High school students mentoring middle schoolers: the BBBS STARS program
📍 Denver
Meet Daniel, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado's 2024 STARS Mentor of the Year — a high school student making a difference in his own school community.
Why we're sharing this
Not every mentor has to be a 30-something professional. STARS pairs high school students with middle schoolers in the same school district — proof that you don't need a decade of life experience to make a difference.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado runs a program called STARS that does something clever: it trains high school students to mentor middle schoolers. Instead of recruiting working adults who have to find time in packed schedules, STARS taps a population that’s already in the building — older students who remember what it was like to be 12 and scared of everything.
Daniel was named 2024 STARS Mentor of the Year, and the video above profiles his experience in the program. What stands out is how natural the mentoring relationship feels when the age gap is small enough to share cultural references but large enough to offer perspective.
How STARS works
The program runs a 23-week curriculum during the school year, covering leadership, social-emotional skills, mental wellbeing, healthy relationships, and academic planning. Mentors and mentees meet weekly at school, so there’s no transportation barrier for either party.
STARS operates in Denver Public Schools, Aurora, Adams 12, and other Front Range districts. High school students interested in mentoring can contact Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado at biglittlecolorado.org/volunteer or call 303-433-6002. Schools can also reach out to bring the program to their campus.
For adults interested in mentoring, BBBS offers community-based and site-based programs with different time commitments. The minimum age for adult volunteers is 21.