By Nancy Lippe

Rich Fischer, retiring superintendent of the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, ended a day that began much earlier than most of us wake up, spanned several campuses, and encompassed too many meetings and phone calls to count, but included a conversation with his protégé, Jose Vargas.

Vargas is one of many students Fischer has mentored through Partners for New Generations, but Vargas is special because he has impacted Fischer’s life in ways he never anticipated.

In the late 1990s, Vargas was struggling at Mountain View High School, searching for outlets for his energy and interests through clubs and after-school activities. Fischer noticed him during a play performance and the two struck up a friendship. It began with casual conversations and a quick meal here or there, moved on to dinners with family, and now entails flights from Washington, D.C., by Vargas to spend a few days with Fischer and his extended family.

A busy man, involved with teens through his profession, Fischer speaks passionately about adolescents and ways to meet their needs. Mentoring is one of them. He believes that mature adults, selfless and secure in their own lives, have much to offer.

What he could offer, Fischer said, was “stability, reliability, love and a nonjudgmental ear,” just what Vargas needed. Vargas might have been lost, but he found people who gave him what he needed.

Vargas was living at home in the Philippines when his mother sent him to California to live with his grandparents. She thought he would have a better life here. But life was tough, and Vargas found himself on the street by the time he was 16. Enter some key adults - Pat Hyland, Mountain View High School principal, and Fischer.

“Jose is very special,” Fischer said, “and has overcome so many challenges in his life.”

Fischer mentored a number of other students through Partners and the MVLA Community Scholars college scholarship and mentoring programs. He said that some relationships work out better than others and that is OK. The key to a good mentoring relationship, Fischer said, is not to come in with expectations about the students or what you think you’re going to get out of it, because “in the end mentoring is not for us, it’s for the kids.”

Fischer helped Vargas find scholarships for college, including a local grant from the district’s Community Scholars program. Through the Scholars program, he remained Vargas’ mentor through college. Fischer helped Vargas find internships and his first job out of college - the youngest reporter ever hired at The Washington Post.

Vargas shared his perspective on the relationship, “Rich changed my life. What he gave me - what he continues to give me — is unconditional support, encouragement and wisdom. It’s beyond words what he continues to do for me, not because he is obligated to, but because he cares.”

While not every partnering relationship proves to be as deep and enduring as the one Fischer and Vargas share, mentoring can make a difference in the life of any youth. Not only has Fischer learned something from each student with whom he has worked, he also knows that every time he calls or shows up for an appointment, he makes a powerful statement that someone is there, someone cares.

For more information, call PNG at 949-0828, ext. 4, or e-mail partners@losaltosrotary.org.