移民家庭实现美国梦

"When one of those pillars isn’t working or is dysfunctional, trust me, the child suffers," says Cuomo.

玛蒂尔达.科莫说：“请相信我，这三项支柱中如果有一个不能发生作用，孩子们就会吃亏了。”

She wanted mentors with the state-run program to act as a bridge among all three elements. They would offer the personal support a family member might provide along with the strong focus on academic achievement of a school. She looked for volunteers from the wider community who could expose young students to the larger world beyond their immediate circles.

科莫希望在这项州计划管理之下的辅导老师们扮演这三项支柱之间的桥梁。他们可以像家庭成员一样提供支持，并兼顾到学校重视的课业成绩。她从广大的社区里寻求志愿工作者，带领年轻的学生超越现在的生活领域，看到更广大的世界。

Cuomo says individual attention provides the most effective mentoring.

科莫说，最有效的辅导工作，是一对一的方式。

"These children do not thrive unless you give them the one-to-one. When a mentor comes, well-trained - we will do that - and says ‘I am here for you. And we are going to work out your problems. We are going to see why you’re not doing better in English and math and so forth and you are going to your pass your grade. You are going to do better. You are going to graduate.’ This is what I want. This is what I want to see instilled in these children."

科莫说：“除非你提供一对一的辅导，孩子不会起劲的。当一名受过良好训练的辅导老师来了，并且说我是为你来的，我们来解决你的问题。我们看一看为什么你的英语或数学等科目不能进步。然后你的成绩可以及格。你会进步，会毕业。这就是我要的。这就是我希望看到输灌给孩子的观念。”

Challenging times

The New York State Mentoring Program was hugely successful. Yet when Mario Cuomo left office in 1994, the new governor cut funding for the program. This was a difficult time for Matilda Cuomo. She considered giving up the project, until her son Andrew - who is now the governor of New York State himself - gave her a pep talk.

纽约州的教师辅导计划大为成功。但是，当马里奥.科莫于1994年卸下州长职务后，新任州长删减了这项计划的经费。对于玛蒂尔达.科莫来说，这又是她的一个困难时期。她一度考虑放弃这项计划。直到后来她的儿子，现任纽约州长安德鲁为她打气。

"He said ‘That’s your baby. You nurture babies. You don’t ever leave them, Mom. So you have to keep it going.’ I said ‘What am I going to call it?’ He said ‘Mentoring USA. Now you can go national.’"

科莫说：“他说，这是你的宝贝。你亲手培育起来的宝贝。妈，不要离弃它。你要继续带着它向前。我说，我该怎么叫它？他说，就叫它‘美国辅导教育计划’。如此，你可以向全国发展。”

Today, Mentoring USA works with youth in seven states, and Cuomo expects that more states will be signing on soon. She sums up her attitude with an Italian expression she often heard from her father: "passa ci sopra," roughly meaning, "keep on going, never give up."

现在，为年轻人而设的美国辅导教育计划已经在美国的七个州里成立。玛蒂尔达以一句过去常听父亲讲的意大利话来表达 -- “passa ci sopra”。这句话的意思是，继续前进，不要放弃。”