A mentor from the partnership was named the United Way s Volunteer of the Year in the military division for three years. In addition to the children the program has touched, Kelly s mentoring program has impressed other bases with its ability to reach out to at-risk children in the Southwest Independent School District. In 1999, authorities from Kirtland AFB, N.M., made a fact-finding trip to San Antonio to find out how they could start their own mentoring program within the Albuquerque school district. Now the program will be co-managed by Deborah Torres from AIA s Directorate of Operations and Doug Karas, from AIA s Public Affairs Office. There have been studies done to show that mentored students improve in self-esteem, get better grades, are in school more often and have better classroom behavior.
Torres feels optimistic about the future of the mentoring program.
We plan to tap into some sources that haven t been thought of before, she said. We want to continue the great work that has been done for the past 10 years and to keep on winning those awards.