MOTHER TONGUE PROJECT MENTORS

Representation is a powerful force for inspiration, motivation, and reassurance, especially for student parents juggling competing demands. Former parenting students who have realized personal and professional success can be just the right voice at just the right time for students wondering if they can really keep going and achieve their goals.

According to writer and former teen mom Christina Beresford, "meeting people who are 'real' and have struggled and succeeded makes an enormous difference because it turns the idea of accomplishment into a reality. […] Stories like [this] become the emotional power bars for young women who need hope based on reality and reality based on hope." We believe this is true for young men, as well.

Mother Tongue Mentors facilitates these important liaisons between parenting students and “real” Santa Fe community resources, mentors, and professionals—former student-parent role models who are thriving in a variety of fields. These connections an provide foundations for positive personal, educational, professional, and life-skills relationships that can support student parents’ long-term success.

College: MTP@Santa Fe Community College

MTP works individually with interested student parents to find former student parents in the greater Santa Fe community who can offer mentorship, career advice, connection, and social capital.

We also conduct small, non-academic workshops that focus on professional skill building, work-school-parenting balance, and community resources. These workshops feature former student parents whenever possible.

High School: Mother Tongue Mentors @ Capital High School

Successful women and men who became parents as teenagers have considerable wisdom to share with teens who are juggling high school and parenting right now. Many would like to connect with current teen parents, but they don’t know how. MTP links its teen parents one-to-one with a former teen parents who are engaged in sharing their I-made-it advice and affirmation. Regular MTP classroom lunch meetings and material support help foster these relationships.

Mother Tongue Mentors are available to come speak to teen parents who are not enrolled in the Mother Tongue Project. If you are interested in scheduling a Mother Tongue Mentor class visit, please email info@mothertongueproject.org or call 505-660-6862.