Mentor Program Boosts Students

By Levi J. Long, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Sometimes the best type of mentoring can take place during a game of Boggle.

For the past three years, Sandra Estrella, 56, and Zeneida Valenzuela, 11, have played the word game during their time as mentor and student protege at Hohokam Middle School, 7400 S. Settler Road.

“Sometimes I even let her win,” Estrella said with a tiny smile recently at the school.

Over the years, the pair have formed a close relationship.

And that’s a goal StrengthBuilding Partnerships, a nonprofit training and coaching organization for students and families, wants to meet.

Since 2002, StrengthBuilding Partnerships has been working with Tucson Unified School District and Sunnyside Unified School District in developing relationship-building programs between staffers and students.

The nonprofit group trains and coaches school staffers and students to foster a better school environment by interacting with each other.

“Our goal is to create systemic change in the school and to make the environment more receptive for kids to learn in and for them to get better grades,” said Pamela Clark-Raines, president of StrengthBuilding Partners.

One of the StrengthBuilding mentoring programs pairs Pascua Yaqui tribal employees with students.

Currently there are 72 pairs of mentors and proteges in the program.

The mentors are paired with students based on a written interview and are matched on shared interests, strengths, likes and dislikes.

Students are referred by teachers and parents to the program or they can sign up themselves.

Since it got started, ongoing evaluations of the program have noted an increase in attendance and in students’ self-esteem.

Officials with StrengthBuilding Partnerships are looking for more mentors to help with ongoing programs at Johnson Primary, Lawrence Intermediate and Hohokam Middle schools.

Though about 70 tribal employees are being paid for their time at the school, volunteers interested in becoming mentors do not have to be tribal employees or members of the tribe to participate.

“A lot of people think it’s a tutoring program. But it’s mostly about having someone serve as a positive role model and for someone to hang out with,” said Marie Stickford, mentoring program coordinator with StrengthBuilding Partners.

In evaluations, students mentored in the program said they noticed an increased perception of caring adults in their lives, Raines said.

Evaluations also showed a decrease in the number of acts in which the students were victimized and showed a positive increase in school beliefs, attitudes and school attendance.

Zeneida Valenzuela, a sixth-grader, said being part of the program has helped with her schoolwork.

She was among those in her class recently selected to go to Madera Canyon for a weekend camp-out.

The students chosen for the trip were those who demonstrated academic achievements and good attendance.

With more students having success in the program, StrengthBuilding is continuing to get more funding from the state.

Over the summer, StrengthBuilding received a grant for more than $149,000 from the Arizona Governor’s Office for Children, Youth and Families.

The grant was awarded to continue the mentoring programs at the three middle schools.

Next year, StrengthBuilding hopes to extend the mentoring program for the middle-school students as they enter high school.

“The transition can be tough for middle-school students entering high school,” Stickford said. “The idea is to create something that makes it easier when they get there.”

This year the program plans to start a pilot “work environment program” that will pair students, mostly Hohokam Middle School eighth-graders, with mentors at their job sites.

“It’s to expose the kids to working, to stay in school and go to college afterwards,” Raines said.

Pascua Yaqui tribal employees also are benefiting from the program.

A tribal work policy allows employees to volunteer in schools during their workday for up to five hours a month.

Estrella, a labor-compliance officer with the tribe, said being able to help young students from the village is good for workers who want to give back to the community.

“There’s a need to get the young ones prepared for the future and to become leaders within the tribe,” she said. “Not just in the government but in the community.”

How to get involved

StrengthBuilding Partners, a nonprofit training and coaching organization for students and families, is looking for new mentors. For information, call 546-9296 or visit www.strengthbuilding.org

* Contact reporter Levi J. Long at 807-8414 or llong@azstarnet.com.