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Manhattan Bridges Mentor Bridging the Gap to College
Call it fate, coincidence, or just pure luck that brought Madelin, a senior, and Javier, a freshman, together. And while it's intriguing to ponder how their different paths converged, the real story lies in their shared path as mentor and mentee and how their journey through CFES is leading them to the same destination – college.
Born in the Dominican Republic, Madelin moved to New York City five years ago with her mother. They found a place in mid-town Manhattan just a few blocks from Manhattan Bridges High School, where Madelin began her freshman year in September 2006. Two years later they moved to Queens, and the short walk to school suddenly became an hour-long subway ride. Still, Madelin would not even consider transferring to a nearby school. She wanted to remain at Manhattan Bridges. Her mother was surprised by her daughter's resistance, and Madelin was equally surprised that her mother just assumed that she would want to change schools.
Javier, like Madelin, came to New York City from the Dominican Republic, arriving just over a year ago. A freshman at Manhattan Bridges this year, he lives two blocks from the school with his mother, who is unemployed, and his father, who manages a parking garage.
As a transitional bilingual school for Spanish-speaking students, Manhattan Bridges was a good fit for Javier and Madelin. Founded on the belief that "the mastery of communication skills in both English and the student’s native language is key to realizing a student’s potential in a multicultural society," the high school serves a student population that is 100 percent Latino.
"Our students come from many different Caribbean, Central, and South American countries," says Allison Ruth, guidance and college counselor and leader of the high school's CFES team. "With many students slated to be the first in their family to graduate from high school and attend college, their work ethic and drive is truly outstanding."
On the other hand, because college is unfamiliar for these students, "fear of the unknown" is one of the high school's biggest obstacles in getting them to, and through, college, according to Ruth. When Manhattan Bridges joined CFES in September 2009, educators there were eager to cultivate a partnership with a college and incorporate other CFES practices (mentoring and leadership through service) that would help strengthen the college-going culture in the school by exposing students, and their parents, to higher education and the opportunities it offers.
Madelin first heard about CFES when the Scholars program was offered to the freshmen, who were being paired with upperclassmen trained as mentors by CFES. "I thought, hey, I want to be involved, so I asked Ms. Ruth," she says. "I really wanted to be part of it, so they said yes."
Madelin wasn't paired with Javier initially. As she recalls, it started out naturally.
"I had someone else to work with," she says, "but it didn't work out because of my schedule. So I just started working with Javier. Then we were matched up."
Unlike Madelin, Javier didn't exactly step up to join CFES. With Madelin serving as translator, he explains that the school counselors were looking at report cards, and they thought he could do better and would benefit from the program. So they talked to him and got him involved.
So began what has become a strong bond between two young people who share the same culture and similar challenges.
In spite of the obstacles, they are making great strides, observes Ruth. The pair, along with other mentors and mentees, meet three mornings a week in the library before school, although as Madelin emphasizes, "mentoring is open for business five days." On the two days when Javier has gym class in the morning, Madelin often goes to the library to help other mentees.
When Madelin and Javier first began working together, he had a 69 average. Now he has an 80.
"It helps me to have a mentor," he says, as Madelin translates. "Before I didn't like to study. Now I enjoy studying. It makes me feel better about myself. I am happy now.
"Sometimes we work on leftover homework that is due that day that I couldn't do on my own," he adds.
Javier wants to go to college – he wants to pursue medicine or business. When he talks about his goal, Madelin smiles approvingly.
As a mentor, Madelin is tough yet caring. She has a no-nonsense way about her and sets high standards for herself and for her mentee. Madelin has her sights set on attending college, and she is gratified that Javier wants to follow in her footsteps.
A pressing issue for Manhattan Bridges is that so many of the students don't know how to study effectively. As Ruth explains, they don't know how to organize their notes and assignments, so it's a struggle for them to stay on top of their school work.
"Our mentoring program is helping them do that," she says.
Madelin agrees that mentoring has benefited her and, she asserts, changed her – both as a person and as a friend.
"As a person, because I know I have someone who depends on me to help them be better at school, it gives me the responsibility to also do better so that he or she can see me and follow my steps," she says. "As a friend, I have learned that I can change someone's life in a positive way.
"Working with Javier has been the best experience ever because I love to help others and also because I believe that he has incredible potential to do well at school, and so I want to help him discover that."
Becoming a mentor also has helped prepare Madelin for college because, as she puts it, "I know what to do if I'm having problems with my classes...I'll not be afraid to ask my classmates for help."
What's more, she says, "I'll know how to help others."
That's clear from the significant progress that Javier has made this year. Madelin has not only helped him navigate high school and strengthen his academic performance, but she has also helped him take steps toward college.
When he visits Columbia next week – his first time on a college campus – she knows from her own experience that it's going to be an eye-opener for him.
"He is going to see how serious college is, and he is going to see that once you are in high school it is all about college. Everything you do is for college," she states.
Madelin has been accepted to several colleges, including SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Potsdam, Dowling College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and Fulton-Montgomery Community College.
"After Javier's trip to Columbia, I'm going to sit down with him and tell him about my experience in high school and as a senior, and all the processes that I'm going through, but also all the benefits that I'm now getting because of all the things that I did."
She wants him to know that the painstaking task of learning a new language and all the hours of homework and studying are worth it. And she wants him to know that this path that they set out on together through mentoring ultimately will take them both to their shared dream of college.
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