Overview and Guidelines for Prospective Mentors
Thank you for your interest in the mentorship program of Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter.
The purpose of this program is to share experience, information, and enthusiasm about growing native plants, as well as to build community among Wild Ones members.
Mentors are active chapter members who have agreed to share their knowledge and experience of native plant gardening, to point mentees toward additional resources as needed, and to help mentees make connections among the wider membership. Mentors are not expected to be gardening experts.
A mentorship is a one-year commitment, with an optional extension for an additional year through mutual agreement.
In order to meet demand and increase connections between members, each mentorship is a small group consisting of a mentor and up to 3 mentees. Mentors can specify how many mentees they would like to have at one time. Mentors and mentees will generally be matched by location to minimize travel.
The extent of a mentorship is up to the individual mentors and mentees, but there are minimum expectations that mentors are asked to agree to:
- Mentors agree to arrange for each garden in their mentorship group (the mentor’s and their mentees’) to be visited at least once—preferably by the whole group at the same time, to minimize tours for the mentor and maximize shared learning opportunities.
- Mentors agree to familiarize themselves with the resources page of the WOStL website and to share suggested resources with mentees, including letting their mentees know about educational opportunities such as workshops and webinars.
- Mentors agree to look for their mentees at WO’s meetings, say hello, introduce their mentees to others, and generally act as friendly ambassadors.
- If mentors haven’t seen or heard from one of their mentees in a few months, mentors agree to check in with the mentee by email to ask how things are going, send an invitation to the next meeting they plan to attend, etc.
- As appropriate, mentors agree to offer to share extra plants with their mentees and encourage their mentees to share extra plants with each other.
- Mentors agree to respond to a request from the mentorship program coordinator for feedback about the program twice a year.
- Mentors agree to inform the mentorship program coordinator if they need to end the mentorship early for any reason or have any other issues.
If you are interested in being a Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter mentor, please use the link below to fill out a mentor interest form:
Be a Mentor