SAN ANTONIO – While the John Jay High School Mustangs and Stevens High School Falcons wage battle on the football field Friday night, students from both schools are waging their own battles in the classroom.
At Stevens, seniors are helping freshman battle the nerves and anxiety of starting their high school careers.
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"We’re helping them with the things we struggled with, like procrastination, grades, schedules, things we didn't know how to fix," said Illiana Gardner, a senior at Stevens.
The seniors are part of the Citizens in Action program, where they act as mentors to their younger classmates. They teach them the ropes and are there for the freshmen when they need a little help.
"We have a relationship with them where we can go to them about anything, go to them if we have problems," said Jazmyn Burciaga, a freshman at Stevens.
This is the first year for the program at Stevens and both classes are excited about the give and take.
"They talk to us about how not to slack off and to focus," Burciaga said.
"I get to see my freshman in the hallways. It's insane. You see them and they smile, they light up, and it's really cool to feel like you make a an impact on somebody's life," Gardner said.
Students at John Jay are also making a difference in the community with a new program called the "Chick-Fil-A Leadership Academy.”
"We learn skills to become better leaders and to give to our community. We get together and do service projects," said Sabrina Rodriguez, a junior at John Jay.
Those leadership skills developed with their first projects, putting together 75 meals for the San Antonio food bank.
"(I) know that each one of these are going to a family from the food bank. That was a really good feeling," said Eric Caballero, a junior at John Jay. “This shows the results of making an impact in the community."
"I figured with this program I could learn some techniques and stuff to help me be a better leader to my teammates and to my family and friends," Rodriguez said.