Studer Community Institute

Do you have what it takes to be a Big?

January 26, 2015
/ Louis Cooper
/ community-dashboard

Pensacola second-grader T’Anthony stops to count on his fingers how many airplanes he sat in when he recently visited the National Naval Aviation Museum. He runs out of fingers. “A lot,” the 8-year-old offers. T’Anothony, who lives with his grandparents, might not have had that museum visit were it not for his Big Brother, Bob Hoyt, and Hoyt’s wife, Ann Yoshihishi. The two are considered T’Anthony’s “Big Couple” mentors through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida. The pair – both of whom are retired Navy doctors — became T’Anthony’s “Bigs” in October. Since then, they have gone to the Gulf Breeze Zoo, the movies, the circus and the Pensacola MESS Hall children’s science museum, among other destinations. “We want to do more things that open his horizons, take him places he hasn’t been before,” Bob said. “He likes apps. That’s fine. We’re going to do mathematical apps, reading apps and telling time apps. We’re going to try hard to combine work and play.” [sidebar] Learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters Visit the agency's Lunch & Learn from noon to 1 p.m. on Jan. 27 at Baptist Medical Park on Nine Mile Road. RSVPs are required as seating is limited. A light lunch will be provided. To RSVP or for more information, contact Kris Nelson at (850) 253-7627 or by email at [email protected]. For more information, or to submit an application to become a mentor online, go to www.bbbsnwfl.org. [/sidebar] Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northwest Florida is always looking for more mentors like Bob and Ann. In recognition of January as National Mentoring Month, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northwest Florida is inviting the community to learn more about the program at a Lunch & Learn on Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m., at Baptist Medical Park on Nine Mile Road. Bob first came to know T’Anthony as an in-school mentor last year. It was a commitment he took on at the encouragement of a neighbor. “I said, ‘I am way too busy.’ She looked at me straight in the face and said, ‘But it’s only one hour a week,’” Bob said. “Then, it began to sink in. Who can’t spare one hour a week?” After a year of working with T’Anthony for just one hour a week in school, Bob decided he wanted to become a Big Brother so he could do more with his young friend. “I thought spending more than one hour a week might be important for a lot of different reasons,” he said. “You can go to educational events (away from school). It also allows you to work on socialization, verbal skills, get them to get out – all of the things that many people take for granted.” Ann wanted to join in the effort. “We decided to do it as a couple,” she said. “Whenever you go to events, you always have to be with your Little. This way, if we’re at a museum, always at least one of us can be with him. “Also, at the point where he can come over to our place and have a home-cooked meal, we are already qualified as a couple.” Bob and Ann said the approval process took about three hours, including an application, interview and fingerprinting for a background check. In the case of couples, each partner is interviewed separately. They hope more adults will step forward to become Big Brothers and Big Sisters. “It’s an excellent program that is run very well,” Bob said. “You need to bring your ‘A’ game, but that’s good. It makes you think about, ‘What was your childhood like?’ It really brings out the best in people.” Prospective mentors are told that they need to make a one-year commitment for a minimum of one hour a week to spend with a child doing things like going to sporting events, playing games, going to parks or watching movies. “The time commitment is really just based on what you want to commit,” Ann said. “As people do it, they see the rewards for both the child and the person doing it. They will find that over time, they will want to do more.”

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Do you have what it takes to be a Big?

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