Wednesday, May 20, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
DIRECTOR: Nicole
Swisher Woodson
will take reins June 1
Continued from page 3
manifested in her work and
also in her family life. She
and husband Adrian have
been foster parents and, in
addition to having three chil-
dren of their own, adopted
an entire sibling group of
seven in order to keep them
together.
If her name seems famil-
iar, she is the daughter of
Steve and Novella Swisher
4 and she9s been bring-
ing their 10 grandchildren
to visit in Sisters for years.
The desire to be closer to her
parents was part of the rea-
son Woodson jumped at the
opportunity to apply for the
executive director position at
Circle of Friends.
Debbie Newport, who
has been serving as interim
executive director for the
program, said that Circle of
Friends conducted a very
through application pro-
cess and worked through a
surprisingly large and well-
qualified pool of applicants.
Current conditions forced the
organization to conduct its
interviews remotely.
<Going through it in a
virtual process was prob-
ably the biggest challenge,=
Newport said.
She said the board is
thrilled to have a director
with Woodson9s background
and enthusiasm on board.
<We9re all pretty excited,=
Newport said.
Circle of Friends connects
vulnerable children in the
Sisters community with adult
mentors. Circle of Friends
in Sisters was founded by
Duncan Campbell in 2011.
The mentors spend quality
one-on-one time with each
of the children to build nur-
turing relationships that help
them thrive, starting as early
as kindergarten and first
grade and continuing with
them through high school.
Part of Woodson9s role
will be to recruit more men-
tors into the program. It9s a
natural role for her, because
she has so much personal
experience in the satisfac-
tions found in helping youth
with needs.
<You see that light-bulb
moment 4 and it happens
Circle of Friends adapts
program for pandemic
The need for connec-
tion between mentors and
Sisters youth has only
intensified in the face of the
COVID-19 pandemic, as
families face the stresses of
isolation and job losses. Yet
social distancing protocols
and restrictions on gather-
ings make that connection
challenging.
Kellie Scholl, Circle
of Friends Youth Program
Coordinator, reported to
the organization9s board of
directors that a number of
programs have been devel-
oped to make the best of the
situation.
Scholl reported that
Circle of Friends Mailboxes
<are a special way our kids
can communicate with men-
tors and myself. Mentors
can leave goodies and notes
in the boxes for the kids and
our kids can do the same
for their mentors. The kids
were encouraged to deco-
rate their boxes and leave
them somewhere by their
front door.=
A Circle of Friends
Activity Passport was
handed out with the boxes.
It is four pages of four activ-
ities on each page (total of
16 activities) the kids can
do to get a stamp from their
mentors. The idea is there
are four weeks of activities
they can do with support
from mentors 4 when they
are done and have com-
pleted all the actives they
can receive a prize. There is
a video about the passports
posted on the website under
mentor resources.
Virtual <Zoom= pro-
gramming was launched
with a scavenger hunt.
<We had seven mentors
and nine mentees partici-
pate. It was great! Everyone
had so much fun running
around and finding items 4
all the kids who participated
had decorated CoF mail-
boxes and started activities
in their passports,= Scholl
reported. <BINGO was our
second Zoom programming
4 we played three rounds
and had just as much fun
as the scavenger hunt.
We had 11 kids and seven
mentors participating this
time.=
Zoom Art program-
ming helped the kids make
Mother9s Day Cards as well
as cards for senior residents
at Sisters Lodge and for first
responders. Kellie has been
approached by the Sisters
Middle School principal
about several kids who are
in need of support right now
4 she will be speaking to
her on the phone next week
to see how CoF can support
these kids during this time.
<I have continued to
connect weekly with men-
tors and families by both
emails and phone calls,=
Scholl noted.
The organization is in
communication with orga-
nizers of summer, waiting
to see how camping shapes
up in the face of group
restrictions.
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Nicole Swisher Woodson will take
the reins as Circle of Friends’ new
executive director starting June 1.
with every child at some
point: 8This person is going
to help me. I can trust this
person.9 And that9s the most
rewarding thing you could
possibly imagine,= she said.
<It9s life-changing, those
rewards.=
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