaulay, mentors are generally young people who are looking for experience to help them find a paid job or to complete volunteer hours for school.

 

What is being a mentor all about?

You will come to a homework club once per week (or more if you want to). You will help the paid staff by getting snack ready and setting up the room. When the children arrive, you will work with a staff member to help the children complete their homework.

 

Sometimes the children just need a reminder to stay focused on their homework. Other times, you will need to explain the homework to a child. The staff member will help you to make sure that you are explaining the school work in the proper way.

 

During the group activity, you will help the children to participate and pay attention. If you want to try leading a group activity, you can learn how to do this!

 

There will be sessions outside of the homework club time to meet with other mentors or work individually with a staff member. You will have the opportunity to learn about child development, communication styles and leadership skills. You can also get help with your resume.

 

What is an Honorarium?

An honorarium is an amount of money that is given as a way of saying thank you. Honorariums are not a paid salary and do not mean that you “worked for Macaulay” or that you were an employee. Instead, it is a modest amount of money to recognize your commitment to the mentoring program.

 

 

How are mentors and volunteers different?

Mentors are volunteers, but they have added benefits. First, they are paid for their commitment to volunteer for a semester. Also, they have additional support and training that regular volunteers do not receive.

 

 

Will I get a job after being a mentor?

There is no guarantee that being a mentor will get you a job. If you finish the mentorship and meet the goals of the program, you will have some skills that will help you in paid jobs. Our goal is to train local youth as mentors and hire the best mentors to work as paid staff members in the homework clubs. Whether that happens depends on each individual mentor.

 

Can I get volunteer hours?

Your time at the homework club will be counted as volunteer hours.

 

Homework Club locations:

Brookhaven Public School, 70 Brookhaven Drive

St. Bernard’s Catholic School, 12 Duckworth Street

720 Trethewey Dr., 2^nd Floor

5 Bellevue Ave, recreation room

 

For more info:

Nneka Perry 

Phone: 416-789-7441 ext 313

Email: nperry@macaulaycentre.org

http://www.macaulaycentre.org