Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) is an organization that focuses on the betterment of the lives of the youth.  From BBBS, their mission is, “To provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.”  There are many ways they go about serving their mission, but at the Owatonna High School there are many students working with BBBS to empower the youth.

Many students at OHS take on the roll of a “big.” What they do is pair up with a younger child, who is the “little”, from the Owatonna school district, and they meet during the school day.  The Big is there to support the little with whatever they need.  Whether it be a person who they can be with and talk to, or a person who can help with things at school, the younger children are with a positive role model who is there to support them.

To become a High School Big, one starts working with BBBS through an application and interview process in their junior year.  Once accepted to be a big, BBBS pairs bigs with a little kid in the district based off of the application and interview.  Both Bigs and Littles are interviewed so that the match of the two has high compatibility.  The pairing between the big and the little lasts for the big’s junior and senior year.

Currently BBBS has been at OHS to recruit current sophomores for next year. BBBS will be at registration and pictures in August as a last push for volunteers, but it is important to sign up as early as possible to find a match as early as possible. There will also be a volunteer training in the summer – more information will be given when accepted to BBBS.  To start the process of becoming a big visit the site https://aim.bbbs.org/einquiry/einquiryzip.aspx?t=2 or call 507-414-0308 if site trouble arises.