RAPID CITY, S.D. – TeamMates mentoring program is helping more than 90 youth in the Rapid City Area Schools and they’d like to expand their reach.

On Sunday, the non-profit is holding its first Miles for Mentoring event to bring the community together, raise awareness about mentoring, and raise funds to reach more young people in Rapid City’s schools.

TeamMates’ Miles for Mentoring is open to everyone and it’s simple – walk a mile and raise funds for the mentoring program. The event will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20, at Founders Park. Participants can show up anytime between 9 and 10:30 a.m. to walk and learn more about the TeamMates mentoring program.

The event is free to participants – to help raise funds for TeamMates, individuals and businesses have pledged donations per participants’ mile walked, so everyone walking at least a mile helps out the TeamMates program and youth in the Rapid City Area Schools.

“I tried, in this event, to hit different buckets,” Nick Van Dyne, Board President for Rapid City TeamMates Mentoring, said. “Fund raising is one… but also for people to learn more about TeamMates, they’ll be able to ask questions, donate if they’d like, or sign up to be a mentor.”

Registration for the Sunday Miles for Mentoring can be done at the TeamMates Facebook page or day of the event.

TeamMates has operated within Rapid City Area Schools since 2019. The community-based 501(c)(3) organization that partners with RCAS to provide daytime, in-school mentoring.

It is not a tutoring program, and mentors aren’t there to replace teachers, counselors or other school staff. The goal is to provide an additional positive adult relationship for students.

The school-based mentoring program matches students one-on-one with a caring adult mentor who meets with their mentee at school just once a week for about 30–45 minutes.

Last school year, more than 90 active mentoring matches across Rapid City Area Schools involved students in grades 3 through 12 and more than 16 schools across the district. More mentors are always welcome.

“We have 97 matches but there’s never a time we don’t have mentees waiting,” Van Dyne said. “So right now we probably have anywhere from five to 10 mentees waiting to be matched with a mentor.”

Van Dyne, who previously served as the TeamMates Program Manager role for Rapid City Area Schools in 2023-2024, said the program has a real impact on youth in the district and provides a valuable opportunity for the mentor.

“Obviously there’s a significant impact on the kids,” Van Dyne said. “(Mentors) report being more fulfilled, happier going back to their job, happier going back to their day to day – an overall sense of fulfillment and sense of gratitude for their match.”

TeamMates is open to all students in grades 3 through 12, if they choose to participate. Some students may be going through a difficult time and benefit from having another caring adult in their corner, while others may simply want an opportunity during their school day to take a break, connect with someone and build a positive relationship.

Van Dyne said, through the work of the school district and TeamMates, youth involved in the mentoring program show better attendance, an increase in grades, and a decrease in behavior issues.

Micah Brandsrud, TeamMates Program Manager at Rapid City Area Schools, said the program provides the district with another resources to support students will complementing, rather than replacing, the work of teachers, counselors and other school staff.

“For students, I think the biggest value is having another consistent adult in their corner,” Brandsrud said. “Mentors provide encouragement, someone to talk to and someone who takes a genuine interest in the student’s life. Sometimes the most valuable thing a mentor can do is simply show up every week and give a student their time and attention.”

Rapid City Area Schools entered into a partnership with TeamMates after local community members brought the TeamMates mentoring model to Rapid City and worked with the district to establish the program. At the time, TeamMates was also expanding into South Dakota, and the partnership provided an opportunity to connect Rapid City students with caring adults from the community in a consistent, supervised school setting, Brandsrud said.

The MOU between TeamMates and Rapid City Area Schools establishes the framework for that partnership between the district and the local TeamMates chapter, Brandsrud explained. TeamMates provides the mentoring program, recruits and trains community mentors, oversees the matching process and provides ongoing program support, while the schools help facilitate the program within the school day.

“Ultimately, I think the value of TeamMates is pretty simple,” Brandsrud said. “It gives students another caring adult who knows them, supports them and continues to show up for them. At the same time, it gives members of our community a meaningful way to become involved in our schools and support students.”