HEROES mentorship program counsels high school students on college preparation

Photo of Geneseo High School via Photo Editor Kate Rodgers

The Higher Educational Resources & Opportunities for Equitable Schools (HEROES) mentoring program has been assisting high school students across New York State prepare for their college education. According to the SUNY Geneseo website, the HEROES program is an opportunity for Geneseo students to act as a positive role model and source of advice for high school students looking to continue their education. 

The website says, “Trained HEROES mentors work one-on-one biweekly with students that have shown interest in being mentored. Acting as a positive role model and lending support, as well as a listening ear, the mentor is the middle ground between an authoritative figure and a friend. Ultimately, the goal of the program is to encourage high school students to go to college. Through the establishment of a positive mentor-mentee relationship, the hope is to end the cycle of poverty with a focus on education.”

According to Garth Freeman, Director of Student Volunteerism and Community Engagement at Geneseo, the mentorship program started as a partnership with local high schools, but transitioned to a virtual, state-wide program during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“HEROES was started a long time ago, about 10 years ago. It initially was a mentorship program to support local high school kids in gaining access to higher education. It was built around mentorship but with a focus on going to college and thinking about the college you might apply to, that kind of thing,” he said. “I kind of inherited that program when I got the job in 2017, and I managed to get some mentors out to local schools, but I didn't have a great response for those schools. When the pandemic hit, a student who was involved, Jose Romero, approached me and said, ‘what do you think about transitioning this to a virtual mentorship program so that we would be able to work with students all over New York state?’” 

Freeman said that Romero was largely responsible for transitioning the program to an online and much more accessible mode of mentorship. 

“With much credit to Jose, he developed and built this curriculum for the HEROES program to function as a remote mentorship program. So now we support students all across New York State with a focus on first-generation students, students from lower income backgrounds, and BIPOC students,” Freeman said.  

Freeman said that the program grew in popularity after the switch and is now offered as an XLRN course for Geneseo students taught by himself and Romero. 

“About halfway through last semester, Jose came up with the idea to offer it [as a course] and so we were able to get that through the College Senate and have that approved as an XLRN 188, which is the first iteration of an XLRN class. It was a one credit class, we had a full class of thirty plus students, and they each had one or two mentees. They mentor every other week on Wednesdays and then on the opposite weeks, we see them in class to do professional development and give them support in working with their mentee. It's been an awesome evolution of the program to see it go from a sort of faltering project to really being able to meet the needs of students all across the state and supporting their access to higher ed.”

According to Freeman, students learn valuable social and professional skills in the XLRN class that can be applied to any major. 

“I think one of the main things [students learn in class] is communication skills. Our students are learning how to communicate with individuals who will look to them for guidance and look to them for support, so they're getting that mentorship experience. The other thing is managing the logistics of meeting with the mentor or mentee. We're asking them to really build out and develop their tailored program for their mentee and I think it's not just for education majors, it's not just folks in those areas. These skills are applicable to any career.”

Freeman said, “I think it's just a really amazing way for our Geneseo students to have a real, measurable impact on students who are looking to go to college or are thinking about what a career means for them. I think one of the things that I've learned in my job is that our Geneseo students and young people from your generation really want to make a difference.”