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Mitch Langseth, an officer with the Kenai Police Department, is used to working with kids. It's part of his job description as a school resource officer at Kenai Central High.

When he started participating in the mentor program at Kenai Middle last year, though, he wasn't sure what he was getting himself into.

"I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I'm going to enter a school and be handed three students and all of sudden I'm expected to be in a leadership role."

Langseth is one of four mentors in the Kenai program, overseen by Mark Manuel, a guidance counselor at the school.

Manuel said the program, which targets kids in need of adult role models, is struggling to get participation from the community this year.

Right now there are 12 students involved in the program, a number dictated by how many mentors Manuel has coming into the school.

Only a few years ago, he said there were nine volunteers.

While there have been instances where volunteers have taken on more than three students, Manuel prefers to avoid doing that.

Manuel said the mentorship's focus is on "middle of the road" students, though he's not a big fan of the name.

"The students targeted are the kids who are doing OK," he said. "But if there was a little more encouragement, a little more support, the kid could thrive."

Manuel said the idea is to find students who may not have the more traditional, adult role models in their lives like parents, coaches, extracurricular-activity leaders or support agencies, and pair those students with a mentor.

"I have seen kids come into the program as sixth-graders and continue with the same mentor and go from little bit hesitant to all of a sudden instant student leaders as eighth-graders," he said.

Manuel said the results are generally very visible to the mentors, who work with the same students each week, and will often follow them through their middle-school careers.

Langseth, who had three eighth-grade students last year, said he now sees those students in the high school.

"You see changes in confidence and self-esteem," Langseth said. "We build a mutual respect. I see all three of the kids and they all know me on a first-name basis and they're OK talking to me even though sometimes it's not 'OK' to talk to the cop in the school."

Jeremy Norton is another mentor who started last year, and is working with the same three students.

"You develop trust and understanding. You become acceptable to them and can give them advice on respecting teachers and parents and they listen to you," Norton said. "They value you because you listen to them."

Manuel, Langseth and Norton all agreed one of the most important aspects of the program is being able to listen to the students.

"You have to have the ability to see things from the kid's point of view," Manuel said. "You don't have to agree just to understand where they're coming from."

There are obviously a few other characteristics and necessities mentors need to have in order to participate, the first being a Kenai Peninsula Borough School District's volunteer background check.

Additionally, mentors need to have a schedule that allows them to meet with their students during the day once a week through the school year.

"The biggest thing you need to do is give your time," Langseth said. "You need to show up so the kids can depend on you."

Additionally, mentors meet once a month with Manuel to do training exercises on the activities they'll do with their students.

The training sessions provide mentors with activities to help their students work on building social skills, confidence and self-esteem.

Both Langseth and Norton spoke positively of their experiences in the past two years. Langseth said he's found that by coming each week with an open mind and being genuine with the kids, he's been able to reach out to his students.

He talks to them about the things he knows about -- computers, flying and traveling.

His current group of students all enjoys the Discovery Channel show "MythBusters" and are discussing ways to come up with more Alaska based myths for the show's sleuths to test.

"You take three people who don't know each other and a policeman, and we form a friendship, a bond," Langseth said.

"Anybody with a floating schedule should do this," Norton said. "It's one of the most rewarding things. I'm always telling people they need to do it."

Interested volunteers can contact Manuel for more information at 283-1726.

Dante Petri can be reached at dante.petri@peninsulaclarion.com.