G.R.E.A.T. Lessons
exerpt taken from the Salina Journal, July 2007
written by Tim Unruh
ROCK SPRINGS -- Mixed into the hiking, horseback riding, archery, swimming, video games and other fun camp things to do were some lessons for the 93 mostly Saline County youths at this week’s GREAT Camp.
The lessons are soaking in, intern counselor Nick Grevas said.
“You make the right decisions. That’s what they teach you,” said Grevas, 13, who’ll be an eighth-grader this fall at Sacred Heart Junior-Senior High School.
GREAT stands for Gang Resistance Education and Training, a program for fifth- through seventh-graders taught by the Saline County Sheriff’s Office throughout the school year.
The camp is for those entering the seventh grade this fall. Eighth-graders serve as intern counselors, and high school-aged youngsters are counselors -- a total of 30.
You won’t hear the staff of six adults say much about gangs, camp director Jim Fletcher said. The Saline County sheriff’s deputy is the instructor for the GREAT and the Drug Awareness Resistance Education programs for sixth-graders. The sheriff’s office presents curriculums to Saline County and Salina Catholic schools through the year and sponsors the camp each summer at Rock Springs 4-H Center, 12 miles southwest of Junction City. Each camper pays $20.
“We talk about choices and how to make ourselves better people. We don’t want to compete with any gangs. We want to recognize positive behavior and how to be a positive community member,” Fletcher said.
Talking about gang symbols and gang tendencies is saved for meetings with parents and school administrators, Fletcher said.
Let’s all get along.
The focus is on teaching the youths to get along, to cross cultural barriers, and to communicate and lead by a good example. Leadership camp started Monday and the GREAT Camp began Tuesday. The camps conclude today.
The goal is to help young people fit in and “develop empathy within their community to reduce violence and gang-type activities,” Fletcher said.
Beyond the lessons, the camp is a typical summer get-away for kids.
“It’s really fun to come back and see all of your friends from different schools,” said Bethany Bell, 14, who will be an eighth-grader this fall at Ell Saline Middle School, Brookville.
As an intern counselor and a cabin leader, Bell said she has more responsibility this year.
“You have to be cool and fun, but yet be strict at the same time. If you’re a camper, you have to be at all the activities, but you get to do about anything you want,” she said.
Show ‘em something cool.
Fletcher and company also pick something cool, such as police dogs, for a program. This year’s special guest was the federal Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms National Response Team from Kansas City, Mo. Special Agent Roger Stous showed off a specially equipped truck used to investigate suspicious fires and explosives.
Explosives enforcement officer Rick Gonzalez invited the campers to an open field where he explained the dangers of explosives, including fireworks, and demonstrated (on a cardboard box) a device used to detonate bombs from a safe distance.
“We want to awe them with it,” Fletcher said. Then the youngsters typically ask about how they could someday become a special agent.
“You have to complete school. You can’t get arrested. You’ve got to set that goal and behave in a way that lets you accomplish it,” he said.
It its 14th year, Saline County’s camp is among the best around, said Sgt. Doretha Bighems, Lansing, a Kansas Army National Guard drug demand reduction officer, and a staff member this week at Rock Springs camp.
“Several kids tell me they’re having a great time and really like being here. The kids are leading the camp. It’s really building leadership in them, and they’re building relationships with one another,” Bighems said.
Camper Ivan Jimenez, 11, has become a fan. A seventh-grader to be at Lakewood Middle School, he’s already looking forward to returning to Rock Springs next year.
“It’s fun. You make new friends and do a lot of activities,” Ivan said.
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