
Unlocking club doors: Stars for Scholarly Youth provides mentorship and education for students
By Reyam Jamaleddine, January 26 2025—
Stars for Scholarly Youth (SSY) is a grassroots initiative that started at the University of Calgary expanding to the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto. This non-profit start-up is led exclusively by students, offering free and accessible educational and extracurricular opportunities for underserved youth from grades five to 12.
Haris Ahmed is a Master’s student in Public Policy at the University of Calgary and the co-founder of SSY. Ahmed explains the inspiration for the rooting of this initiative as one founded on the lack of affordability hindering youth from accessing tutoring services.
“I was a personal tutor myself so I tutored math and science …. not everyone can afford tutoring support so I had a lower cost option for some people and I found myself discounting my rates for a lot of people. I was talking to some of my friends and I found out that they were also having the same issue and so Stars for Scholarly Youth was born,” explained Ahmed in an interview with the Gauntlet.
With 400 student volunteers and over 30 community partners, SSY’s national reach allows them to support, specific, marginalized communities.
“The people that we usually target are individuals who can’t necessarily afford to and also Indigenous youth, as well and youth from rural communities,” added Ahmed.
Programs include cost-free tutoring services alongside mentorship initiatives that pair incoming university students with students who are already enrolled.
“We also have free mentoring programs so that they have an older brother or older sister when they’re flying to the university or even just figuring life out,” explained Ahmed.
In addition to free tutoring and mentoring, SSY provides an English Language Literacy Program (ELL) for newcomer youth. This program connects youth with university students creating an approachable and relatable setting.
“People don’t have easy access to tutoring services especially our third program, which is our English Language Literacy Program. Our ELL program supports newcomer youth with English skills through conversations with people who are closer to their age…this program is so important, so vital in so many cities,” said Ahmed, adding that the structured natured of ELL programs cause barriers through increased cost.
SSY gives students at U of C volunteering opportunities which create tangible impact and change for communities in need while gaining valuable skills. Commitment is as little as one hour per week for tutors and dedicating two hours a month for mentors.
“Student volunteers gain concrete skills for their professional growth … you gain a direct experience of tutoring and teaching someone. You create lesson plans and then you help them with that and then we have some support as well…so you get those direct skills,” said Ahmed, adding the leadership, communication and empathy gained from serving others.
Ahmed explains how this program impacts the lives of those who are a part of it with an anecdote from one of the members.
“She was a mentee in her very first cohort, and her mentor was so impactful to her. Not only is she pursuing what’s called a Bachelor of Health Sciences now, which is the same thing her mentor did, but she joined the same program that helped get her started. So now she works with the Stargate program where she’s helping pair mentors and mentees and helping people gain an older brother and older sister to that experience,”
With programs that are rooted in accessibility and targeting at-risk youth, SSY demonstrates the significant difference that student-led initiatives can have. Not only is it impactful for the youth in our communities but also for the students who volunteer for and operate this program.
For more information on Students for Scharly Youth or how to become a part of the initiative visit their website.