A $497,691 federal stimulus award is aimed toward bolstering middle school mentoring programs in Kenosha and Racine.

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s Mentor Kenosha & Racine partnership announced it received the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention funds Tuesday, nearly two years after Parkside’s Center for Community Partnerships set out to lift up mentoring efforts around the region.

Norris Jones, minority academic affairs specialist for the Kenosha Unified School District, said he hopes the three-year grant will help to grow the ranks of the more than 200 adult mentors already working with the district.

“We’re hoping, again, that the substantial funding will aid and increase programing efforts — especially targeting middle school — because that is a very weak area in terms of securing adults,” Jones said. “We’re very excited to be working with this initiative.”

Jones said Unified will work with the Parkside-run partnership on recruitment and training efforts for the mentors who volunteer through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Racine & Kenosha Counties Inc., the Kenosha Area Business Alliance and other organizations.

Parkside Chancellor Deborah Ford celebrated the grant announcement in a statement released Tuesday.

“This award significantly boosts UW-Parkside’s efforts to help address the educational attainment and academic achievement issues facing local school districts,” Ford said. “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.”

Mark Gesner, Parkside’s director of community development and dialogues, said the funds will link school-based mentoring during the academic year with summer programing at the Center for Environmental Education, Demonstration and Applied Research (CEDAR) at Kenosha’s Southport Beach House and the Root River Environmental Education and Community Center in Racine.

The grant will also provide some funding support for school district staffers to help administer mentor programs, Gesner said.

Gesner said the decision to aim the funds toward middle school students came from input received from Jones and Racine Unified School District personnel.

Along with boosting students’ educational attainment and achievement levels, Gesner said the grant proposal cited the program’s potential to divert youths from gang activities and promote healthy choices.

“I think this is going to enable Mentor Kenosha & Racine and all of us in the schools and the community to have a meaningful impact on middle school students and on educational attainment as a whole,” Gesner said. “It’s exactly why we created Mentor Kenosha & Racine.”

Jones said he hopes to give mentors every opportunity possible to receive the assistance and support they need.

“It is my hope now that, with funding, that we will secure mentors that will directly impact the lives of our students,” Jones said.