Karson & Ellen

This pair looks forward to their zoom time each week, where they play games, talk, do puzzles, or Karson picks up his computer and brings virtual Ellen to meet the new ducks outside! They truly are a model of how to create a valuable friendship during a pandemic.

Name of Mentee: Karson
Name of Mentor: Ellen Dorsch
Mentoring Program: Grand Isle County Mentoring
Program Type: School-Based
Length of Their Match: 2 years
Age of Mentee: 11

About This Match:

The Mentee

Karson has a lot of energy and loves to be silly. He has a busy household at home and really looks forward to the 1:1 time he has with Ellen. His mother Jessica shared, “Ellen is one of his favorite people in the world. He just adores her. He loves that he has someone outside the home to open up to and be himself.”

The Mentor

When asked to share how mentoring Karson has impacted her life, Ellen wrote, “My mentor and I Zoomed every other week during the “lock down” of the pandemic. When we started this routine, I wondered what we would do for an hour on Zoom. We played some games, did puzzles over Zoom, talked, his little sister and mother sometimes joined us. We both wanted something to look forward to, something different then our routine at home. After a few sessions, I realized that I was looking forward to our next meet up. How nice to see young people, rather than the two retirees in our house. How nice to laugh at silly things … following him, and his computer, around his house to see the new chickens, ducks and Steak, the cow, outside. Perhaps he added more joy and levity to my life than I did to his; who knows.”

Karson and Ellen were honored by Comcast and MENTOR Vermont as 2022 Vermont Ambassadors of Mentoring!