COVID-19 RESPONSE

A note from Laura Woodside, SVP CricketTogether:

As a mother of three school-aged children and long-time teacher in a Title 1 school, I am acutely aware of the impact of the pandemic on our children, our schools and the community-based mentoring and corporate volunteer programs that strive to help our communities.

Already the pandemic is being viewed by developmental experts as an “adverse childhood experience” for every American child.

And unfortunately, as a result of social distancing, mentoring programs focused on helping our children are struggling to maintain connectivity between mentors and mentees.

Fortunately, as a result of its virtual nature, CricketTogether is uniquely positioned to help and we are absolutely dedicated to helping as many children as possible during and after the pandemic.

Working closely with schools and our CricketTogether teachers, CricketTogether has been able to continue as corporate volunteers mentor children regardless of whether classes are being held virtually, in school or via a hybrid model.

To support community-based mentoring programs, in the spring of 2020, CricketTogether formed a partnership with MENTOR (the unifying champion for quality youth mentoring in the United States), to bring CricketTogether to MENTOR’s new Virtual Mentoring Portal to support children age 12 and younger. Through the partnership, the CricketTogether provides access for existing mentees age 12 and younger and their mentors to continue their relationship while they may be separated due to COVID-19.

Below please find more detailed information about CricketTogether’s support for schools, corporate volunteerism, and community-based mentoring programs during the COVID crisis.

CricketTogether Supports…

School-Based Mentoring Programs

CricketTogether provides continuity of existing and new school-based mentoring programs, with a documented safe and secure platform that’s easy for kids and mentors to access via any web browser.

This enables schools and teacher to provide 1:1 support for every child whether they are learning in-school, at home or in a hybrid model. For more information please visit Get Involved: Educators.

"TryEngineering Together was one constant in a time when everything else was changed. The rest of our classroom was turned upside down, but the TryEngineering component stayed the same and they were able to use it without any changes."

Lisa Hamlin

5th Grade Teacher

Corporate Volunteerism

CricketTogether offers your employees a volunteer program that’s safe, supportive of our nation’s youth and schools during the pandemic and a flexible fit for remote working environments. Our corporate partners note that having a way to make a difference in a tangible way in the life of a child during this time has a positive impact on their own mental health. Classrooms and students are waiting—we need your help now.

For more information please visit Get Involved: Corporate Sponsors.

Community-Based Mentoring Programs

CricketTogether provides a stable and reliable tool to connect your existing mentor/mentee matches and establish new matches. 100% online video training makes getting started easy, and orients both mentors and mentees to the platform and has them connected in minutes for safe and secure communication, with the option to explore content together.

For more information please visit Get Involved: Mentoring Organizations.

"The prompts and the letter writing really helps the mentees organize their thoughts, express what they want to with their mentor, and then keep that relationship going. "

Ann Thompson

Youth Empowerment Program, Louisiana
(began using CricketTogether for program continuity in summer 2019 in response to pandemic)

COVID Curricula Available

Within CricketTogether, teachers and program leaders can opt to utilize CricketTogether’s just-released COVID curriculum unit, that puts scientific information directly into the hands of children and empowers them to understand the virus and how to protect themselves.

Containing interviews with epidemiologists, vaccine experts, CricketTogether’s kid-centric content provides kids with direct access to the facts. Additionally, the curriculum highlights kids across the world that have innovated and created ways to serve their community and support others during this difficult time.

Designed to spark conversation between mentors and mentees, the unit acknowledges this destabilizing time and empowers kids with direct access to experts, information, and inspiring stories of youth activism.

COVID-19 Unit

Puts scientific information directly into the hands of children
Empowers them to understand the virus and how to protect themselves
Contains access to experts: interviews with epidemiologists and vaccine experts
Highlights kids across the world that have innovated and created ways to serve their community and support others during this difficult time
Designed to spark conversation between mentors and mentees about life impact, so mentors can support mentees in a personalized way

"With on-site, in-person visits it can be difficult for me as program coordinator to have a connection with each pair and understand what they are doing within their sessions, but with CricketTogether, I’ve gotten a window into each mentoring relationship because I’m the one approving the letters. This has been wonderful in terms of seeing how they interact, what they like to talk about and the impact."