M.A.V. Youth Mentoring builds meaningful, monitored matches between adults and young people—fostering relationships that have a direct and lasting impact on students’ lives. ThinkGive is proud to partner with M.A.V. to bring impactful social and emotional learning (SEL) programming to their students. We asked educators and students to reflect on their experiences with ThinkGive—here’s what they shared.
Educators: Lisa Grunden and Jessica Skinner
Grades: 3-5, 6-10
Location: Celina, OH
Began partnership with ThinkGive: 2024
Impact of ThinkGive on Students: “There were a lot of ‘aha’ moments for the students throughout the program. Seeing the growth in each child from the beginning to the end was phenomenal. They were more careful before they spoke and were more in tune with their feelings. It was an extremely rewarding experience.”
Highlights of the ThinkGive Experience: “I had one student who, at the beginning of the program, used negative self-talk when asked to write qualities about themselves. By the end of ThinkGive, this child, who had felt like they didn’t fit in and were worthless, was beaming with confidence and building friendships.”
Survey Results: After participating in ThinkGive, students reported significant improvements in their social and emotional skills:
100% felt more confident in their ability to make a positive impact in their world.
90% reported being more caring when someone is hurt or upset.
80% reported being kinder to others.
Student Voices: Here’s what some students had to say about their ThinkGive experience:
“My experience with ThinkGive helped me be a better person.”
“I love ThinkGive.”
“ThinkGive has made me kinder.”
Hannah Brewster, ThinkGive Program Coordinator, shared her reflections on the partnership:
“It has been a pleasure partnering with Lisa and Jessica at M.A.V. Youth Mentoring. In their pilot year, they ran programming with elementary, middle, and high school students. Though an in-person visit wasn’t possible, our conversations made it clear how passionate they are about their work and the incredible impact they’re making. Their students grew more empathetic and compassionate through ThinkGive.
Jessica shared that her middle and high schoolers especially loved “doodling their feelings” in their ThinkGive journals while exploring SEL concepts. Lisa also noticed that even the high school mentors working with younger students benefited—learning right alongside their mentees.”
M.A.V. Youth Mentoring is a recipient of the SEL for Every Child Fund, which provides full funding to implement ThinkGive’s SEL programming. If your school/organization serves a majority of under-resourced youth and lacks funding for SEL initiatives, find out if you qualify at thinkgiveproject.org/fund.
