AUBURN – Tonya Cole will soon go to Boston’s Fenway Park to train with Jason Varitek, Alex Cora and Big Papi himself, David Ortiz.

The Edward Little High School senior won’t play baseball with the Red Sox stars. She’ll learn how to start a community service program at her high school.

At EL this fall Cole and three other students, John Alexander, Adam Lutz and Brittney Turcotte, will be captains of a new Youth Action Team – part of Volunteers of America – that has ties to the Red Sox.

They have yet to decide which community project they’ll do, but it could be helping homeless youths, Cole said.

In August or September, all four will be coached by Red Sox players at Fenway on how to recruit and inspire volunteers. Later in the year they’ll be recognized for their work at Fenway.

Across the country major league players are mentoring high school students and coaching them to encourage other teens to volunteer, said Glenn Michaels of Volunteers of America.

“The players are very involved. They want to have an impact on youth,” Michaels said. “They’ve started this program allowing players to work face-to-face with youth,” Michaels said.

The Red Sox have partnerships with six Maine high schools, including EL, he said. The others are Portland, South Portland, York, Kennebunk and the REAL School of Windham. More schools will be added as the program grows, Michaels said.

On June 21, Cole was one of two Maine students picked for a video shoot at Fenway. When the video explaining the program is complete it will be shown in New England high schools.

“I have so many friends who say, Oh my God, I love the Red Sox!’ I say, I’ve met them,'” Cole said with a big smile.

Being at Fenway for the first time and meeting the players was exciting, Cole said. She was impressed by how they didn’t act like superstars.

“They’re like normal,” Cole said. “They didn’t act big. They didn’t act rich. They didn’t look any different than anybody else,” except for their uniforms, she said. Cole corrected herself, saying, “OK, Ortiz doesn’t look like everyone else. He’s much bigger.”

The players made the students feel at ease, she said.

Ortiz was “pretty outgoing,” she said. “The minute he saw a girl from last year he gave her a huge hug. He was like us. The same thing with Jason.”

Varitek noticed that Cole was nervous. “He said, Relax, relax. You’ll do fine.’ He was just really nice.”

According to what Cole learned from the Red Sox, the players volunteer because they feel a need to help. They get paid for playing and want to do something to give back.

Leslie Morrill, an assistant principal at Edward Little, said all four students are good picks to lead the program. She described Cole as having a big heart, Alexander and Lutz as “really into baseball” and Turcotte as a quiet leader. All four have compassion for others, Morrill said.

Edward Little mandates that students perform 24 hours of community service to graduate. The new program is a good opportunity for students, Morrill said. “The more they can reach out, the more aware they are of the world around them, the bigger their heart grows. That’s an important lesson for all our kids.”

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