The application must be filled out by the high school student. When students sign up on their own, they are showing us that they are interested and committed. If a parent signs you up, we will unfortunately not be able to consider the application.

Yes, mentoring programs like HEROES often focus on developing leadership skills among participants. Mentors can provide guidance, support, and opportunities for you to take on leadership roles within the program or in other areas of your lives.

The projects or activities you work on with your mentor will depend on your mutual interests, goals, and the focus of the mentoring program. Your mentor might add in things like SEL activities, quizzes, personality tests, and more.

1. First, students need to apply by the deadline via the tab Mentee Enrollment. 2. Next, admitted students will be invited to a mandatory orientation. 3. Once students have attended the orientation, they will receive a final form to submit for program policies and compliance. 4. Finally, students are assigned a mentor to work with for the duration of the semester.

You can provide feedback about your experience to our 1:1 program director or reach out to anyone on the leadership team as well! Sometimes our team will reach out and ask how things are going for you throughout the duration of the program as well.

HEROES offers a range of resources to help participants succeed academically and personally. You can design your sessions with your mentor based on what you want to work on whether it is college applications, how to get engaged in extracurriculars, time management, etc. Your mentor will be able to accommodate your needs and what you want to get out of the program.

HEROES typically matches mentees with mentors based on several factors, including your interests, needs, and the number of available mentors we have in the program. We usually try our best to make sure you and your mentor are a good match for one another!

After completing the program, many participants choose to stay involved with HEROES and be an intern for our team based on your interests when it comes to our mission.

If you encounter challenges or issues with your mentor, there are many helping hands on our leadership team to assist you. You could reach out to the program director for the 1:1 mentorship or our Student Success team to explain and go over your struggles and they will help you find a solution.

We are committed to ensuring that our mentees are able to enroll in this program without any associated cost, so no, you do not have to pay. We do appreciate any contributions parents or other organizations would like to donate.

You will be meeting with your mentor bi-weekly for about an hour, the day and time is chosen by how your schedules look and what days/times you are available.

Our mentors are well versed in supporting their mentees with topics such as college admissions, financial aid, making a college list, managing their time, developing their resume, revising their college essay, and becoming more college and career ready!

Yes, you can usually participate in the program even if you have a busy schedule with school and extracurricular activities, we offer flexible scheduling options to accommodate busy lives. If you can find a time that you are free for an hour every other week there is no problem!

We prioritize students who are fully committed to the whole program schedule. Please make sure you are aware of the dates/times of the program before applying.

Anywhere from 8-15 students.

Students receive a certificate of completion at the end of the program. We also try to highlight some students’ achievements if they have gone above and beyond, so we have incentive based certificates such as perfect attendance.

You will learn to think on your feet, to organize your time, and several leadership skills. As a student, you will learn valuable life skills, anything from healthy habits that make you college ready and aid with your academic and personal success, to in-class skills like writing, teamwork, and collaboration.

PTS offers courses that are related to student success in areas such as college planning, career exploration, financial literacy, college writing, and more. In the past we have offered classes like wellness and leadership as well.

Our grading system varies per class, but overall we try to not give students heavy assigned work. For the most part, you will be given worksheets or assignments with in class opportunities to complete them, or short tasks to do throughout the week until we see you again.

We meet only on Saturdays. We tend to not focus on the graded aspect of schooling, and prepare our materials around our students’ specific needs. We provide students with opportunities to grow and gain recognition, with perfect attendance incentives, supplemental worksheets, and more ways to shine. We try to genuinely cater our lessons according to students’ specific learning styles and questions they frequently have.

The programs typically take place outside of regular school hours to avoid conflicts with the normal school schedule. For example, mentoring sessions may occur bi-weekly at times convenient for both mentors and mentees, while the Pathways to Success program often runs on Saturdays. This allows students to participate without interfering with their regular school activities.

Program managers or staff members may provide periodic updates on your child's progress in the program, including feedback from mentors or teachers, participation in activities, and any notable achievements or areas for improvement. We are very big on communication.

Sessions and programs are monitored with feedback from surveys that are utilized to see the effectiveness and progress of the programs.

In the event that your child encounters challenges or issues with their mentor, there are mechanisms in place to address them. Your child can reach out to program managers or staff members for assistance, and steps can be taken to resolve conflicts or explore alternative mentorship arrangements if necessary.

Child safety is a top priority in HEROES programs. We make sure to have mentors with good backgrounds and strict guidelines regarding conduct and communication are enforced. Additionally, students are encouraged to report any concerns or issues they may encounter during mentorship sessions to the Leadership Team.

Students through HEROES will receive academic support and guidance as part of their overall experience. This could include assistance with homework, study skills, or guidance on academic goals and progress.

Best way to support your child is by encouraging their involvement, staying informed about the program's activities and expectations, and being available to discuss their experiences and offer guidance as needed.

Direct involvement in mentoring sessions is generally limited between mentee and mentor to ensure a comfortable and confidential space for the mentorship relationship to develop. However, a parent could always reach out to the mentor for any questions or concerns they may have regarding the mentorship meetings.

HEROES strives to accommodate the needs of all students, including those with special needs, to the best of its ability. Individualized support and accommodations may be provided as appropriate, and efforts are made to create an inclusive and supportive environment for all participants.

By joining HEROES, your child can benefit from personalized mentorship, academic support, skill development, and access to resources aimed at enhancing college readiness, career exploration, and personal growth.

Parents are typically not directly involved in the mentoring or teaching sessions to ensure a comfortable and focused environment for the students. Unless, parents have a specific reason to wish to sit in the session, an exception could be made.

Our program directors match you with a mentee that has similar interests, hobbies, etc. as you.

Yes! All accepted mentors in the HEROES program will receive a detailed guidebook as well as a guided curriculum to help with their mentorship practices. No prior experience is required.

The purpose of the interview is to learn more about you, your skill set, and your passion to mentor. It serves as a way to learn more about you and get information that what was not asked about in the application. It is also your opportunity to ask us questions, offer your ideas, and give suggestions to the program.

You can read mentor/mentee experiences as well as our impact reports at https://www.heroesyouthmentorship.org/our-impact.

There will be an orientation the semester prior to you joining as well as an asynchronous virtual seminar to follow.

An hour bi-weekly for mentorship sessions and ~2-3 hours a week to create session plans/complete any other professional development work. Our internship experience needs to be paired up with 3 academic credits, which equals 120 hours.

Yes! We look forward to supporting your professional development during your freshmen year at Geneseo!

Be enrolled undergraduate student at an accredited 4-year college, able to receive academic credit for the internship (we cannot accept volunteers), available to complete the HEROES Seminar, have a passion for working with students from different backgrounds and experiences, and committed to working independently during the rest of the internship time not in synchronous sessions.

There are sample presentations from previous mentors that can act as a model for a new mentor creating their session plan. Additionally, mentors fill out a session plan they submit before meetings to guide how their time will be used and what major topics they will be going over with their mentee.

HEROES offers monthly check-ins with mentors to debrief about any updates they have during the month regarding their mentorship. Additionally, our two program directors constantly check their emails to aid in any immediate questions mentors have throughout the semester.

Yes. All accepted mentors will have to enroll in INTD 395 as part of a one-credit internship.

Yes, we offer training that equips you in areas such as project based learning, student engagement, trauma informed teaching, social emotional learning, civic engagement, and other basic essential teaching skills. We also provide opportunities for professional development along the course of the semester.

You need to be a student attending a 4 year accredited university, that allows you to gain credit for the internship. You definitely need to be available for our time commitment- which is every Saturday and the occasional staff and 1:1 meetings throughout the week.

No, you do not need teaching experience. We will provide extensive training for all educators that set you up for success in the classroom. It definitely is a plus, but it’s not required.

Very supportive. Our teams are incredibly generous and happy to lend a hand whenever needed. At times the workload may pile up, but there are always people you can reach out to for support.

Yes! We provide team wide PD opportunities.

An average of 15 students per class, but they can vary. The maximum we’ve had has been 20 students, the minimum has been 8 students.

The PTS sessions are a 4-5 hour weekly commitment on Saturday mid-mornings.

We tend to hire students who are in programs related to but not limited to: education, psychology, human development, sociology, english, policy, and more.

You will be responsible for a share of the tasks assigned to your team, depending on what that team is. As an educator, week to weeks tend to involve lesson planning, preparations for team meetings, student/parent outreach at times, and other varying projects.

HEROES is a fully virtual program, so you don’t get daily face to face interactions with students as we only meet with them once a week. You have the opportunity to build your own curricula with the support of your manager and program director.

jromero@heroesyouthmentorship.org, kdulani@heroesyouthmentorship.org

This program is geared for students Grades 9 - 12. We are a completely free and virtual program that supports underserved, low income, and marginalized youth to help develop skills needed post high school education. We offer two programs. Our One on One Mentorship gives students a professional college mentor that will guide students in various topics such as college searches, and the college application process. They will meet twice a month. Our Pathways to Success Academy is a virtual Saturday program created to empower students in grades 9 - 12 to enhance their college readiness and financial literacy.

This allows first access / priority to registration for all of our programs to your students. This program allows your students to have an extra resource for college preparation, readiness, and financial literacy.

HEROES will be an additional resource for students. Students can discuss with their mentor what they know and what they want to learn so they can get the most out of the program as possible.

Your contribution would be to help us spread awareness about the programs we offer, so we can help as many students as possible. We are an amazing resource for students and we would like to be able to help as many students as possible.

At this time we can provide a workshop and or presentation to the schools explaining what we do, however we are not running any programs by school. We are a fully virtual organization so unfortunately there is no in person option.

Yes! Our Pathways to Success Academy is a virtual group program! However not all your students may be in the same group due to the groups being specified to what the students want to learn.

Yes! We can support it by working with the school and our school representative. Our programs are able to be tailored to the students needs, so if they students have a base foundation, we can work on top of that to help them further their knowledge.

NO! We are a free and virtual program.

Please contact us to schedule a meeting so we can discuss becoming partners. We would love to talk about all the opportunities we offer. Please contact jromero@heroesyouthmentorship.org and rbalz@heroesyouthmentorship.org