"These kids are the exact opposite of how my friends and I grew up," Pinn said. "We didn't talk about if we went to college, but which college."

Yet, despite an obvious difference in values and background, Pinn thinks he has something to offer as a role model for at-risk students in the county.

Pinn is just getting started as a volunteer with the Role Model Program, a San Jose-based nonprofit organization that places adults once a week in classrooms with students who could use a little nudging. The program aims to help fourth- through eighth-graders make good decisions and think about finishing high school and eventually college.

"We give hope, inspiration and critical life skills that underserved youth require to succeed," said Marybeth Affleck-Nacey, executive director.

The students at the schools volunteers visit are often the children of immigrants or have parents who work several jobs.

"College is not part of what they talk about," Affleck-Nacey said.

The program began in 1989, and initially volunteers shared their message in assemblies. But today they have workbooks that they teach from. Affleck-Nacey said the program reached out to 6,000 children last year, up from 600 the first year.

For one hour a week for six weeks, Pinn will speak to a fourth-grade class at Booksin Elementary School. Booksin is a feeder school for Willow Glen Middle and Willow Glen High schools, two schools that have students who struggle in ways the Role Model Program seeks to alleviate. Although Pinn is used to speaking in public and making presentations, which he does frequently when he talks to city councils about his housing developments, he said he is still nervous about going into a classroom. However, he thinks he does have a message they can relate to.

"I was not a good student," he said, blaming his struggles on minor learning disabilities. "School has always been a struggle for me."

He credits his parents and high school teachers, positive influences in his life, for pushing him to college.

Even though the students the Role Model Program serves are growing in different circumstances than his own children, Pinn said he has a vested interest because those students will become adults one day.

"The kids that go through this program simply come out making better decisions, and we may rely on them down the road," he said. "It makes sense that we would want the best decision-makers throughout our population. They may go to college with our kids."

Earle Craigie, another Saratoga resident who volunteers with the Role Model Program, agrees with that line of thinking.

"I'm helping out future leaders," Craigie said.

Craigie has been a volunteer since 2003. A retired senior management consultant, he didn't know if he had what it takes to talk to children, but after his first session he was hooked. He now has a new class of eighth-graders at Bernal Intermediate School in San Jose. The curriculum for middle school students runs for eight weeks.

"If I help out one student, it's worth my time," he said. "They're good kids. You hear of some bad stuff, but the majority of the kids are wonderful."

Like Pinn, Craigie pulls out his personal experiences to relate. Neither of his parents graduated from high school, but Craigie was convinced that college was his ticket to a better life. He graduated from college at age 30, taking one night class at a time. He said he wants to show that college can be a possibility, even if parents aren't wealthy.

"Just because parents don't have money, there are ways," he said.

To get students to think past high school and about the importance of a high school diploma, Craigie makes them write to colleges and universities to ask for a packet of application materials. He also points out financial aid opportunities and trade school options, if college really isn't what the students want.

"It takes a community (to raise children), and hopefully I'm a positive influence," he said.

The Role Model Program is always looking for more volunteers to go into classrooms, and Affleck-Nacey said that Saratoga residents have a wealth of life experiences to share.

"We're all human beings, and they're kids. The only difference is the ZIP code, the background and how much stuff they have," she said. "There are more similarities than differences."

To find out more about the Role Model Program, call 408.246.0433 or visit www.therolemodelprogram.org.