Students Mentoring Students Bursary (Pilot Project)
Students Mentoring Students Bursary (SMSB) is an exciting pilot project offering resume-building experience and skills, PLUS a $1,000 bursary to 100 post-secondary students in Edmonton and Area!
Be a mentor to young people in your community and have a life-changing impact on their lives—and yours.
SMSB is a pilot project in collaboration with a new experiment through Volunteer Alberta called SCiP 2.0, which was inspired by the original Serving Community Internship Program (SCiP) that ended in 2019. Volunteer Alberta facilitated the original SCiP for several years with great success, granting bursaries to volunteers attending post-secondary schools across Alberta as an incentive and reward for their generous service.
SCiP was a vital part of Alberta’s healthy voluntary sector and we're excited to test this new iteration.
Today, volunteerism is at record lows across Canada. More than ever, young people need positive experiences with mentors—like YOU.
By participating in BGCBigs' SMSB pilot project you can gain new experience, build your resume, boost your profile, earn a $1,000* bursary and help us make SMSB and SCiP 2.0 a great success, and of course changing the lives of young people.
Applications for this program are now closed.
Students Mentoring Students Bursary program is powered by Volunteer Alberta
Your commitment
- 100 post-secondary students will be a mentor to two (2) young people from October 2023 through April 2024.
- Each mentor will spend one (1) hour per week with each young person (2 hours max.) at one of our All In for Youth (AIFY) Schools, which includes:
- St. Alphonsus Elementary/Junior High
- John A McDougall Elementary — *At Capacity. No longer accepting volunteers*
- Delton Elementary
- Spruce Avenue Junior High
- Ivor Dent Elementary/Junior High
- Abbot Elementary
- Norwood Elementary
- Successful completion of the program requires:
- Spend a minimum of 40 hours mentoring in addition to completing 15-20 hours of enrollment, training and match monitoring requirements.
- Complete a sign-in/sign-out form for every mentoring session
- Participate in mandatory online and in-person training(s)
- Remain in good standing for the duration of the volunteer commitment
- Submit Bursary Application Form to Volunteer Alberta.
The above map shows the locations for All in For Youth schools and nearby transit centres.
We strongly encourage applications from a diverse group of equity-deserving students from representational and racialized backgrounds with diverse lived experiences.
Enrollment Process
All applicants will be required to:
- Complete the BGCBigs online application form
- Provide three (3) references
- Provide proof of post-secondary enrollment
- Complete a Police Information Check
- Complete a Child & Youth Intervention Record Check
- Complete a pre-screen and interview (2.5 hrs)
What you'll get in return
-
$1,000* bursary upon completion of the program
- Valuable resume-building assets such as letters of reference, strength-based training, real-world experience in a local school and classroom and increased social and network connections.
Applications for this program are now closed
In collaboration with
*In order to be awarded the Bursary volunteers must meet all program requirements and maintain good standing in the program.