Sep 16, 2003 By Amy Karpinsky 3 min read

A select group of boys and girls missed school Tuesday to get an educational experience unlike anything else they’re likely to see any time soon. Eight boys and girls involved with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Laurel Region visited Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa for Tuesday’s practice round for PGA golfers.

Unlike the day before, Tuesday’s weather brought a beautiful day for those hoping to catch a glimpse of professional golfers practicing their drives and putts.

The highlight of the day for the kids was meeting golf pro Rocco Mediate, a Greensburg native who ranks 31st on the money list for the year.

The participants gathered for a picture with Mediate after he signed autographs. Before getting autographs and pictures, the kids were ushered under the rope and into the area normally reserved for golfers on the driving range.

Cheryl Danko, program manager for the Fayette County office of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, said the visit was quite a learning experience for the kids.

“We walked around and they couldn’t get over all the license plates from all over the country. They really got a geography lesson,” Danko said.

She said the kids probably never would have the opportunity to visit the resort, let alone attend something like the PGA tournament. For the kids who might not have opportunities like the one they had Tuesday, seeing that good things exist in the world helps them expand their horizons, Danko said.

“It’s another thing to build self-esteem,” she said.

The educational experience extended into explaining how and why all the booths and participants were set up and why so many police officers were on site.

“They are getting to experience so much,” Danko said of the visit.

Danko credited Bob Kane of Commonwealth Marketing Group with organizing the event and donating the tickets. Kane has been a backer of Big Brothers/Big Sisters for a number of years and helped bring the agency back to Uniontown two years ago.

Kane said he has been working to get as much support as possible from the business community and has tried to get executives from businesses to invest in the county through the agency. Board member Dave Rider also helped with chaperoning the kids throughout the day.

The organization, which targets children primarily from single-parent families, has different programs in which kids are teamed with an adult, or “big brother or big sister.”

Bruce Hotchkiss, executive director for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, said the children range in age from 7 to 15.

To protect the children, professional caseworkers work to match the right adult with the right child, and volunteers must undergo a

rigorous screening process, he added.

Although the local agency has six full-time employees and one part-timer, serving 500 children means having a lot of volunteers, and Kane said the challenge is having qualified matches.

Hotchkiss said adults and children can get together twice a month, or possibly the adult may go to the child’s school for lunch once a week.

“A lot of adults get into it and two or three months later are amazed at home much of an impact it has had on them,” Hotchkiss said.