SOMERS - A federal grant for nearly half a million dollars will help support mentoring efforts at middle schools in Kenosha and Racine through a program started at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, the university announced this week.

The Mentoring Kenosha & Racine partnership received the three-year, $497,691 grant from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The program, based at Parkside's Center for Community Partnerships trains mentors and professional mentor program staff, certifies quality mentoring programs and recruits community members to become mentors.

School districts in Racine and Kenosha will directly benefit from the grant.

Mark Gesner, director of Parkside's Community Development & Dialogues and chairman of the Mentor Kenosha & Racine Advisory Council, was the grant proposal's lead author and will serve as the program's principal investigator.

"Middle school is a critical time in a young person's development. It's a period when a student can easily get lost and turn away from education and turn to gangs or make other poor decisions," Gesner said in a release. "A trained mentor can support a youth in academics, career development, interpersonal relationships, and much more."

The three-year grant couples school-based mentoring during the academic year with community-based mentoring in the summer.

Summer mentoring will take place at Parkside's Root River Environmental Education and Community Center in Racine and the Center for Environmental Education, Demonstration, and Applied Research in Kenosha.

"This award significantly boosts Parkside's efforts to help address the educational attainment and academic achievement issues facing local school districts," Parkside Chancellor Deborah Ford said in a release. "We are committed to partnering with our K-12 colleagues and community leaders to provide area students with the support and guidance they need to fulfill their potential and pursue successful careers."