Alexis & Betsy

Alexis and Betsy enjoy being creative, often crafting or working on projects together. They most recently worked on a scrapbook together, documenting their long time together as mentor and mentee.

Name of Mentee: Alexis
Name of Mentor: Betsy Dunham
Mentoring Program: MAUSD Mentoring
Program Type: Community/School-Based
Length of Their Match: 5.5 years
Age of Mentee: 12

About This Match:

The Mentee

Alexis describes her mentor Betsy as artistic, kind, caring, awesome, fun & full of ideas. All these words could also be used to describe this match. Betsy has introduced Alexis to new ideas and skills from baking to sewing to sugaring to crafting and her knowledge of horses. They discovered they both enjoyed sewing and after working together on a project of making a Halloween costume, Alexis initiated some sewing projects of her own, got herself set up to sew on her mother’s sewing machine at home & has continued doing sewing projects on her own. In September, they were reunited in person after many months of remote meetings during COVID. Recently they worked on a scrapbook, documenting the years they’ve spent together. Both Alexis and Betsy take on the responsibility of making sure that they get to see each other each week. When asked what she would like to thank her mentor for, Alexis responded, “for being there in the good & bad weather.”

The Mentor

For Betsy, Alexis is often on her mind. She finds herself thinking, “Alexis would like this!” when she comes across something interesting or unique and can’t wait to share it with her. Her match with Alexis gives her a sense of connection to young people today. Alexis has opened up Betsy’s world and allowed her to see the world through the eyes of a child. Just as Betsy shares her skills and knowledge with Alexis, Alexis teaches Betsy all the time. A recent tree craft made from newspaper was one of those teachable moments, all led by Alexis. Betsy is creative and full of ideas when it comes to crafts. It is impressive and exciting to now see Alexis doing her own research and coming up with her own very creative ideas for their future projects together. Betsy and Alexis complement each other with their creative abilities and ideas. Betsy has grown children and in her match with Alexis, she relishes her role as a non-judgmental, helpful & interested friend.

Alexis and Betsy were honored by Comcast and MENTOR Vermont as 2022 Vermont Ambassadors of Mentoring!