Part 2 of 2
In Part 1 of this story last week, we shared with you the special bond that has developed between Amy Pederson and her second grade mentee, Nakoda, through the Eagle Grove Elementary Lead and Learn Program. While COVID changed the rules of how they met, they didn’t let the pandemic stop them spending time together. In fact, one could say, it strengthened their bond because Amy made even more of an effort to make sure she spent time with her new little friend because of all the stresses of the pandemic.
TC Murphy is another adult in the community who has continued to foster her relationship with her mentee, Aliviya Page. While Amy had read about it in “The Eagle Grove Eagle” newspaper, TC said she saw a post on Facebook from the organizer, Alana Alt.
“I considered it (being a mentor), but never followed through. I was nervous about trying something new,” she admitted. “In the end, I decided to just go with it since I had almost signed up the two years before. I haven't regretted it since.”
This was in the fall of 2018. The first little girl TC was matched up with was in the program for only a short time before TC and Aliviya were put together…and then the pandemic hit. Neither of them wanted to stop spending time together, but they also knew the rules were different now because of COVID. Some decisions had to be made.
“At first I was cautious since I work in a nursing home,” explained TC. “Then I spoke with her parents and decided if we took precautions and limited our outings to outdoors, my house, and less public spaces, it would work.”
Admittedly, they missed doing their “normal” stuff they had done in 2019, like an occasional meal at a restaurant, a trip to Dollar General to pick up craft supplies, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and even a day at the Wright County Fair where TC was able to take Aliviya’s twin brother and older sister along as well. But if scaling back and less public contact meant they could still be together, they were willing to do it.
“Every year I have continued to get her during the summer months and breaks from school, so I figured if we were cautious, then the pandemic wouldn't be much different,” said TC.
“It’s really been beneficial for Aliviya, having somebody there…and that extra support…because TC really seems to care about her,” said Aliviya’s step-mom, Jessica Knutsen.
TC has tried to keep their meetings as regular as possible, at least once a month. However, in the beginning of the pandemic, it was rough to do that because of the uncertainty of COVID. Then there was a break-out at TC’s work where she was exposed and eventually ended up with the virus herself…so they missed some time in there. But after that, they’ve made a valiant effort every month to get together in some way, shape, or form.
The past year, they’ve found lots of fun ways to do this – mostly outside and limiting it to usually just the two of them. They’ve gone to the parks around town (before it got cold), baked some goodies, and done crafts at TC’s house. For Christmas, they enjoyed building a gingerbread Christmas village.
“Aliviya really loves spending time with TC…she always comes home (from their time together) so happy,” said Jessica.
“I don't have kids myself and have always enjoyed spending time with children,” TC said of her decision to become a mentor. “I was especially close to two of my nieces as they were growing up, but now they are 22 years old with a baby of her own and 15 years old. As they grew 'too old' to spend time with me, it left an opening for me to fill.”
TC encourages anyone else out there who might have a little extra time, whether you have children of your own or not, to think about joining the Lead and Learn mentoring program through Eagle Grove Elementary.
“You will not regret it! It's worth it. Especially when the child looks forward to getting together. And it honestly doesn't require a lot of time. The most nervous thing for me was talking to the family and getting comfortable just putting myself in their family, but I was lucky enough to get great families so far,” said TC.
While this program is for the benefit of the children in this school district who need a little one-on-one time with another adult role model, or just another
