YES | Mentor Training – 2017 Fall

After the arrival of 13 volunteers at the office of Shanghai Roots & Shoots, a simple ice-breaking game that drew everyone closer marked the official beginning of the one-day training.

Getting to know R&S is always the first step!

All YES Mentor candidates present at the training session should first complete a simple online survey (Note: it is an online survey because we support a paperless and environmental-friendly office!) All simple questions could line up and present to us the mission of our YES (Youth for Environmental Sustainability) Program. Of course, if someone said that he/she does not like children, we should probably recommend him/her to participate other volunteer programs.

Rebecca, on behalf of Shanghai Roots & Shoots, briefly introduced R&S and its programs to the participants. Everybody paid close attention to her introduction.

Sample class: reflection of the YES Mission

The DIY process of “leaf vein fossils” requires precise operation plus knowledge and understanding about the nature. As we all known, fossils are the remains of ancient creatures and the traces of their lives that have been stored in rocks. They are the result of millions of years’ accumulation and transformation. We’d better select the “right” leaves carefully and mold the plaster properly, in order to successfully create our “leaf vein fossils” in a few minutes. Sasa from the R&S present everyone the whole process, and then invited two mentors to have a try.

Another sample class was about a common topic—garbage sorting and recycling.

Indeed, the call on implementing garbage sorting and recycling has existed for years. But it has brought little effect even till today, which is a sad fact for all of us. It also triggered a heated discussion among the trainees.  All of them were divided into groups to conduct the garbage sorting game, given a set of four sorting bins (cups) and trashes (cards). The results were better than expectation. Garbage sorting is not so complicated and more communication is needed to improve the city-wide garbage recycling among the residents and the municipal government.

Hands-on practice is the only way to test the study achievement!

At this moment, the roles of the volunteers finally changed. During the teaching practice session, the YES mentor candidates was required to teach a class to all the other participants with limited time and course materials in groups. Some “teachers”（YES Mentor） bonded with the “students” with their kind attitude, while some try to wake up every soul in the class with their passion. Each teaching style has its own strengths.

The one-day training has come to an end!

The experience and methods that YES Mentor learned and shared today can help their mentoring at school in the coming academic semester and also help the future development of YES Program.