Recently, Hunter College announced a new partnership with The New York State Mentoring Program, which provides Hunter College undergraduates the opportunity to mentor students at P.S. 7, the Samuel Stern School. The pre-K to eighth grade school is located across the street from Hunter’s East Harlem Silberman School of Social Work.
“As the largest public college in New York City with extraordinary faculty and students, we at Hunter College have a passion for making a difference in communities and are committed to making a positive impact in neighborhoods that need support and are located right in our backyard,” said Jennifer J. Raab, president of Hunter College. “Hunter has a strong mentorship tradition and existing program between Hunter College alumni and students, but we are thrilled to launch this new mentoring partnership with Matilda Cuomo’s New York State Mentoring Program and bring the gift of mentorship between Hunter College students and P.S. 7 elementary school kids.”
This new initiative will consist of one-to-one mentoring with Hunter College students—many of whom come from similar immigrant and working family backgrounds—and elementary students at P.S. 7.
The New York State Mentoring Program provides unique school-based, one-to-one mentoring and has provided mentors for more than 10,000 children since its inception in 1984 to 1995 and was reinstated once more in 2015 under Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo with his mother Matilda Cuomo at the helm. In 1995, Matilda Cuomo also established Mentoring USA to continue the one-to-one mentoring model 2 nationally and internationally, reaching Italy with future expansion plans in Spain, Holland and Germany.
“We started the New York State Mentoring Program in 1984 with the goal to ensure our children stay in school and complete their education, after an overload of incarcerated young men filled prisons to capacity,” said Matilda Cuomo, founder and chair of The New York State Mentoring Program and first lady of New York State from 1983 to 1995. “As a mother of five, the best way to approach a problem is to talk to each child one to one and find a solution together. We’re thrilled to grow our mentoring program in New York and partner with Hunter College, the largest public college in New York City, to make a positive impact in a young person’s most formative years.”