Families and young adults in Tucson, Oro Valley, Marana, the Catalina Foothills and Sahuarita can meet a Blackburn mentor by video. One dedicated mentor works with each client weekly or more often, sessions are scheduled in Arizona time, and text and phone check-ins fill the days in between. Our team is based in Los Angeles.
Desert life has its own calendar
Tucson’s year turns on heat. October through April is the reason people move here: clear skies, hiking in Sabino Canyon, cycling the Loop. Then comes a long summer when afternoons above a hundred degrees push life indoors, followed by the monsoon from roughly July into September, with dramatic storms and flash floods. Mount Lemmon, an hour up the highway, is where people go to cool off.
For teenagers, a Tucson summer can mean weeks inside with a screen. For young adults, it can mean a slow season at work. Planning for those months, instead of waiting them out, is one of the most useful things a mentor does here. See teen screen time and school and a teen summer plan.
A college town, a military town and a border town
Tucson is several cities at once. Several colleges and universities bring thousands of students and the energy, and distractions, that come with them. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and aerospace and defense employers bring military families who move every few years. The city’s history and food culture are deeply tied to Mexico, an hour south, and Tucson was the first city in the United States named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy.
Each brings its own reasons to look for a mentor:
- A college student far from home, or a local student living with parents, whose first year is not going well. See when a college student is failing classes.
- A military family whose teen is starting over at a new school for the third time.
- A young adult who finished school and is unsure whether to stay in Tucson, move to Phoenix or leave Arizona.
Moving again: helping a military teen settle
Frequent moves teach adaptability, and they also wear on a teenager. Each new school means new teachers, new rules and new friends. A mentor who meets by video can stay the same even when the address changes, which is part of why online mentoring suits military families. The early weeks after a move are the time to set a simple routine, find one activity, and keep grades from slipping while everything else settles.
Staying active when it is too hot to go outside
Health and fitness goals are some of the most common ones mentors help with, and Tucson summers test them. The fix is usually timing and planning: a walk or ride at dawn, a gym or pool routine for the afternoon, and a simple weekly target the mentor checks on. See health and fitness mentoring.
About the clock in Arizona
Most of Arizona does not observe daylight saving time. From spring to fall, Tucson’s clock matches Los Angeles; in winter, Tucson is one hour ahead. We schedule in your local time, so you never have to track the change. After-school sessions, evenings and early mornings before the heat are all common.
Where a mentor helps
A mentor is a steady, practical guide, not a tutor, therapist or admissions counselor. Families with a teenager usually start with mentoring for high school students; students already on campus with mentoring for college students. Our online mentoring page explains how video sessions work.
Related
- Online mentoring in Phoenix and Scottsdale
- Online mentoring in Albuquerque
- Online mentoring in San Diego
- Mentoring for families
Common questions
Do you have an office in Tucson?
No. Our team is in Los Angeles, and Tucson clients work with their mentor by video, with text and phone contact between sessions.
Can the mentor stay the same if our military family moves?
Yes. Sessions are online, so the same mentor continues after a move, scheduled in the new local time.
Do you work with college students in Tucson?
Yes. Mentors help college students with routines, classes, work and planning. They are not tutors, and they can coordinate with campus resources the student already uses.
Get started
Thinking about a mentor for someone in Tucson? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.