WANTED: Preuss Mentors

By Kate Callen I February 7, 2005

If you belong to the campus community and you can spare a half-hour a week to help a gifted youngster prepare for a bright future, the UCSD Preuss School wants you for its Mentors Program.

Mentoring by faculty, staff, students, alumni and supporters has been a factor in the Preuss School's extraordinary success in preparing schoolchildren to be first-generation college graduates. About half of the 55 college-bound seniors in the first Preuss graduating class of 2004 had mentors, and many of those mentors were on hand to share in the joy of the June 30 inaugural commencement.

But the demand for mentors continues to outstrip the supply. Since it was launched in 1999, the Preuss Mentors Program has kept a waiting list for students requesting mentors, and the list keeps growing. At present, 68 volunteers serve as Preuss mentors, and 113 eager youngsters (76 girls and 37 boys) who have requested mentors are on hold until more volunteers step forward. Having seen the enormous benefits of mentoring in the school's early years, administrators and faculty are actively recruiting new mentors.

"Our Mentors Program is an important support for our students," said Principal Doris Alvarez. "Mentors wear many hats. They are role models, teachers or friends and are sometimes the one significant adult who will help that child to succeed. One of our mentors likes to say that mentors are just like grandparents who can give unconditional love and respect to their mentees without worrying about spoiling them."

Most mentors meet with their mentees at the lunch break to share sandwiches, drinks, stories and advice. Discussions are casual and run the gamut of topics: the latest movies and music, juggling crowded schedules, college and career plans, and the ups and downs of adolescent life. On occasion, and pending parental permission, mentors take students on outings to museums, cultural performances, or campus events.

At Preuss, mentors team up with teachers and parents to give students across-the-board support. "Mentors are an invaluable link between teachers and students outside of the classroom," said teacher Phil Ensberg. "When I asked one of my 10th grade advisory students, 'How will you study for both your vocabulary test and your math test?' he said, 'I am studying for vocabulary with my mentor.' "

As mentors describe it, the mentoring relationship is as fulfilling for them as it is for the students. "It really is gratifying," said Ann Briggs Addo, chief of staff for Resource Management and Planning and a member of the Preuss School's Board of Directors. "Making a difference in a child's life in a meaningful way is one of the most important duties we can have as citizens of the world. It really does take a village."

Four years ago, Addo became mentor to Christina Griffin, who was then a 9th grader. Today, Griffin is a senior about to graduate, and Addo has given her the kind of guidance she offered to her own daughter, now a freshman at New York University. "I've told her, 'It's your job to prepare yourself for the rest of your lifetime, to take advantage of every opportunity, and to make decisions that give you the broadest possible range of options.' And she has listened well."

Some Preuss mentors work or study at UCSD; others work outside the university but have strong ties to the campus. Janet Huerta, vice president for Administration at Northern Trust Bank in La Jolla, started out with one mentee and now has three. She and her students meet for lunch regularly, and they occasionally get together off-campus to attend movies or celebrate birthdays.

"Mentoring is the most rewarding thing that you can do for yourself," said Huerta. "I'm just amazed at how willing my mentees are to share their thoughts with me, and I feel honored by that. And the time commitment is manageable. I meet with my three mentees for one hour a week, and the impact of that hour per week on their lives is immeasurable."

Huerta has brought her mentees to visit her La Jolla office so they can see the fruits of higher education. "I've told them about my own experiences as a first-generation college graduate, and they understand that my position at the bank is the direct result of going to college."

Many mentors get to know the parents and siblings of their Preuss mentees, and they find that their work with the children can benefit the entire family. "If we do this right, these students will elevate themselves on the economic ladder," said Addo, "and everyone in the family who comes behind them will have better options. You don't often get the opportunity to affect lives for generations to come."

Prospective mentors are asked to fill out an application that helps match their interests to those of a student on the waiting list. New mentors are invited to a brief orientation and are invited to Preuss throughout the year for special activities. For more information regarding the Mentorship Program, contact Leyla Smieja at preussadmission@ucsd.edu or call (858) 658-7215.