BEAR Club Builds Connection at Cabin Branch
As National Mentoring Month kicks off, Cabin Branch Elementary School shows that mentorship doesn’t always happen in the classroom; sometimes it happens on the blacktop.
The BEAR (Boys Encouraging Acceptance and Respect) Recess Club offers a space where third, fourth and fifth grade boys can gather twice a week to move, play and grow.
“If people were mad prior to BEAR club, they leave with smiles,” said fifth grader Jayden Bougna.
The BEAR Club was created after Principal Stephanie Dinga completed a book study on The Anxious Generation over the summer.
“One of the calls to action to support boys with their problem-solving skills, conflict resolution skills and getting their energy out in order to be able to attend better in class was to have a before-school recess club,” said Dinga. “I asked the male staff members in the building if they would be willing to implement the club.”
The response was overwhelmingly positive.
On Wednesday and Friday mornings before school, more than 90 boys and their mentors — Clifton Frailey (P.E. teacher), Nathan Krawczyk (3rd grade teacher), Matthew Nocente (3rd grade teacher), Darien Murray (autism paraeducator), Bryan Briest (art teacher) and Sean Kirchhoff (instrumental music teacher) — participate in sports, games and conflict-management activities.
While students enjoy physical activity, the heart of the club is mentorship. "The whole reason we created the club was to ensure each boy in grades 3–5 would have a male mentor they could go to," says Dinga. "The BEAR club created an atmosphere for the male mentors to be with the students and model how to be accepting and how to be a leader in the school."
The BEAR Club highlights the importance of relationships and mentorship.
“Over the years, I've seen how quickly students (and mainly boys) get frustrated during sports or sport-related activities,” Frailey said. “BEAR Club gives them a chance to not only get some energy out in the morning to help them better focus during instruction, but also gives them a chance to see what good sportsmanship looks like.”
The impact of the club can be best heard through the voices of the students themselves.
“We learned how to work together,” Bougna said. “I learned how to be in a team and support others. People learned to work together to model sportsmanship for others.”
Fourth grader Joshua Afriye echoed the sentiment, noting the importance of the mentors’ guidance. “Mr. Frailey always says, ‘Good sportsmanship helps every time there are games or sports.’ BEAR club helped all of us because if it didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have been able to work with other students.”
Other students shared that they learned strategies for handling conflict, such as “tell a teacher,” “say stop,” “find other friends to play with” or “take a deep breath.”
The club has also been meaningful for the mentors. “BEAR Club has shown me and other male role models that when you care about the students and just show up for them, good things can happen,” Frailey added.
As the fall session of BEAR Club concludes, excitement is already building for the spring.