Mentoring is a great opportunity to develop a skill that lies within personal experiences. Everyone has the potential to be a mentor and to find the voice that catalyzes change in the lives of youth.

Project SOAR mentors are assigned to a participating middle school and visit that school for 1-2 hours per week throughout the semester. Mentors are required to complete 25 hours per semester, which includes travel time, preparation time, and actual mentoring time. Mentoring sessions can include discussions about everyday college life or share specific college preparation skills for the future (ie. goal setting, career exploration, the college search process, and academic skill building).

In addition to mentoring, SOAR mentors are enrolled in a UA course (HED 350 or HED 397B) that focuses broadly on the social, psychological, and environmental issues associated with college access.

Still not convinced? Check out these videos created by former SOAR mentors!

Most importantly, SOAR mentors are role-models excited to work with middle school students who are interested in learning more about college. While there is no one "typical" mentor, we have observed trends over the years. Our mentors tend to be

• Majority female: Females enroll in the program at higher rates than males, usually 70% to 30% respectively

• Racially diverse: Since the program began in 2005, fewer than 50% of the students enrolled in SOAR have identified as white (49.8%). Latinos make up 23% of the enrollment, followed by Native Americans (13.5%), Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders (9.2%) and African/African Americans (4.3%). Each enrollment figure for the students of color in SOAR is larger than their representation on campus as a whole (20%, 1%, 5%, and 3% respectively. Additionally, each semester an average of 15 SOAR mentors have a first language other than English!

• Academically diverse: Project SOAR has enrolled students from 13 colleges since 2005. Students majoring within the College of Education make up only 5.8% of program participants. The College of Science (21.8%--61% of whom are Psychology majors), Social & Behavioral Sciences (13.7%), Undecided (10.2%), College of Medicine (9.6%), and the Eller College of Business (6.8%) enroll the most students. Those colleges with less significant enrollment include the Agriculture (5.4%), Nursing (3.6%), Humanities (3.3%), Public Health (1.6%), Engineering (1%), Architecture (0.6%), and Art (0.6%).

SOAR mentors are role models and will do their best to inspire and challenge mentees to set goals for their post-high school futures. They work throughout the semester to get to know the mentees on a personal level in order to understand each student’s strengths, interests, cultural background, and to tap into these aspects when discussing college. However, these mentors are not trained counselors and while we expect them to be open and honest with their mentees and to provide thoughtful advice when appropriate, we ask that the mentors work with school counselors, teachers and administrators when mentees reveal personal problems that need  to be further addressed by professionals.

No, SOAR mentors do not need to have prior experience with teaching or mentoring. In fact, only 6% of students enrolled in SOAR are majoring in Education, thus an overwhelming majority do not have training in classroom management or lesson planning. SOAR staff work with the mentors to design one-on-one or small group activities around the goals of the program, and discuss strategies for effectively engaging mentees, but classroom management and curriculum development are not part of the course content.

The goal of SOAR is provide college information and career exploration opportunities for middle school students. Goal setting, identifying academic strengths, and self-esteem building is also often covered during mentoring sessions. While some mentees may come to their mentors for academic assistance, our mentors are not trained tutors. Most schools choose to pair up mentors and mentees during the students’ elective periods—so as not to interfere with core coursework.

During the third week of the semester you will be able to sign up for your mentoring hours. Hours are determined based on your availability. Mentoring hours take place Monday through Friday, between 8am and 4pm, typically in one or two-hour time blocks.

Project SOAR works with school administration (often counselors and community coordinators) to pair mentors and mentees. SOAR provides school site coordinators with the names of the mentors, their contact information, major, academic strengths, and a list of hobbies and interests. The coordinator identifies students they believe would benefit from the SOAR program and matches these students with the listed SOAR mentors.

Middle school students who tend to benefit most from this experience are:

• students who are strong or average academically, but would benefit from an extra motivational push regarding academic success

• students who are strong or average academically, but struggle socially and would benefit from the attention and encouragement from a college-aged role model

• students who know they want to go to college, but would benefit from a greater understanding of the college search process and strategies for receiving financial aid

• students who are excited to meet weekly with a UA college student and understand the goals of the program

Students who have benefited little from the program have been:

• those with truancy issues (studies show that the best mentoring outcomes result from regular contact between the mentor and mentee—students who are frequently absent benefit little from the match and SOAR mentors have not been shown to reverse patterns of truancy)

• those who are reluctant to be pulled from their elective course, or see a SOAR mentor as punishment

Several of the schools at which mentors are placed are within walking or biking distance of campus. Additionally, if you are scheduled to mentor at a site away from campus, another mentor may be willing to share a ride with you. The SOAR program will work to assist you in identifying others with whom you may be able to carpool.

Current University of Arizona students can get involved with Project SOAR by enrolling in HED 350 (fall) or HED 397B (spring) through UAccess.