Volunteers Saluted for Their Work With Youth

Jocelyn James can’t remember how she celebrated on the night of her high school graduation 32 years ago.

“Nothing stands out, but it was probably something like cruising Hollywood Boulevard,” James said.

James wants her son David’s graduation in June from Costa Mesa High to be more memorable. For the past year, James said, she has worked nearly full time to organize the school’s first “grad night.”

Interest Built Among Seniors

James has built interest among the school’s 273 seniors, corralled about 75 parents to make sure the nine hours of partying go smoothly and organized fund-raising activities to underwrite the $10,000 cost of the event.

“Before they go in 273 different directions, we want them to celebrate one last time as classmates--and free of alcohol, smoking and drugs,” James said.

On Tuesday, James received a Golden Touch award for her work organizing the grad night and for other work she has done with youth. She was one of 13 people so honored at the fourth annual awards breakfast at the Balboa Bay Club in Corona del Mar.

The awards were given by the Assessment and Treatment Services Center (ATSC), a program that combats juvenile delinquency in coastal Orange County. Local police refer youthful offenders to ATSC, rather than have them go through the juvenile justice system, according to a center spokesman.

Youths, Families Counseled

Last year 400 youths and their families received counseling from teams of professionals to help them resolve problems that can lead to repeated delinquent behavior.

Parent Karen Ursini, the Golden Touch award winner from Estancia High, said she has seen too many teens at the Costa Mesa school become delinquent because of drugs.

“I feel that at our school we’ve lost some good athletes to drugs and alcohol,” Ursini said. “I used to think that just bad kids were involved in drugs and alcohol. But I saw and heard things about the kids my sons went around with.”

She said her sons John, now 22, and David, now 19, acknowledged that some of their friends used drugs.

Three years ago, Ursini said, she began to shift the emphasis of her volunteer activities. She continued her work with Estancia’s soccer, aquatic, baseball and drama boosters, but she also helped to found the Estancia chapter of PRIDE (Parents Resources Information in Drug Education).

Signs of Trouble

“I get anonymous calls at home from parents who’ve found marijuana in their child’s possession,” Ursini said. “Or they say their kid’s grades are going down, that they’ve changed friends, or are moody.”

Ursini also became a parent adviser to CARE (Concerned About and Reaching Others), a group of 15 students at Estancia that provides peer counseling and speakers to junior high and elementary school students about alcohol and drugs.

“I believe this is the better way to go to prevent substance abuse,” Ursini said. “It’s just more effective for a kid one-on-one saying: ‘Don’t get involved in drugs; you can still be cool and not drink.’ For kids, what their peer group thinks is much more important than what their parents think.”

The honorees were chosen because of their contributions to the growth and development of young people, according to an ATSC spokesman. They were selected by student leaders at high schools in the communities served by ATSC: Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach, Orange and Tustin.

Other honorees and their high schools:

Coach Pat Wilson of Corona del Mar, Principal Tom Jacobson of Newport Harbor, counselor Barbara Schultz of Foothill and teachers Nancy Clark of Canyon and Henry Woods of Tustin.

Also, parents Janet Tonkovich of Irvine, Kay Harvey of University, Lynne Davanzo of Woodbridge, Barbara Adkins of El Modena, Bonnie Minnis of Orange and Anne Frackleton of Villa Park.