The AmeriCorps assisted program, Mentor-Scholar, seeks to increase high-school graduation rates and school engagement in middle school youth through the implementation of a one-on-one after-school mentoring program. The Mentor-Scholar program partners SUNY-Oswego undergraduates with Oswego Middle School students where the college volunteers act as mentors providing academic and social support to “at-risk” youth. The students meet two times a week for one hour and are paired for the entire year and work exclusively with their match. In this the second year of the program, the matches doubled from 35 to 70 with the program expanding to encompass almost 150 participants. The college volunteers through two semesters of service dedicated almost 5600 total hours.

This program is not simply about homework and working with the students in schools. The college students and middle school participants take part in a variety of social events that allow for relationship building outside of the classroom. This year the students took part in events that brought them bowling, to the public library, ice skating, and to the SUNY Oswego campus for interactive presentations by the Admissions Department, Oswego Technology Educators Association, Penfield Librarians, and Del Sarte Dance Team. The diverse locations of each event allows for the exchanging of roles as depending on the location each participant is able to take ownership of their community and feel a sense of pride as they introduce their partner to a new environment. For the college mentors this may be leading their mentee around the Residential Dining Center, for the middle school student it can be showing them a favorite section of their public library.

Another critical aspect of the Mentor-Scholar program is the involvement of parents and guardians at community events. For many of the events that Mentor-Scholar schedule’s the parents and guardians of the program participants are invited to attend. This gives a unique opportunity to create a true sense of community between the college mentors, community members, and middle school students. At the end of this year Mentor-Scholar hosted a culminating dinner which numbered over 120 people with families and students coming together to recognize the commitment that both parties had made throughout the course of this year. For some families, this was the first time they were able to meet face-to-face the college volunteer that has spent the past two semesters working with their student and the opportunity to thank them for their service.

This program has supplied many of the college mentors with powerful experiences and allowed for the middle school students to create strong connections with a role model. As one Middle School student stated, “I would love to do this next year! It's fun. I like getting to know a college student.” The benefits are not one-sided as a mentor commented, “This program helped me to grow as a person” and that “being able to mentor is very humbling. I appreciated every minute.” Such comments illustrate the reciprocity between mentor and mentee as well as the growth that both parties experienced.