When it comes to finding mentors, Big Brother Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado is always on the hunt. This year, the nonprofit group brought in extra, temporary mentors to work with students on the waiting list.

Usually, kids on the waiting list can’t come to Big Brothers Big Sisters’ after-school activities. But this year, an AmeriCorps team is including them in the fun.

There is always a waiting list for mentors, and boys looking for a male mentor tend to wait the longest, Big Brothers Big Sisters Program Director Caleb Speas said.

“It is hard to keep someone encouraged every week,” he said.

AmeriCorps members are also working with students in Durango School District 9-R and the Boys and Girls Club, said Anita Carpenter, Big Brother Big Sisters executive director.

They are helping to fill the void left after funding for the school district’s Check and Connect Program through AmeriCorps was lost. This program started in 2010, and it provided one-on-one mentoring to help retain students at risk of dropping out and encouragement to engage in school.

“It’s been a huge loss for us,” said Durango School District Superintendent Dan Snowberger.

AmeriCorps member Louis Marzella works at Park Elementary, and he spends most of his time meeting with students and talking about academic and social struggles. It’s similar to Check and Connect but less formal, he said.

“I hope we can make a positive impact despite being here only for a few months,” he said.

Marzella recently graduated with his bachelor’s degree in sociology from State University of New York in Geneseo and decided to spend the year in AmeriCorps pondering what to do next.

He has decided to become a clinical psychologist, and working with Durango students has helped him consider counseling teenagers.

“I am learning that I enjoy working with kids a lot more than I thought I did. I was a little bit intimidated by the prospective of having to teach them and be patient,” he said.

Durango School District 9-R, La Plata Youth Services, Big Brothers Big Sisters and SOS Outreach applied for Check and Connect funding as a mentoring collaborative, but the groups did not receive funding for the 2016-17 school year.

After the funding was lost, Carpenter started looking for another program to support students, and she applied for a different grant through AmeriCorps.

In November, the first set of short-term AmeriCorps members with the National Civilian Conservation Corps arrived to help at Park and Riverview elementary schools, Escalante Middle School and the nonprofits.

After another application was submitted, a second group of 12 members arrived in January, and they will stay through April. In return for their help, Big Brothers Big Sisters provides the group with housing.

At the Boys and Girls Club, Executive Director Vaughn Morris hopes more AmeriCorps members will be back in the fall.

The club serves about 100 to 120 students between the ages of 8 and 14 daily, and it is tough to find consistent volunteers and people who can work one on one with students, he said.

“They can step right in and fill that role,” he said.

Students get attached to short-term AmeriCorps mentors, but it’s not the same as having someone around for at least a year, as Check and Connect mentors, or as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Carpenter said.

At Big Brothers Big Sisters, 30 students are on the waiting list, and Speas can’t foresee a time when the AmeriCorps volunteers won’t be needed.

mshinn@durangoherald.com