"She changed my life a lot."

Erika's answer was simple and emphatic when I asked her what having a mentor meant to her. For three years, Erika has met weekly with Demetra Baldukas who has become a homework helper, confidante and overall motivator. Now as an eighth-grader, Erika didn't need to ponder what her relationship with Demetra means to her. For Erika, the 90 minutes a week she spends with her mentor has tangible results.

"Before I had a mentor, I had some failing grades. But that changed because of the help I get. I understand more subjects, especially science. I struggled a lot with that," Erika said. "I want to be a surgeon, so I need to learn much more before college."

Their relationship doesn't hinge on academics alone.

"We're best friends," Erika added. "I can talk about my problems and she helps me out. She gives me pointers about how I can solve things, about what I can do. And, sometimes we just have fun."

Demetra became a mentor at San Juan Diego Middle School, 1101 Douglas Ave., when JohnsonDiversey decided to strike up a community service relationship with the school. Since then, the connection between Erika and Demetra has grown to include Erika's family.

"My parents really get along with her and are very happy about it because she has helped me so much," said Erika. "They didn't get the kind of education I can get and they want the best for me, so they can't always help me."

Demetra is one of San Juan Diego Middle School's 55 mentors. Roughly half of the mentors are matched with high school students in San Juan Diego's Graduate Support Program. The other half is matched with middle school students in sixth through eighth grades. Both kinds of mentors meet for 90 minutes a week at San Juan Diego to help their students with homework, lend a ear to hear of their concerns and to offer all the encouragement they can muster. In the first four months of the school year, these mentors have given students a total of 553 hours of their attention, a profound gift for the students they see.

There is a growing awareness in educational circles and in this Racine community that becoming a mentor will increase a child's chances of graduating and excelling academically, personally and socially.

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside's Center for Community Partnerships has just created the Mentor Kenosha & Racine movement, a program intended to set some standards for best practices in mentoring programs, certify programs that meet those standards and then help recruit mentors from the two communities. San Juan Diego Middle School aspires to be among the first programs certified by Mentor Kenosha & Racine.

As part of its Sacred Ground effort, the Racine Interfaith Coalition has focused on touting the benefits of mentors and has created an event to help match mentoring programs to eager volunteers. At 3 p.m. on Jan. 20, Racine Interfaith Coalition will bring Hector Verdugo and Joseph Holguin from Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles to Racine as the keynote speakers of "Building Relationships for Peace: the Mentoring Connection." Verdugo and Holguin will talk about the impact mentors had on their lives. Following the discussion, the public will be able to learn about various local mentoring programs and sign up to become a volunteer mentor. San Juan Diego Middle School will be among them.

It is San Juan Diego Middle School's goal to match every one of its students to a mentor. In order to meet that goal, the school is searching for 25 more students to match with people passionate about helping the youth in this community.

Ask any mentor, and the benefits from a mentoring relationship don't just flow in one direction.

"The two of us are learning from each other," said LeRoy Petersen, who for three years has guided Christian, a graduate of San Juan Diego Middle School now attending Walden High School.

"It's sitting down and talking that has taught me," said LeRoy. "He comes from a much different ethnic background than I do. And, I've learned that his parents are really involved in his whole life. They just don't send him off to school and be satisfied. They're interested in the school work and that he does well. They are really committed to their children."

LeRoy and his wife, Mary Alice, team up to mentor students. Their relationship has grown beyond homework to understanding. They go on special outings and sometimes just talk. The experience adds a new dimension to life.

"Christian is just one great kid," LeRoy said. "I would do anything for that boy, he's so willing to work for what he wants to get."

If you would like to make a difference in someone's life and find it transforming your own life, too, think about becoming a mentor. Attend RIC's mentoring summit on Jan. 20 or call Laura Sumner Coon at (262) 619-0402, ext. 127, to mentor a San Juan Diego Middle School student.