Jennifer Cartmell, manager of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine Androscoggin, laughs with Little Sister Keisha Edwards. Keisha’s cutout will be at the Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday. La Metro Magazine photo

LEWISTON — Some local kids are going to be at the Super Bowl! 

Well, sort of. When the big game gets underway on Sunday, you might spot as many as 30 youngsters from Connors Elementary School sitting in the stands. The twist: they won’t really be there. 

Confused yet? The people of Bates College Big Brothers Big Sisters are here to help. 

According to Jennifer Cartmell, manager of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine Androscoggin, the kids have posed for photo cutouts to hopefully be shown on national TV at game time. 

It works like this: The NFL aligned with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America as an Inspire Change partner, to help support and promote the need for more male mentors throughout the country.  

As part of this initiative, and because of limited fan capacity at the Super Bowl due to COVID-19 restrictions, the NFL invited the students to submit self-portraits to be made into cutouts that will be placed throughout the stadium at Sunday’s game.  

The students, Cartmell said, “are excited to watch the game Sunday to see if they will see themselves. We will all be taking a closer look in the stands for a glimpse of our Little Brothers and Little Sisters and their Bates Bigs.” 

Cartmell said the photos will not be identified for safety reasons. 

Little Brother Jacobi Jacobs plays with Sam Holmes, his former Bates College student Big Brother. La Metro Magazine photo

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine provides one-to-one mentoring programs for children across seven counties throughout Mid-coast, Eastern and Central Maine. Since the beginning of the pandemic, matches have been staying connected through a pen pal program and virtual communication programs.  

While the Bates College Bigs in Lewiston have not been able to meet with their ‘Littles’ in person since March 2020, Cartmell said it hasn’t kept them from continuing to be an important part of their Littles’ lives. In the past 10 months, she said over 500 letters have been exchanged between Bigs and Littles, along with shared activity packets, arts and crafts projects and encouraging messages, which have been critical during the extended period of isolation and uncertainty.    

“We know that at-risk youth are likely to bear the heaviest burdens of trauma and economic fallout,”  Gwendolyn Hudson, executive director of Big Brother Bis Sisters of Mid-Maine. “This pandemic has serious implications for the children we serve, which is why partnerships, like the one with the NFL to inspire youth mentoring, matter now more than ever.”   

For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine, call 236-2227 or visit bbbsmidmaine.org.