January is National Mentoring Month, a time when we ask our Bigs and group leaders to share their experiences leading kids into their futures.

Charlotte Kaplan
For three years, group mentor Charlotte Kaplan has been meeting with two groups of girls – sixth-grade and seventh-grade – at AC Reynolds Middle School. They talk about issues the girls are interested in, including their strengths and weaknesses, healthy relationships, and being unique.
“I find volunteering quite fulfilling,” Charlotte says, “helping children look at their lives and experiences, and giving them an open forum to discuss issues that are of concern to them.”
At a recent group meeting, a student implored her peers to listen and not judge. And that’s what mentorship is about, Charlotte says. It is also giving “positive reinforcement and also helping them work issues out that they find difficult to manage on their own.”
Charlotte started volunteering as a child, the daughter of a father who often volunteered and raised funds. Later, as a high school continuing education and career counselor, she encouraged students to explore volunteering for themselves. As a result, students fundraised for several Florida not-for-profit organizations and donated their labor to help out.
During those years, Charlotte mentored several students. One was a foster-care child who didn’t have the grades to easily meet her goal of attending a four-year college. But after talking to an advisor at a Florida university, she and Charlotte devised a three-year plan to improve her grades, to volunteer, and to apply for scholarships.
“She met every objective and entered college right after she graduated,” Charlotte says. She later got her master’s and now works for a great program in Florida that she helped build. She and Charlotte still keep in touch.
Charlotte is able to mentor and gain the trust of the mentoring groups by being receptive. “The very first group session, the girls come in wary of what to expect,” she says. “Once we discuss the goals of the group, giving them a safe space to talk about their experiences, listening and not judging, the girls become more receptive and engaged. They look forward to attending each week.”
Giving kids a safe space to discuss ways of handling situations is “imperative to their growth and ability to mature and be successful in their endeavors,” Charlotte says.