Spring Branch ISD Featured News

He came back to give back
 

January is National Mentoring Month

We are featuring a series of stories about the rewards of being a mentor in Spring Branch ISD. If you can invest about one hour a week in the life of an SBISD student, please contact mentor@springbranchisd.com to learn about the few easy steps it takes to become a mentor.

 

Sergio Razo is a Spring Woods High School class of 2014 alumnus who attended Texas A & M, achieved a degree in sports management with a minor in business and is now working as the education coordinator at SpringSpirit in the Spring Branch area.

He is also “the best mentor ever” to Andres, a sixth grader at Spring Woods Middle School.

Throughout Razo’s years as a student in Spring Branch ISD, he was fortunate to have official and unofficial mentors who invested time in his life, including a Collegiate Challenge mentor.

“I was a good student, but I didn’t know the steps needed to get into college,” said Razo. “My Collegiate Challenge mentor really helped me with this. I told her she is the reason I went to college.”

Once he established his career back in Houston, Razo wanted to become a SpringBoard mentor, so he could give back to the community that helped him so much. 

“I thought a mentor was going to be very strict about my homework,” said Andres. “And I thought he would be old. He’s nothing like that!” 

Andres has been happily surprised at how much fun he has with his mentor and how young he is! Each week at SWMS, they enjoy chatting while Andres eats his lunch, working on schoolwork he may be struggling with and then playing a game together. 

The young man credits his passing math grade to the help he received from his mentor. He, also, values the advice Razo gave him to “keep on going even though life puts you down.”

“Thank you for everything you have done for me,” said Andres to his mentor. “There is nothing else I could say that describes how thankful I am for you.”

Razo encourages other community members to jump in and help shepherd a young person through the stages and phases of life by being a mentor.

“It’s just a friendship,” he said. “It’s an awesome feeling once you start interacting with your mentee. It’s very rewarding.”

Submitted by Becky Wuerth, SBISD Communications
becky.wuerth@springbranchisd.com