Update 2.

Met Michael again today, and we mostly talked about books, parents and his love for vintage 1930s cartoons. He's a really bright kid, and calls rain "precipitation" (science is his favourite subject). Michael's interested in seeing what the high school section of ICS is like, so I'll ask for permission from his teacher on monday.

More updates!

Things have been progressing quite slowly for all of us here, due to the elementary side being kept very busy with Elton's tragic death. The counselors there are obviously (and rightfully) occupied with that issue instead, so the permission forms coming back has taken a far greater time as it normally would.

I met my Bonsai Buddy for the first time last week, though! His name is Michael Anders. He's about eight or nine years old, and seems quite withdrawn.

We have a meeting this week to discuss having a "party" with our Bonsai Buddies during P block or lunchtime as some kind of mass icebreaker. I'll keep you updated.

Goals

Hello world!
On this blog, I'll be keeping a public record of my MAD project from start to finish. My MAD project will be mentoring elementary kids on a weekly basis with the Bonsai Buddy program at school. My goal is to be a good mentor and example to my Bonsai Buddy, and hope that he or she can trust and look up to me. One way I can measure that is through my Bonsai Buddy's objective view, or perhaps a survey conducted before and after the program. I'm looking forward to this year's MAD project and hope I can get something meaningful out of it!

James Li, 12th grade.