UCLI Meadowlark Mentoring Program Opening Social: Strong Arguments, Open Minds
By: Jacen Call, Fall PLEDGE Intern
On September 24, 2026, UCLI and Meadowlark Elementary School held the Meadowlark Mentoring Program Opening Social, beginning a new year of mentoring with Mr. John Arthur’s sixth-grade class. As one of UCLI’s long-standing programs, the Meadowlark Mentoring Program gives Mr. Arthur’s students the chance to work one-on-one with attorney mentors. In short, focused sessions throughout the year, students build confidence in their writing and develop skills for success beyond the classroom.
Attorney Jascha Clark, UCLI Board member and shareholder at Parr Brown Gee & Loveless , joined UCLI staff and interns for the social. The first member of Mr. Arthur’s class to greet them was River, the classroom’s pet snake, and the volunteers got to hold River before any essays came out. UCLI can now add snake wrangling to the duties of future Meadowlark mentors…
Then came some mentorship! Students had written argumentative essays on whether women and children should be taken care of first in a crisis, using the Titanic as their example. Mentors began the visit by going over those essays with them. A question like that would stir up flavorful and flaring emotions in the online forums of today. Mr. Arthur, however, has created an atmosphere that nurtures intellectual growth. It showed in how the students responded to their mentors.
They earnestly looked for critiques on their pieces, from complete strangers, no less. They took feedback and were receptive to change. That is the ideal society we want our children to grow up in. Mr. Arthur is fostering such a dream within the walls of his own classroom.
The social ended with a game of kickball, kids versus adults. Last spring, the adults won for the first time in the program’s history. This fall, the sixth graders ultimately prevailed, earning a 15-minute break from coursework the following week.
We are grateful to Mr. Arthur, 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year, and to Meadowlark Elementary School for their continued partnership. We look forward to a year of mentoring with students who already have lots of skills for success.
