Program History
College Mentors for Kids, Inc., was founded in 1995 by two Indiana University undergraduates who wanted to impact the lives of children. They assessed current youth programming and identified a gap in services for elementary school students. The founders wanted to go beyond the familiar recreational mentoring and after-school tutoring programs and offer a program with structured, substantive activities designed to yield specific results regarding youth development and educational achievement. They created a program model that paired the needs of first- through fourth-grade elementary school students with the talents and resources of undergraduates and the college campus.
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College Mentors for Kids Founders Heidi Schmidt and Kristin Huang |
Following a year of planning, College Mentors for Kids was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1996. The mentor program was piloted with 18 buddy pairs at Indiana University and 12 buddy pairs at Butler University in the 1996-1997 school year. A headquarters office was established during the summer of 1997 and four new chapters were launched in the fall of 1998. Since that time College Mentors for Kids has expanded to 20 colleges statewide and regionally.
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Activity Topics
College Mentors for Kids’ activities rotate through three core activity topics that were deliberately selected to make children aware of the academic and social routines of a college student's life, the human and capital resources of the college campus, and the benefits of a college education.
Higher education and career activities allow little buddies to increase their awareness of college life, different careers and the training required for each. For example, in an activity about journalism, they may meet the editor of the campus newspaper, tour the newsroom, and write an article under the supervision of a journalism professor. Or, the children might travel to a biology lab to learn about how plants photosynthesize, while also listening to a professor speak about botany, why people study botany and how a college degree is important in becoming a botanist.
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Through culture and diversity activities the little buddies learn about the talents and heritage of the different people who form the college community. Activities may include celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a student from Mexico, sitting in on an orchestra class, or learning a routine with a hip-hop dance group. These activities expand little buddies' worldview by exposing them to the languages, foods, visual and performing arts, and histories of groups different from themselves.
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| Community service activities enable the children to identify and respond to needs in their community and learn about community resources. For example, the group may discuss homelessness and its causes and then assemble toiletry kits to give to clients of a local homeless shelter. These activities are empowering for the little buddies, who are often on the receiving end of social services. |
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College Mentors for Kids Activity
Activities span two hours throughout the academic year and occur once a week after school on the college campus. The little buddies come to campus approximately 20 times per year, making 80 or more visits to a college campus by the time they finish the fourth grade. Activities open with snack time and the Book of the Week. Each group of 10 mentor-child pairs travels to the appropriate campus location and participate in a structured hands-on activity facilitated by a professor, student or local businessperson. The location enhances the activity; not only do children learn about the topic but they connect it to a facility, making the college experience very real to them. At the conclusion of the activity, the buddy pairs spend time together reflecting on their experience through journaling and the College Question of the Week.
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Program Initiatives
Many children struggle with reading, which has long-term consequences. The Book of the Week connects children to the activity topic and encourages reading for pleasure.
Many families live without a bank account and are easy prey to cash advance businesses. The JPMorgan Chase Economics for Kids initiative teaches kids about the importance of earning, saving and spending money wisely to break the cycle of poverty.
The Career Mentors initiative brings local professionals onto the campus to share his or her profession and required training. It exposes participants to career options and how higher education plays a role in reaching each career.
A health and wellness curriculum focuses on nutrition, physical fitness, hygiene and personal growth, while exposing families to resources such as Hoosier Healthwise.
A science curriculum was implemented to give the
children the chance to experience  science outside the classroom. Activities will primarily be in the form of experiments and mini-projects with the guidance of college professors.
Technology literacy and access to the resources that it provides crucial to the development of children in today’s economy. Exposing young children to a technology curriculum on a college campus and
technology careers will help to build computer skills
and awareness of how technology impacts the
economy.
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