Rebecca Fonville

Hello, my name is Rebecca Diane Fonville.  I go to Como Park High School and am currently a junior.  I’m in seven different clubs at school – Student Council, Robotics, Mentoring, Junior Board, Mud Club, Fitness Club, and Poetry Club.  During my freshman year, I was paired up with my mentor, Kirsten and ever since then I knew that I wanted to become a mentor too.  Luckily, during my junior year I had an opportunity to finally become a mentor through my school peer mentoring program.  I’ve been accepted to Saint Paul College Tech and will be attending next year through post-secondary education opportunity (PSEO).  My dream is to work for NASA so I’d like to study mechanical engineering.

Cierra Morris

Hi my name is Cierra Morris.  I live in Duluth, MN and am an eighth grader at Woodland Middle School. I love to dance – during the school year I dance for Central High School.  In the summer I also like to act with a local theater company.  I began my mentoring experience when I was in sixth grade and am now matched with my second mentor, Lisa.  I like hanging out with my mentor because it’s fun to spend quality time with someone who’s more mature.  I also like hanging out with her family because they’re a lot like mine.  My mentor has helped me to develop a lot of trust because she’s someone good to talk to and makes me feel comfortable.  My plans for the future are to become a teacher, working with younger kids, or to become a social worker.

Sebastian Ritacco 

I’m a freshman at South High School in Minneapolis, and this is my 3^rd year on the EYB. Through school I’m involved in lacrosse (which I’ve played since 5^th grade), hockey, and cross-country.  I was matched with my mentor, Brian, through Kids N’ Kinship.  Although we’re not formerly a part of the program anymore, we still have a great relationship and are able to catch up a couple of times a month.  Through my mentoring relationship, I’ve learned how to be more social, outgoing, polite, and respectful.  Having a mentor also helped me to start doing better at school and in getting more friends.  In the future I plan to go to culinary school and study business, because I hope to own my own restaurant someday.

Bo Sun

My name is Bo Sun, and I'm a junior at Wayzata High School.  I'm representing Honors Mentor Connection, a program offered by Intermediate District 287 in which the students choose a field of interest and are matched up with a professional in that field.  My mentor is Dr. David Benditt, a cardiologist at the University of Minnesota and the Co-Director of the University's Cardiac Arrhythmia and Syncope Center.  Through my mentorship, I've gained invaluable knowledge in cardiology and I've become more independent and confident.  In my free time, I enjoy reading, playing tennis and playing the piano.  I'm the captain of my school's Science Olympiad and Mock Trial teams, and I'm also a member of the debate team.  I plan on going to medical school after college.

David Moreno - EYB Alumni Member

My mentoring experience began over a decade ago with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities as a Little for my Big Brother Jim. This experience soon led to other opportunities in civic engagement. Big Brother Big Sisters had put me in their annual report, and then taken me to several different public speaking opportunities, eventually the governor’s mansion and even the President’s State of the Union Address. It is in 2004 that I first joined the EYB and shortly after my graduation from Prior Lake High School and my acceptance into the University of Minnesota that I rejoined the EYB as an Alumni Member. 

MPM would also like to recognize the programs who nominated this year's EYB members:

Thank you to Como Park Senior High School, Mentor Duluth, Kids N' Kinship, Honors Mentor Connection and Big Brothers Big Sisters for your support and encouragement of these young leaders!

For more information on any of these programs, visit MPM's Find a Program page.