Mentors, Mindsets & Role Models

E-Mentoring

An E-Mentoring program created by the East Texas GEAR UP Project benefits mentees...and their mentors. The mentees are GEAR UP students in surrounding rural school districts. Many of them do not see college as viable option. The mentors are secondary education majors at Stephen F. Austin State University. By connecting via technology, these future educators are learning to advise, encourage and motivate students.

Peer Mentoring

At Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant, a student organization called Brother to Brother is opening windows of hope and opportunity for at-risk youth. With support from NTCC's GEAR UP Project and Communities In Schools, Brother to Brother enables college students to offer student-to-student mentoring at nearby school districts—often in the very schools that they recently attended themselves.

Parent-to-Parent Mentoring

Two parent-to-parent mentoring programs in the Rio Grande Valley are helping parents play a more meaningful role in their children's education. Both programs—Abriendo Puertas, an initiative of the Region One Education Service Center GEAR UP Project in partnership with Texas A&M University, and Las Platicas Academy, developed by The University of Texas-Pan American GEAR UP Project—are based on the concept of parents helping other parents play a proactive role in ensuring that their children get the most out of their education.

Gloria's Story (Spanish outreach)      Lidia's Story (Spanish outreach)

Community Mentoring

Students at Spring Woods High School are seeing broader horizons for their future thanks to the SpringBoard program at Spring Branch ISD, which recruits and trains community members to serve as mentors to middle school and high school students. Since the program's inception, nearly 700 community mentors have touched the lives of almost 1,000 students.