FORT KENT – The University of Maine at Fort Kent and the St. John Valley’s four high schools are teaming up to bring St. John Valley students a national program designed to provide new college and high school students with tips and tools that will help them be successful.

UMFK is serving as the lead organization to bring the free “Making It Count” presentation to the university campus and high schools in Fort Kent and Madawaska on Sept. 3 and 4.

The presentation will be based on the theme “Unleashing Your Inner Monster” and will encourage students to reach within themselves and find their own road to success.

The Tuesday, Sept. 3, session at the university will be geared toward first-year students as part of the annual campus two-day orientation program. The high school sessions will be presented to Fort Kent high school freshmen at Community High School on the morning of Sept. 3 and to freshmen at Madawaska, Van Buren and Wisdom high schools during the morning of Sept. 4 at Madawaska High School.

Areas to be covered include managing time and setting priorities, achieving academic success, capitalizing on opportunities, choosing extracurricular activities and avoiding typical first-year pitfalls.

The program travels across the country to colleges and high schools free of charge, and has been offered at more than 5,000 schools in the United States. It is funded through corporate sponsors, including Monster.com, PricewaterhouseCoopers, AT&T, Peterson’s and IBM.