As the director of player development who oversees the Rutgers football team’s community-service events, Nick Quartaro has watched dozens of Scarlet Knight players go through what he calls a “life-altering experience.’’

But he still finds it hard to quantify exactly what the Rutgers players take away from a typical visit to an area school to mentor students.

“There are a lot of things,'' Quartaro said. "But we were leaving after the first week at a school in Newark and I remember it was (RU linebacker) Tyreek Maddox-Williams, who is a terrific kid, and I just happened to be walking next to him as we were leaving the building and I said, ‘Tyreek can you remember back when you were in 6th grade?’ He said, ‘I do, it was rough trying to learn in the environments that, unfortunately, some of these kids are in.’ Even the best students have a hard time fitting in or staying focused. For our guys who are just starting to figure it all out from a life perspective, looking back to that age, they can really value the fact that they’re making a difference in the lives of these students.’’

Since Rutgers coach Chris Ash’s arrival, the Scarlet Knights have implemented several culture-changing initiatives. But Quartaro said the Service Knights program is changing its approach this year.

“We’ve done a lot of things in our time and what we’ve tried to do is grow it and not just do the same things over and over,’’ Quartaro said. “Coach Ash came to me in December when he had been in some different areas of the state recruiting and he said he’d like to see if we can have an impact in maybe the Newark or areas in our backyard. We’ve always done a lot of stuff in schools, with the children’s hospitals, with veterans. But what we’re trying to do is make more of a lasting impact with kids who could use motivation to get through some adversity.’’

Since January, more than two dozen Rutgers players have spent time talking to students at Belmont Runyon Elementary School in Newark, at Arbor Intermediate School in Piscataway and Franklin Middle School in Somerset.

The players include: Rani Abdulaziz, Austin Albericci, Trey Avery, Elijah Barnwell, Jamal Beaty, Micah Clark, Malik Dixon, Liam Flite, Tyshon Fogg, Jelani Ray Garvin, Monterio Hunt, Tyreek Maddox-Williams, Anthony Marshall, Zamir Mickens, Raiqwon O’Neal, Will Previlon, Drew Singleton, Cole Snyder, Reggie Sutton, Prince Taylor, Julius Turner, Sam Vretman, Keshon Williams, Paul Woods, Everett Wormley and Avery Young.

“It’s very interesting,’’ said Roosevelt Boone, the assistant director of player development for the Rutgers football team. “It’s a great way to provide some mentoring and to offer support, but it’s also an opportunity to learn a little bit more about our players. We’ve taken a group of guys, from incoming freshman to upperclassman, and each week they share something different about their experience as athletes, whether it’s bullying or the role of bystander (to bullying) or any kind of adversity that may have slowed them down along with way.’’

Service Knights wrap up a great afternoon mentoring 6th graders at Belmont Runyon Elementary, in Newark. A big thank you to all the administrators and teachers! pic.twitter.com/RVAOu9memW — Rutgers Football (@RFootball) February 15, 2019

As the acting assistant principal at Arbor Intermediate, Sonal Bhatt has witnessed the impact that the players’ life-lesson mentorship has made on her students.

“The Rutgers players made one visit so far and the motivation for our students is, if in the next four weeks they make good choices,'' she said, "the players will be coming back to either play football or basketball.’’

Today we talked about the importance of academics as it pertains to student-athletes. #ServiceKnights pic.twitter.com/nBcZ65A4qY — Rutgers Football (@RFootball) February 13, 2019

The students, she said, wrote reports on the experience.

“One of our campaigns in Piscataway is “You ... I ... We Inspire’ (so) we asked them to write a short report about how were you inspired today?'' she said. "Most of the kids wrote they just wanted to say thank you because (the Rutgers) guys made them think about how hard they work and it takes hard work to achieve your dreams and not fooling around is important. The main idea is taking accountability and their actions will have consequences, and if they choose to make poor choices now it’s going to affect them later in life. I think the (Rutgers) players seem very invested in that cause of not giving up on them.’’

Bhatt said she’s already seen the impact the visit made in terms of improved grades and behavior.

“The (Rutgers players) talked about their personal lives and choices and how they decided to choose differently for themselves and why they went to college and what they’re pursuing,’’ she said. “The hope is to see their grade work improve. We’re tracking those things and as long as they’re making good choices and improving academically they should be allowed to play ball with the guys in March. It’s been a great relationship. I look forward to working with (the Rutgers team) in the future; not just this year.’’

As a guidance counselor at Franklin Middle School, Quiyon Peters also understands how Rutgers’ players have affected her group of 6th, 7th and 8th graders in a positive way.

"We have our partnership with Rutgers athletics called First Fridays and the purpose is for them to collaborate with our students on character development,'' she said. "Their presentation in February was bullying prevention, and that focused on building positive relationships. (The) March (visit) was becoming a strong athlete and there was a correlation of athletics and applying them to a student’s academics, their home life and their social relationships. In April, the focus will be developing a positive self esteem and, in May, it will be decision-making and positive character development.''

Today we spoke on the path to becoming a collegiate athlete. Thank you Franklin Middle School for our continued partnership. pic.twitter.com/w82keqQgXs — Rutgers Football (@RFootball) March 1, 2019

As for the overall message she hopes her students come away with from each Rutgers-players visit, Peters said: "We all have a journey but each journey can take us in different directions. But if we stay on the right path then ultimately we’ll experience success. We also want to expose the students to college-readiness opportunities, to continue to develop their character, and to help them to have heroes that they look up to on their journey and as middle-school students, ultimately transitioning to high school and college.''

For now, Quartaro said the Rutgers mentoring program is focusing on the Newark, Franklin and Piscataway schools. But he said the hope is to branch out to other New Jersey school districts in the future.

"It’s been really well received so far,'' he said. "What’s nice is we try to change up the players we bring each week. It’s not just ‘let’s go in, shake hands, smile, and hang out.’ We’re really trying to get these young people to think a little bit, to see what’s on their minds, and then we’ll have our players lead small discussions with groups of about seven or eight kids in each group. We want it to be a learning experience for our kids as well.''

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.