January 17, 2025
Kristy Leyva truly enjoys her role as the Gilbert Mentor Facilitator, a position she’s held for nearly two years now. And during that time she’s seen the number of area mentors grow exponentially, particularly within the high school where student involvement has more than doubled — from 12 mentors during the 2023-24 school year to 25 in 2024-25 — over that time.
She describes it with emotion, seeing the joy in the eyes of those younger students when they see their mentors turn the corner and head down the hall toward them.
“Having somebody that’s there for them once a week consistently makes a big difference, and it’s really beneficial to catch those kids at a younger age when they need somebody to talk to other than their parents or teachers and counselors,” Leyva said. “It’s really neat to have somebody to be able to trust and rely on.”
January is National Mentoring Month and Gilbert Schools applauds all 44 of our local mentors who meet with our younger students — there are 45 total mentees in the program — on a weekly basis as part of the YSS School Based Mentoring Program.
And it’s not only our high school students who make the program successful. Leyva says there are three former Gilbert students who now attend Iowa State University that continue to serve as mentors. Community members Trent Becker and Pastor Christian Johnson have served as mentors to the same students for seven years, and a number of other community members have taken the initiative to get involved in the program.
As the old saying goes, it takes a village. And we’ve got a great one here in Gilbert.
A number of the 25 high school mentors have worked with the program for multiple years, which Leyva also says is beneficial to build consistency with the younger students. Recruitment of potential mentors has become easier as well through word of mouth.
“The program would not be able to be what it is without the high school students,” Leyva said. “We’ve had quite a few student-athletes hop on board and they’ve been really good about telling their friends how much they enjoy it and what a difference it makes.
“A lot of them start and say, ‘We’ll see how it goes,’ before they fully commit. But they end up loving it and staying with the program throughout high school.”
The GHS students who currently work with the program include: Delaney Anderson, Isaac Becker, Evie Christenson, Shaylee DeLancey, Mason Griffin, Keaton Hanson, Will Hawthorne, Ella Henningson, Nery Hernandez, Nick Hock, Tyler Jerkins, Mia Kautman, Micah Leyva, Aidan Rash, Connor Rash, Ethan Rash, Kayla Rash, Katie Sniezek, Abigail Thompson, Olivia Timmermans, Easton VanCleave, Trent Wesselmann, Landon Witek, Harper Woodin, and Matt Zoz.
Leyva says the process of becoming a mentor is streamlined. Students only need to be 15 years of age to go through the application process. Candidates will go through an interview with Leyva, and if approved will then go through a short orientation before they are matched with a student.
The benefits of becoming a mentor are immense. Besides the obvious befits of building a positive relationship with a younger student, Leyva says high school mentors can earn rewards from the service.
“Silver cord hours are available with the mentoring program,” Leyva said. “Some kids go into it thinking it will be a good way to knock out silver cord hours, and then they meet their mentees and really build these great relationships.”
If you would like to become a Gilbert mentor, you can start the application process HERE.
