JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph active duty service members are offering their time and guidance to students in a mentoring program at an area junior high school.
Master Sgt. Joseph Larouche, Air Education and Training Command munitions program manager, and Tech Sgt. Mark Ashby, AETC spectrum manager, are mentoring at-risk students at Dobie Junior High School in Cibolo.
Larouche is a mentor to Daniel and Ashby mentors Hunter. Both students are eighth-graders. Because of confidentiality stipulations, the Wingspread can't reveal the last name of the students.
The service members found out about the mentoring program from Angela Green, school liaison at the Military & Family Readiness Center.
Once a week, both Larouche and Ashby meet with the students for 30 minutes to listen and talk to them about what's going on in their lives, from school to family to
friends.
The mentoring program is part of Communities in Schools of South Central Texas, a non-profit organization that provides programs and support services for 273 at-risk children in four school districts in Guadalupe and Comal counties.
When he meets with Daniel, Larouche said he engages the teenager in an open conversation about school and life.
"I just provide a non-judgmental ear and adult figure in his life," Larouche said. "He can bounce ideas off of me where I will not judge him. I can give my view of what I have experienced."
Larouche said he stresses to Daniel the need to set both short- and long-term goals, and to stay focused on accomplishing those goals.
"I've reminded him through our meetings of how his short-term actions or decisions can affect his long term aspirations," he said. "How he handles his grades, whether he studies or stays up all night watching movies. I let him explain the answers, and let him realize the consequences of his actions."
Daniel said Larouche has been a good mentor to him, helping him to stay focused in school and encouraging him to set his goals higher, including going to college.
"He gives me good advice on what I should do about little problems," Daniel said. "He helps me through a lot of situations; he makes me happy."
While Larouche was stationed in Utah several years ago, he was a high school football coach. He is a father of two children, including one who is also an eighth grader.
"I can give my view of what I have experienced (as a parent)," Larouche said. "If my son has gone through or experienced something similar, I will tell him about what I advised my son."
Ashby sees his role as a mentor to provide guidance.
"If you can give any kid a good solid foundation, the ratio of them doing well increases dramatically," he said.
As a father of a 16-year-old son, Ashby said he sees the problems, challenges and peer pressure young people of today have to cope with. Through communication, he says his goal is to guide the student he is mentoring into making good, sound decisions.
"They have to see the big picture," Ashby said. "You need to expand their thinking, which is that light bulb coming on. The idea is to guide and encourage our children to think before they act. The result is a happier experience through life-learned lessons."
Ashby grew up in a poor neighborhood that was plagued with violence, gangs and drugs. He said there were mentors at the local community center he went to who guided him in the right direction. By being a mentor, Ashby says he feels he's giving back to the community.
Maria Villarreal, Communities in Schools site coordinator at Dobie, said 12 volunteers, including Ashby and Larouche and nine students from Steele High School in Cibolo, mentor 13 students at Dobie.
Villarreal said Ashby and Larouche relate to and care for the students they are mentoring.
"They are both very involved in checking with me on how the student is doing and if there is any particular issue I can help the student with," she said.
For information on becoming a mentor for Communities in Schools South Central Texas, contact Sonya Chapa at 830-620-4247 ext. 12, or
schapa@cissouthcentraltexas.org.