Juan Suarez, a 34-year-old cook in the West Village, worries that his two children won't realize there is more to life than waiting on customers. Beyond President Barack Obama, he said, "they don't have a role model to follow."

Uptown, Robert Smith, a professor of sociology and public affairs at the City University of New York (CUNY), is working to make sure Mexican-American children like Suarez's, will have plenty of people to look up to. For nearly a decade, Smith has worked with a voluntary task force of young Mexican-Americans to identify low-income children of immigrant families, and to connect them to role models in their communities. The hope is that this will build bridges between the Mexican community and the educational system, especially with CUNY.

Through the Mexican Mentorship Project at Washington Irving High school in Union Square and the Mexican American Student Alliance (MASA) in the South Bronx, Smith and MASA president, Angelo Cabrera, along with their fellows work as mentors for young immigrants, helping with homework, raising money for educational programs and teaching workshops that help students prepare for college. The volunteers don't get any salary – just the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping others in need. The Mexican Mentorship Project currently serves between 75 and 80 students.

Smith said that Mexican students really want to succeed in school, but they lack concrete knowledge in how to do so – how to study for tests, which classes to choose to prepare for college. Also, he said, "there are myths about higher education in the community – for example, that you have to be rich to afford it, or that you cannot go if you don't have [immigration] papers. Neither of these things is true at CUNY."

Since the Department of Education's statistics show that more than 11,000 Mexican-born children are enrolled in the New York City Public Schools, and thousands more are of Mexican descent, these organizations have a lot at stake in building a growing community. Indeed, Smith, the author of the 2006 book Mexican New York, estimates that there are more than 500,000 Mexicans in New York now, up from only 40,000 in 1980. In 2006, Mexicans surpassed Dominicans as the group giving birth to the most babies in the city, according to the City Planning Department.The mentoring projects are sponsored by the Mexican Educational Foundation of New York (MexEd), which Smith co-founded. He said that Mexicans in New York show contradictory trends. While about a third of Mexican girls and a fifth of boys are upwardly mobile in terms of education and work compared to their parents, Mexicans drop out of school at alarming rates. The Census shows that Mexicans in New York City have the highest percentage of 16- to 19-year olds who haven't graduated from or enrolled in high school: 47 percent compared to 22 percent of Puerto Ricans, 18 percent of African Americans and 7 percent of whites. Furthermore, Mexicans are losing huge numbers in high school itself: While 95 percent of boys attend school at age 14, only 26 percent are still enrolled at age 18-19. For girls, the numbers go from 96 percent to 31 percent.

"This is an educational hemorrhage," said Smith, "but it does not have to continue. Stopping it is the single best investment we can make in the future of New York City."

MASA mentors students from first through twelfth grade in math, English, writing, reading and science, as well as PSAT and SAT preparation. They also teach civic and cultural awareness in order to form a new generation of responsible citizens that care about social issues.

MASA currently provides mentorship projects at St. Pius V Catholic Church to more than 35 students three days a week. And more than 20 parents are enrolled in a homework aid program for English language learners.

"We want to help our children to embrace education and give them tools to better their lives," Cabrera said. "This is why the role model program is important – because it serves as a reference to the community, so that we know of people who have achieved their academic goals."

Manuel Castro, director of the Northeast office of Poblano Migrant Affairs, an organization that works with Mexican immigrants from the state of Puebla, Mexico, thinks the community can take advantage of something they know how to do well: build from the community.

"Mexican immigrants have managed to come this far because they used the experiences and knowledge of family and friends that came here before them," he said.

Castro, who is an anthropology graduate of Hampshire College, said they need to use the same process with the youth mentorship programs. "We need to make sure those who have gone through the education system and have gone to college pass on experiences and knowledge to those who have not," he said. "This way, our youth can successfully reach and complete college."

The Department of Education of the City of New York has recognized the success of similar programs based on tutoring and mentoring. In January 2007, during a celebration of National Mentoring Month, Chancellor Joel I. Klein said, "It would be a tremendous gift to New York City if more caring adults stepped and got involved."

Steve Ruszczyk, 30, has been a mentor to James Garcia through the MexEd program for six months. Ruszczyk is a PhD candidate in Sociology at CUNY. He said that through his relationship with James, a high school senior, they have learned about each other's culture – which is particularly important for his own development as a sociologist.

As for James, he will be the first of three brothers in his family to seek a college education. "It has been so good for me," he said. "He has taken me to the most well-known libraries and colleges in the city and helps with homework whenever I need help."

James said he wants to follow in his mentor's footsteps. After graduation, he hopes to study accounting at CUNY's Baruch College, in New York.

For some Mexican families who are new to the country, however, these programs have been hard to find.

Suarez, who has a son in the sixth grade at I.S. 89 and a kindergartner at P.S. 3, is not familiar with the city's education system. He wishes his children had a mentor to help them solve problems, "someone who knows about education in this country and could give them a different point of view," he said. "I try and let them know about education. It really is the only thing I can do to try and get them ahead, so that they devote their lives to something other than being behind a counter."

"My legs hurt and knees fail from standing up for so long; same with my wife who works cleaning houses. At times my back has cramps from working so much," Suarez said.

Life is extremely hard for the Suarezes who must work 80 hours a week to raise a family of five, which at times is frustrating. "It's enough to support my family here, but I don't have enough to send more money to my mother in Mexico; however, I think my kids will have a better chance with their studies and with work by being born in this country. They will have a better opportunity to find a less taxing job."

Jonathan Sanchez, originally from Veracruz, Mexico, said that the only role models are his teachers and parents. Sanchez, an eleventh-grader at Robert Cleveland High School in Queens, would be glad to join a mentoring program for Mexican children. "People can help those who come behind them so that their path can be easier," he said.

Smith and Cabrera say that in order for the mentorship program to serve more students, they need more funds. Donations can be made online (at mexednyc.org. or by sending a check to Smith at Baruch College School of Public Affairs).

With any hope, those involved in the mentor programs say, efforts such as theirs might help Mexican American students catch up with their peers.

"For parents and students, having a free mentorship program within the community will … reduce the educational gap with other ethnic groups," Cabrera said.

This article was written as part of an education reporting fellowship granted by New York Community Media Alliance.