Mario Hilario maintains his cool on air, but that all changes when he’s dancing.

He has fun. He’s demonstrative, upbeat, and entertaining. Dancing is a medium he’s used since 2008, in addition to his television role, to support a cause that helps hundreds of kids every year to become better students so that they might pursue their own life’s passions.

On Thursday, Hilario’s many contributions to the Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership were recognized at a reception hosted by Amica Companies Foundation at Amica headquarters in Lincoln.

Hiliaro was awarded the first Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership Peter Koch Memorial Award. Koch was a longtime member of the RIMP board, a mentor, and in 2013 the recipient of the first-ever Excellence In Mentoring in America Award for individual leadership.

Hiliaro was a contestant in the second annual Dancing with the Stars of Mentoring in 2008, and has played a major role in the fundraising event ever since. He has served as the event host, a judge, and on-the-floor reporter where he interviews contestants following their performances.

But there’s no way to stop him from dancing.

Hiliaro is the star of the evening’s opening number. He’ll be on the floor again for the 10th anniversary edition of Dancing with the Stars of Mentoring on Thursday, May 5 at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet. Planning for the opening performance has already started with The Dancing Feeling’s Kathy St. Jean, the Warwick dance studio that has been key to the success of the event since its inception. Hiliaro didn’t offer any clues to the number, leaving it as a surprise.

In accepting the award from RIMP’s president and CEO Jo-Ann Schofield and board chair Deborah Gormley, Hiliaro said “to receive this in his name [Koch] is truly humbling … it takes my breath away.”

The evening reception with Amica’s assistant vice president and RIMP board member Shameen Awan welcoming the group included remarks from Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, video comments from Mayor Scott Avedisian about Hiliaro and Koch, and testimony about the power of mentoring from Cranston Police Capt. Vincent McAteer III and retired Warwick visual arts teacher Lisa Gallo, who now mentors.

A sixth-grader from Woonsocket, Brianna Morgan, and her mentor Janet Sawyer, who works at CVS Health, also played significant roles. Morgan told of how she was paired with Brianna when she was in second grade. Brianna was habitually absent, and she had trouble relating to the value of schools. Absenteeism dropped, and her grades improved to the point where she hasn’t missed a day this year and is earning honors.

The story illustrated so well what Schofield said in her remarks, observing that “mentoring in real life” is the theme of National Mentoring Month.

“In real life, we can make a difference.

“In real life, working together, we can close the opportunity gap for our kids.

“In real life, we can embrace every kid as our kid.

“In real life, we can mentor our young people,” she said.