Mentor program endangered by cuts

Adam F. Jarrold Arizona Daily Wildcat Ken Vaughn, psychology graduate student, helps Corbett Elementary School fourth-graders Mario Martinez (center) and Gilbert Dominguez with their science reading yesterday at Corbett. Vaughn is a members of Partners for Success, a program that pairs UA students with elementary school students to encourage them to attend college.

Partners for Success was created two years ago by Mikelle Omari-Obayemi, assistant professor of art history and former director of African American Studies.

The program pairs African American students from the University of Arizona with children from Wright, Corbett and Menlo Park elementary schools. The mentors meet with the children for an hour once a week.

The program began with 64 volunteer mentors and 150 African American children, but those numbers dropped to 24 and 100 when Omari was dismissed from her post last October.

Omari said the program lost $4,000 in funding, office space, a support staff and two paid student coordinators when Julian Kunnie became acting director of African American Studies.

Kunnie could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Shereka Jackson, a management information systems junior, said she continued to mentor three children despite the changes. She said some mentors had no way of getting to the schools after African American Studies withdrew its support and stopped giving out bus passes for the mentors.

"It is more of a community-wide thing now," Jackson said. "Now we have to have a lot more people to sponsor."

Omari said the program will continue to operate with the $4,000 yearly salary she receives as a member of Faculty Fellows. She said she is trying to acquire private donations and grants to fund Partners for Success next year.

Omari said she is also trying to get reinstated as director of African American Studies.

Omari said eight schools participated in the program before her dismissal from African American Studies.

"It (the program) is as if you compared a mom and pop store with Albertson's," Omari said.

Betsy Alvarado, a social worker and community representative at Corbett Elementary School, 5949 E. 29th St., said there was a "silent period" as the program came to a halt after Omari's dismissal.

"A lot of mentors backed off," Alvarado said. Children felt "let down," she added.

Alvarado said Partners for Success is a role model program.

"A mentor is someone who can be there emotionally and academically," she said.

Ashira Pace, a fine arts senior, said the hardest thing about being a mentor in the program is "not knowing whether we're gonna be around next year."

"What do you tell (the) children?" she asked.

Even without support from African American Studies, Pace said she has enjoyed dealing with the children. In her second semester with the program, Pace mentors two children.

"I just try to keep them focused," Pace said.

Alvarado said the program's success is already visible at Corbett Elementary School. The 55 mentored children, in first through fifth grade, are more willing to learn and have higher self esteem, she said.

"The majority of kids we have here come from broken homes," Alvarado said. "Before, all they talked about was dropping out of school and becoming drug dealers."

Alvarado said the one-on-one program allows the children to get a "tremendous" education.

She said she hopes to expand the program to include other ethnic backgrounds.

The program concludes May 3 with "Teachable Moments: Creating Community Through African/American Folktales and Story Performance," a workshop where the children and some mentors will gather on campus.

Omari said the year-end event is funded by donations from the Arizona Humanity Council, the Diversity Action Council, Faculty Fellows and a Dean of Students AT&T grant.