Big Brothers Big Sisters Launches Workplace Mentoring Program

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast (BBBS) today launched a new, workplace-based mentoring program by matching 11 “Littles” from Venice High School (VHS) with 11 “Bigs” who work at Venice Regional Bayfront Health. A 12th student, who could not attend the kickoff event, will be paired with a mentor and participate too.

The Big-Little matches will meet every month at the hospital, where students will experience what it means to work for a large employer, learn about business etiquette, and see the range of employment opportunities in the dynamic field of healthcare. The program, called “Beyond School Walls,” was funded in part with a $22,500 grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

At today’s kickoff event, the VHS students heard from a series of the program’s supporters, including Gulf Coast President and CEO Mark Pritchett, about why the community was investing in them.

“You all have amazing potential,” said BBBS President/CEO Joy Mahler. “You have been invited to be a part of something big. You have a community behind you.” 

Steve Cantees, executive director of high schools for Sarasota County Schools, noted, “You are the first to step into this unique, innovative program, and that’s exciting.”

The Power of Mentorship

John McLain, CEO of Venice Regional, shared his own experience of how access to healthcare professionals when he was young helped solidify his decision to go into the field. “Take this opportunity to learn everything you can,” McLain encouraged the students.

Gulf Coast’s Pritchett also told a personal story, of the long-running impact and lifelong connection he forged with the Little he mentored back in college. He then touched on how the power of mentorship and the power of apprenticeship dovetail in the new program, and he suggested to the students that they would gain valuable insight into the effects that today’s rapidly changing economy will have on the workplaces they eventually enter. “You get a head start on that,” he said.

It Takes a Community

While welcoming guests, Mahler highlighted the success of BBBS’s Decisions to Win program. That school-based mentoring program -- which was launched at Venice High School a decade ago with Gulf Coast funding -- pairs students at risk of not graduating with an adult from the community. Together, they work through a curriculum on making thoughtful, positive decisions, now and in the future. Mahler noted that participants in the program at VHS had a 100% graduation rate last year.

Cantees, of Sarasota County Schools, stressed that community partnerships with the school district make it possible to give students so many different opportunities, like Decisions to Win and Beyond School Walls. “We have an amazing community,” he said.

Mahler concluded by thanking Venice Regional for being the first employer to pilot the new program. “Really, it takes the time of the corporation and the employees to make this work,” she said.

Meeting Their Match(es)

The highlight of the morning for guests at the kickoff meeting was when the students were matched with their mentors, whom they hadn’t yet met.

The pairs spent a few minutes getting to know each other, then the program switched to an orientation and hospital tour just for the Bigs and Littles.