Feature of Hamilton Utica Mentorship Program
By Meg Stroup ’26, Features Editor
The Hamilton Utica Mentorship program is a wonderful way for Hamilton students and kids from the local Utica community to form meaningful connections through engaging in a wide array of activities. This program provides an opportunity for Hamilton students to share their interests and experiences with younger students from the local area. Students and mentors meet weekly on Tuesdays at a community center in Utica, engaging in various activities, from science experiments to soccer. The kids in the program range from around six years old to 13, and mentors are all Hamilton students.
Kendall Bocklet ’26 and Nestor Martinez ’25 lead Hamilton Utica Mentoring. They put immense effort into organizing weekly activities and maintaining this connection with the leaders of this afterschool program at the community center. Bocklett explained what this program means to her: “HUM is my favorite thing I do on campus. I am so grateful for the outlet to give back to the community. Nestor and I worked really hard this semester to bring in Hamilton students who share interests with the kids. In planning the itinerary, we made it our goal that every individual in the program felt seen through thoughtful activities. To me, HUM is a space for the kids to get to be themselves and for us as tutors to really listen and support them.”
The highlight of this program is when the students are able to engage with college life through visiting campus. This past Saturday, students from HUM visited the Hill! At 10 a.m. the students arrived at Sadove to begin the day. This event-packed day began with a trip to the Taylor Science Center. Martinez prepared three demonstrations, and the fireworks were definitely a fan favorite. Then, Chemistry professor Wesley Kramer led an ice cream making activity involving nitrogen gas, which was thoroughly enjoyed. The group proceeded to head to the rock climbing wall. After a brief belay instruction, the kids enjoyed climbing on the rock wall in the Blood Fitness Center.
In the afternoon, the kids headed to the Wellin where docents Jun Reiss ’26 and Bocklett guided the group through the René Treviño exhibit. “The highlight of my day was definitely the Wellin. As a docent there, it was so special to share a place so important to me with the group. We also have tons of artists in HUM, and it was exciting to see their interpretations of Stab of Guilt and the permanent museum collection,” exclaimed Bocklett.
Following the museum, the student volunteers led the group to the Field House to play soccer with students. The group divided into two teams and scrimmaged for over an hour. Some of the kids hung out on the sidelines, throwing frisbees back and forth and talking with Hamilton students. Ross Eagle ’26 and Jun Reiss ’26, orchestrated the soccer game, leading a warm up and hyping up the group for the game. Nestor Martinez ’26 shared that his favorite part of the day was “definitely when I saw the faces of some of the kids when they saw Ross at the soccer field. They really lit up and got so excited to see someone familiar and get to play soccer on a huge field. Playing a full game with them was also so much fun.” Sarafina Madden ’26, participated in the scrimmage and shared that “it was so awesome watching the kids play soccer, cheer one another on and just have fun running around together.”
To finish out the day, the group participated in a Hamilton campus scavenger hunt. They visited various spots on campus, stopping at the library, the old observatory site, the Chapel and the well. Their final destination was the Glen House where everyone congregated around a campfire to make s’mores. The student volunteers and kids huddled around the fire, enjoying s’mores and talking about the day. Bocklett asked everyone to share their rose, bud and thorn from the day. Many of the kids shared rock climbing as their highlight of the day.
Bocklett ’26 and Martinez ’26 reflected on what the HUM program means to them. “HUM is my favorite thing I do on campus. I am so grateful for the outlet to give back to the community. Nestor and I worked really hard this semester to bring in Hamilton students who share interests with the kids. In planning the itinerary, we made it our goal that every individual in the program felt seen through thoughtful activities. To me, HUM is a space for the kids to get to be themselves and for us as tutors to really listen and support them,” Bocklett explained. Martinez believes in fostering this connection and the way in which having older mentors can serve as a valuable inspiration: “To me, this program is a way to show kids that college and Hamilton is a possibility. A lot of elite institutions can seem distant and very exclusive to most people in the surrounding area. By engaging with the community and building relationships we can help erode this even by a little bit. In the process we also get to show what college life is like and what possibilities there are within education to kids that might not have the opportunity to see that,” he said.
Bocklett and Martinez discuss future plans for the program which they intend to continue and grow to provide more fun and engaging opportunities. “Some future plans would be to bring the mentees to campus more often. It’s one to leave our hill and visit places, but it’s another thing to bring the community to our school. I think this is an important step towards integrating our college and our students into the Greater Utica community as members rather than disconnected outsiders,” said Martinez. Bocklett concurs, “We have seen how impactful one day on campus is for the group, and would love to share even more Hamilton resources with them.”
