Robert Morris, 12, of Brighton Heights, said when he first heard that the "Be a 6th Grade Mentor" program had paired him with Gautam Ganguli, 26, of Shadyside, he felt a little skeptical.

But after meeting Mr. Ganguli for the first time, that skepticism vanished.

"It was like a plug and socket. It just clicked," Robert said of their first encounter.

Mr. Ganguli is one of more than 220 mentors in the "Be a 6th Grade Mentor Program," which is administered through United Way of Allegheny County and pairs students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools with adult volunteer mentors. The program, started last June, targets sixth graders to help them develop career goals, understand the importance of education and become eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise, which provides students who qualify with scholarships for secondary education.

In its second year, the program is expanding to accommodate as many of the 1,900 incoming sixth graders as possible, representatives said.

At a news conference held Monday at United Way of Allegheny County, First Niagara donated $125,000, and U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, donated a $100,000 federal grant to the program.

First Niagara also committed 100 mentors to the program over the next two years and is working to expand recruitment through marketing efforts and a telethon on KDKA-TV from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

It takes approximately $1,000 to pair each child with a mentor due to the costs of advertising, background checks, training and administrative work, said Todd Moules, First Niagara president of Western Pennsylvania.

Each mentor must attend an initial three-hour training session, which includes cultural discussions and instructions on how to be a good mentor, said Colleen O. Fedor, executive director of The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Mentors are paired with students based on interests, career goals and personality, Ms. Fedor said.

Mentors commit to at least a one-year relationship, and spend one hour each week with their sixth grader.

While an evaluation report of the program's success in its first year will not be released until the end of July, research has shown that students who have mentors are 86 percent more likely to go on to college.

The hope is that mentors will continue working with their sixth graders as long as they are needed, said Fred Thieman, co-chair of the Pittsburgh Youth Futures Commission and president of the Buhl Foundation. As students grow older and more stable, there will be other mentoring programs available for them to transition to, he said.

More than 75 percent of mentors have said they will return to the program in its second year. Mr. Ganguli will continue mentoring Robert as he becomes a seventh grader at Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side.

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