VANCOUVER – Selected students for the Each One Teach One mentorship program, after a brief application process, kick off this year’s activities. The student mentors got to meet the program coordinators from both Saints and the partnered schools and watched videos that introduce them to the kids with whom they will be friends, not only for the next few months, but for life.

This program, led by Mr. Brian Lee, partners each selected St. George’s student with a student from three schools on the other side of the city: Windermere, Alderwood or Seymour.  Saints boys are paired up with another boy or girl who may have developmental disabilities or have suffered from many hardships.

“For Saints students, this will mean an opportunity to go outside the classrooms and learn meaningful lessons that applies to real life. By stepping out of their own ‘zones,’ they can reach out into the world beyond their daily lives, learning meaningful lessons,” said Mr. Sandy Bucifal, the Saints teacher in charge of partnership with Windermere Secondary School.

Besides learning about the students at Windermere, students from St. George’s also try to walk a mile in another’s shoes. Ms. T. Maxim, the teacher in charge on the Windermere side, showed the mentors how difficult it may be for a student with autism to read sentences. “Tge buick prawn lox jumds over tge lozy pog…” is what an autistic student might see when the majority of us see “The quick, brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

“This means a lot to our students – they have gone through difficult times and may have lost the opportunity to experience close relationship by making friends. By meeting their partners from St. George’s, they get to experience real friendship, learn what it’s like to have a close friend, which will be very meaningful to their growth,” said Maxim.

Everyone involved in Each One Teach One is looking forward to another year filled with teaching and learning.  While students from St. George’s can learn important lessons from supporting the Windermere students, they also pick up a lot of interesting knowledge from their buddy.  It is a truly reciprocal pairing!