Dan McNeil, Grand Area Mentoring’s program director, is excited about the autumn season and especially eager to interest “kind, responsible” adults in the program’s two-hour New Mentor Orientation on the evening of September 25, 5-7 p.m., at the Margaret Hopkin Middle School.

McNeil, who was teaching special ed. to 7th graders at the time, jumped on board when the school district first conceived the Mentoring program in 2005 and virtually never looked back.

Now looking toward its 20th year, the hugely successful program (ask any Moab local) has maintained its core program of mentoring students one-on-one in Grand County schools while expanding the options for mentors and their mentees. The program consistently earns high marks within the community for successfully improving the lives of students in the Grand County school system.

To what do we owe this phenomenal success and name recognition in a community replete with nonprofits?

One need look no farther than the key concepts that appear in Mentoring’s Annual Report – among them safety, reliability, consistency. The program’s culture places a strong emphasis on youth safety. Mentors are cautioned to show up on time and encouraged to make a commitment to their relationship with their student mentee. Strikingly, McNeil tells me that any relationship of less than six months could actually have a worsening effect on a child. He is proud to report that the average relationship in Moab lasts 4.6 years.

A whopping 100 percent of the Mentorship program’s matches last for more than one year. “So much data,” he says. “It’s awesome.”

Among the highlights, based on end-of-the-year interviews with students is this arresting statement: “I feel safe with my mentor” scored 100 percent agreement.

Another marker of success: The program has maneuvered into an expanded role since its beginnings in ’05. Initially centered on the school campuses, it now includes a rash of other venues, such as the library, hiking and biking trails in the area, restaurants, the museum, and the like, so mentors have a variety of ways to connect, especially with older mentees, by doing things that both can enjoy together.

Last year, the program added Teresa Munisteri to its staff in order to better support adolescents in the program. The goal, once again, is consistency: to sustain matches for a longer period of time, which, according to McNeil, leads to better outcomes. “Last year – Year One - was a tremendous success. Munisteri is doing a wonderful job,” he says.

If you would like to be a part of it: The orientation on 9/25 will first cover numerous topics, including the foundation of what mentoring means, the program’s policies and how that works in the schools, and then the second part will move on to the development of actual mentoring skills, like communication and mindset.

All are welcome and coming to the orientation is not tantamount to signing on the dotted line. “There’s no obligation,” McNeil says, “just come and learn and see if it will fit into your life.”

Sign up by calling or texting 435-260-9646 or email grandareamentoring@gmail.com. (Do pre-register so they know how much pizza to order.

And don’t forget to say you read about it in Moab Happenings