Release Date: October 8, 2010
Office of Mayor Julián Castro: 207-7083
City, education leaders announce expansion of mentoring program
-Initiative aims to reach more than 500 students by the end of 2011-
Mentoring Matters, an innovative new mentoring program targeting at-risk middle and high school students for college and careers, had its first citywide kickoff Friday morning. More than 200 middle and high school students joined community leaders for a healthy breakfast and heard from Mayor Julián Castro, Dr. Ricardo Romo, president of the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Dr. Michael Karcher, a national expert on mentoring and UTSA psychologist, and Michael Molina, a successful program graduate.
"If the children of today can achieve their dreams, the San Antonio of the future will realize its dreams," Mayor Castro said. "Through programs like Mentoring Matters, we are looking to keep more kids in school, see that they graduate and put them on a path to college."
Mentoring Matters is a unique collaboration of government, local non-profits, San Antonio employers, school districts and area colleges including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Communities in Schools-SA, CPS Energy, Rackspace, San Antonio Water System, H-E-B, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, the Office of Mike Villarreal, Poteet Architects, UTSA, Office of Mayor Julián Castro and City Council, and the following school districts: North East, San Antonio, South San, Harlandale and Edgewood.
Dr. Romo welcomed students and noted that he had relied on a mentor at each key step in his life – middle school, high school, college and even as a university president. And he encouraged the students to attend college. "Many people dream of winning $1 million in the lottery, "Romo said, "Forget the lottery, if you get a college degree you will earn $1 million more," in your lifetime through higher wages.
Mentoring Matters builds upon solid research that mentoring makes a difference for youth, Dr. Karcher said, but with a twist likely to be "status boosting for teenagers." Rather than the mentors visiting the schools, the students travel to the jobs for mentoring sessions and career readiness activities. As early as 1972, Karcher said, a Harvard Business School study found, "everyone who makes it has a mentor."
Michael Molina, a 2010 Edison High School graduate, said he would not be at San Antonio College with plans to transfer to Texas A&M University in mechanical engineering if it were not for his mentors at CPS Energy. "It wasn't just like I had one mentor, they all mentored me," Molina said, about his experience as a mentee and summer worker at the company.
Mayor Castro called Mentoring Matters the most innovative mentoring program in San Antonio, and vowed to double the current enrollment of 217 by next year. He joined the program, he said, because each of us must give some of our own personal time if we are going to ensure that every youth in San Antonio has access to the information and support he needs to achieve his personal dreams.
More information about Mentoring Matters can be found at the new website at http://sanantonio.gov/mayor/mentoring/.