Best Friends, a youth tutoring service, held its organizational meeting on Nov. 6 at NHS.

Best Friends is a local organization focused on allowing high school students to provide help to elementary students through various activities and tutoring.

Senior Megan Altekruse attends the hour-long weekly meetings from November to April every year. During each meeting Altekruse will connect with her buddy, helping them with elementary subjects like spelling or math, and most importantly playing games.

“It’s fun to just let them be kids and play because a lot of them do not have ideal home lives.”

Altekruse finds that being a mentor is a learning experience for her as well. Managing kids after a stressful day at school can sometimes feel like working double overtime.

Best Friends also offers an opportunity for mentors to learn the importance of remembering how to relax and have fun.

“I get really caught up in school and stress, and it’s nice every Monday to just be able to be a kid and play red light green light again,” she said.

Best Friends is a beneficial program to both mentors and students. The organization began in 1973 with the goal of providing struggling children with youth mentors for tutoring, role modelling, and companionship. In 2016 alone, Best Friends served 460 children through over 8,000 hours of one-on-one mentoring which resulted in 85 percent of the troubled children reaching at least two of their three set goals for the year. Additionally, according to Mentoring.org, at-risk children who receive mentoring are 130 percent more likely to hold leadership positions.

Mentoring is an important process for both children and young adults that through Best Friends requires only one hour of service every week. Signing up for Best Friends is an easy, quick process that can be completed through the organization’s website.