Mentoring Tomorrow's Leaders

Mentoring Tomorrow's Leaders (MTL) is a nationally recognized peer-to-peer mentoring and student leadership program serving Broward County Public Schools (BCPS). Since 2007, MTL has grown to 40 BCPS schools and now supports more than 3,000 students in grades 6–12, earning recognition as one of Florida's premier mentoring initiatives.

MTL pairs high-achieving upperclassmen, who show strong academic performance and leadership skills, with mentees who are working to reach their full academic, social, and emotional potential. During the dedicated Mentor-to-Mentee Hour, mentors provide encouragement and support in academics, social development, and emotional well-being. This structured, school-based relationship benefits both students, helping mentors and mentees grow personally and academically.

At each participating school, a dedicated MTL Coordinator guides the program, ensuring mentors and mentees receive the support they need to thrive. The coordinator connects students to school and community resources, nurtures positive relationships, and expands leadership development opportunities.

Built on the MTL Five Pillars, the program has consistently supported key BCPS goals, including improved attendance, higher completion rates, academic advancement, pupil progression, and stronger student engagement. By investing in students as both leaders and learners, MTL helps BCPS build a school culture where young people support one another and prepare to become tomorrow's leaders.

Mentors are at the heart of student success in Broward County Public Schools. For many students, having a trusted peer who understands the pressures of school life can make the difference between feeling lost and feeling supported. MTL mentors are fellow students who have walked the same hallways and faced similar challenges, which makes their encouragement relatable and powerful.

Mentors help mentees build study habits, set goals, and stay engaged in school. They model responsibility, respect, and perseverance, showing younger students what is possible through hard work. Just as importantly, they offer a listening ear and a sense of belonging, supporting students' social and emotional well-being.

The impact reaches beyond the mentee. Serving as a mentor strengthens students' leadership, communication, and empathy, preparing them for college, careers, and community service. When students lift each other up, the whole school benefits. In BCPS, mentors are building stronger students, stronger schools, and a stronger future for Broward County.

Contact Information

Contact Information

Schools for Mentoring Tomorrow's Leaders

Currently Participating

Expansion

MTL has grown and evolved substantially over the years, serving the educational and social emotional needs of approximately 2,500 - 3,000 students from different backgrounds. MTL currently serves students in 1 elementary, 16 middle and 31 high schools with an emphasis on increased program growth potential among high school student populations. MTL boasts a consistent annual graduation rate of 95% or higher among active participants and students consistently demonstrate improvements in academic achievement, attendance, effective communication, leadership skills and social emotional development. MTL students are also less likely to engage in behaviors resulting in disciplinary actions, drop out of school, use illicit drugs or participate in gang activity. As a result, MTL has extensive positive name recognition within BCPS and throughout the community.

Alumni of the MTL program are represented in colleges and universities around the country and continue their service to MTL through Alumni forums and other opportunities to engage, motivate and demonstrate pathways to postsecondary opportunities for the students currently enrolled in the program.

MTL is supported by the Mentoring Across Broward Team, which is a part of the district’s Equity, Diversity and School Climate Department.

History

During the 2007-2008 school year, under the leadership of Amalia Pares-Pomerantz, concerned high school educators at Plantation High School formed a professional learning community to address the academic needs of African American male students. This group became AAMSA– African American Male Student Achievement group; members included Shirley Baker, Diana Carter, Arlene Galarza, Wayne Johnson, Paul Kantorski, Patricia Lesesne, Dona McKenzie, Jeanne Pellegrino, Frank Pinkney, and Teresa Young. During the following school year, after exploration of effective intervention strategies by the group, a peer-mentoring model through which low-achieving African American male freshmen would be paired with high achieving upperclassmen in a mentor-mentee relationship as a means to promote and increase academic achievement was suggested. This model was enthusiastically embraced and implemented by the group and Mentoring Tomorrow’s Leaders (MTL), was the name ultimately given to the new program.

In the first year of the program, over forty high achieving, African American male Plantation High School students volunteered to become MTL mentors and began to work with their mentees. The MTL program was further refined to include clearly established guidelines and prescriptive programmatic cycles prior to being launched the following year at Boyd H. Anderson High School.

While AAMSA/MTL was working to improve the academic success of African American male students at Boyd H. Anderson and Plantation High Schools, the BCPS High School Graduation Rate Task Force, headed by Dr. Laurel E. Thompson, Director of Student Services, was working diligently to identify strategies to improve the high school graduation rate within the district. MTL was recognized as one viable model to be utilized for increasing the graduation rate. This model was written into a proposal for a 5-year grant for $4.5 million from the USDOE High School Graduation Initiative (HSGI) and on September 30, 2010, BCPS was notified that the Mentoring Tomorrow’s Leaders Project was one of twenty-four projects in the nation to be awarded the HSGI grant. This grant allowed for the MTL model to be fully implemented at Boyd H. Anderson High School and Plantation High School – schools that met the USDOE’s guidelines for dropout rates.

MTL Alumni

MTL Events

The Five Pillars of Mentoring Tomorrow's Leaders

1. Academic Achievement

Improving the lives of students through improved academic performance forms the cornerstone of the MTL Program. Students who are struggling to make academic gains can show marked improvement when provided with the information and support that they need to succeed. Ongoing support includes at least 2 weekly mentor-mentee support hours, under the guidance of a site coordinator, to foster academic progress and strengthen social emotional learning skills.

2. Peer Mentoring

High achieving upperclassmen with demonstrated leadership skills participate in a two-year mentor relationship with students who are struggling to make academic gains. This is a structured relationship that is facilitated by the MTL site coordinator. In addition, all MTL students are exposed to adult mentors from the community during planned workshops with guest speakers.

3. Family Involvement

Student success is driven at least in part by the ability of the family to guide and support the personal and academic aspirations of the youth. MTL provides parents and guardians with parent education workshops, materials and information on a variety of topics including college readiness, graduation requirements, pupil progression plans, and successfully navigating through the educational systems. Additionally, MTL equips parents with the necessary tools to engage and communicate effectively with their children.

4. Community Support

Mentors/Mentees initiate and participate a variety of initiatives aimed at expanding their knowledge of and participation in community and civic engagement. MTL provides all members with guidance and support to assist then in taking full advantage of networking opportunities with guest speakers, industry professionals, elected officials, business owners and others. In addition, donors, sponsors and representatives from colleges and universities engage with MTL students to present pathways for post-secondary education. MTL students are consistently applauded and recognized for their involvement in volunteer activities such as food bank collection and distribution, visits to foster homes and senior facilities, collecting clothes and provisions for disaster relief, reading to pre-K students and raising money for worthy causes.

5. Student Enrichment and Incentives

Program participants gain access to a variety of rewards and incentives as they work to improve their grades and meet high school graduation requirements. Incentives include access to enrichment activities and field trips, participation in for credit college experiences, student leadership development programs, scholarship opportunities, college tours, access to professional sport representatives and events, and participation in youth focused events, forums and conferences.