As Latino students enter their Student Resource Time (SRT), they find their mentor waiting with a welcoming smile. Settling into a comfortable conversation, students receive personalized guidance, support, and a safe space to discuss concerns with their mentor. This is the Puentes Mentor Program: a one-on-one mentorship designed to empower Latino students to become the best versions of themselves, both academically and socially, Veronica Reyes, Spanish and Spanish Heritage Learning (SHL)    Teacher, said. With mentorship from staff members, students can further their social-emotional skills and develop habits that extend beyond the classroom, Reyes said.

The Puentes Mentor Program is a selective and highly individualized program, Reyes said. Established 10 years ago by Reyes and Spanish Teacher  Gabby Mikos, the program accepts up to 16 students per semester, Reyes said. Students, often from the SHL program are invited to join Puentes when teachers recognize that they would benefit from guidance in navigating social or academic improvement, Reyes said.                      Although meetings last only 15 to 20 minutes every other day during their SRT, mentees are able to deeply connect with their mentors and form meaningful relationships, Reyes said.

“[The Puentes Mentor Program is] a nice way to build community [and] to connect students with other adults in the building that they might not have daily contact with,” Reyes said. “[We want] them to know that they’re being supported, not only through the SHL program or through Puentes, but through the wider community [and] the administration, [too].”

The Puentes Mentor Program helped senior Samantha Cisneros break out of her shell, becoming more confident in advocating for herself and communicating with her teachers. Cisneros’s mentor also supported her through the college application process, helping her explore affordable schools that aligned with her interests and keeping her on top of important deadlines, she said.

“[The Puentes Mentor Program] brings us closer together because [at first] you don’t really know the teachers, but once you start meeting [with] them consistently, you get to know them and you trust them with anything,” Cisneros said.

The program’s name, Puentes, which means ‘bridges’ in Spanish, reflects its goal of building meaningful connections, or bridges, to help Latino students grow in the best way possible, Mikos said. Although Mikos no longer coordinates the program, she still plays a large role as a mentor, forming tight bonds with her mentee and commonly talking and playing games with her during their meetings, Mikos said. Even though the program’s directive is to help students, it ends up benefitting teachers as well, Mikos said.

“Not only do I feel like I can guide my mentee, but I also learn a lot from [them],” Mikos said. “It’s a very reciprocal relationship.”

The Puentes Mentor Program helps Latino students become more organized, while also helping them work toward their goals, sophomore Lucas Vega said. As Vega sets goals to work toward throughout the year, his mentor shares her own goals with him, Vega said. They check up on each other’s progress periodically. After meeting for about three weeks, Vega was able to really open up and be himself around his mentor, he said.

“The program [is] mostly about being more open and having a better foundation here at South,” Vega said. “[Your mentor knows] how to help you more than if you asked your teacher because [they are] just focused on you.”