Mentoring a young child is an enriching and rewarding experience – one that already involves many ISU students.

“College students are excellent role models,” said Jane Acker, coordinator for the National Mentoring Partnership in Story County. “They have a positive vision of the future, but they aren’t mom and dad. They have perspective, but are still young and fun.”

Dozens of ISU students are involved in mentoring, but more mentors are desired, she said.

The goal of the organization is to increase awareness and involvement in mentoring, Acker said. She oversees the recruiting and several programs, including the Boys and Girls Club, No Fear, Y Pals, Grip and Girls Power.

ISU students play a big role in the program ,Acker said.

Sometimes a teacher or counselor will suggest a particular child be included in a program, Acker said. This may be because the child’s parents are divorcing, the child is new in town or he or she is struggling with social skills. She said mentoring is not tutoring – it’s friendship. However, the child’s academic skills and behavior performance usually improve, she said.

Phil Greco, campus YMCA president, board member and past mentor, became a part of Y Pals when he was approached by a program director who asked him to become a mentor.

Through Y Pals, he mentored a young boy for two years. Greco, junior in mechanical engineering, spent about two hours each week reading, writing and playing games with his mentee. He said his most memorable moment was “the first time we made a connection.”

Interested volunteers need to be available for an hour or two each week and make a commitment for one school year, Acker said. Potential mentors must fill out an application and undergo a reference check, background check and interview. If the mentor is approved, he or she will be trained and matched with a child, she said.

Acker said they are looking for potential mentors with a broad range of experience.

“Mentors need to be positive people who have something to offer, whether it is being good at playing video games or picking out weird colors of nail polish,” she said. “Just offer yourself.”

One student chose mentoring as a community-service project for his sociology class, she said. He ended up mentoring the boy for three years and found a replacement mentor after graduating and moving to Chicago.

“Mentoring is a no-risk, enjoyable way of really making a difference for a child who needs it,” Acker said. “There are few investments you could make that pay back so richly for the mentor and the child.”

Greco encouraged students to become mentors.

“[Mentoring] is an exciting experience, one you will never forget,” he said. “You can’t learn that stuff in a textbook.”