By Maritanys Marte

Three Fordham Students plan to bring “College Mentors for Kids” to Fordham. Courtesy of Casey Chun.

“A mentor means being a role model and trying your best to pass on any positive qualities you possess to anyone around you,” said Carolyn Allain, FCRH ’17. You might want to remember that name. Allain has started the Fordham chapter of College Mentors for Kids, a one-on-one mentoring program focused on helping children understand the importance of education while in a group setting. The national club is going on 20 years of service with kids and will be starting its first year at Fordham this fall. Its mission is to connect college students, with the most, to kids who need it the most. The program will be comprised of first to fourth graders mostly from Sacred Heart School in the South Bronx.

Allain will be joined by Samantha Czertak, FCRH ’17 and vice president of fundraising, and Margaret Curran, FCRH ’17 and vice president of programming, as well as about 40 other Fordham students who will serve as the mentors.

Throughout the year, the children will be focusing their time with their mentors on higher education and careers, community service and culture and diversity. There will be weekly hands-on activities and guest speakers which will aide the children, referred to as “little buddies,” in taking advantage of the resources available to them on a college campus.

“Most of these kids are potential first generation college students and they have no role model who has been to college,” said Allain. The goal is to inspire the little buddies to know that going to college is most definitely an attainable goal.
The organization promotes showing the “little buddies” ways to give back to their community. Fordham is providing the “little buddies” with transportation to and from campus, which means that fundraising will be vital for the function of the club. “My role consists largely of coming up with the extra funds needed,” said Czertak. Allain and the rest of the team are taking on 40 little buddies this year, but hope to expand to 80 by next year. The kids are broken down into groups of 10 known as “buddy families” according to their grade levels but will be paired with one mentor. While working one-on-one with their mentor, mentors will also work together on activities.

While the number one goal of the program is to change the way the “little buddies” think about education, it is also important to Allain to emphasize the importance of diversity and “change the way Fordham regards the Bronx.” “I think it’s important to bring that diversity and engaging with it by mentoring children in this area,” she said. Curran agreed and said, “Part of what makes Fordham such a unique school is its location in the Bronx. I want to welcome members of the Bronx community to Fordham through College Mentors for Kids because I believe that they can teach us lessons about service and justice that students cannot learn in the classroom.”