SIMI VALLEY : Esteem Team Rap Has What It Takes

The newest rap song to hit Santa Susana Elementary School in Simi Valley isn’t blasting from transistor radios but from the loudspeakers in the school cafeteria, where a group of children meet weekly after school.

The Esteem Team sings this anthem:

Believe in yourself

You’ve got what it takes

Makin’ it fine

Or makin’ mistakes!

Believe in yourself .

You’re OK .

Nobody’s perfect anyway!

The nine-month program, offered this fall for the first time in Ventura County, aims to boost the self-confidence of fourth- and fifth-graders to make them less likely to become victims of child abuse or to succumb to drugs, alcohol, gangs, teen-age pregnancy or delinquency.

“We’re teaching them how to be there for themselves so they don’t have to look outside to meet their needs,” said Dar Ann Dearing, director of prevention services for Child Abuse and Neglect Inc., which sponsors the program. “We’re not here because these children are abused. We’re here to prevent that from happening.”

The Esteem Team concept was developed in 1986 by Judith Feldman, founder and director of the National Self-Esteem Resources and Development Center in Greenbrae, Calif., who wrote the lyrics to the rap. The Simi Valley City Council provided a $2,400 grant to finance the local program, which also is being offered in six other California counties and in Georgia.

A typical session includes body movement, voice projection, feeling expression, group discussions and rehearsal of raps that will be performed at school and in the community.

Monday, the 14 children finished rapping and discussed the concept of empowerment, which is contained in their motto: “Believe in yourself, Empower yourself, Stand up for yourself and Trust in yourself.”

Nine-year-old Sarah Gibson, a Santa Susana Elementary fourth-grader, said she joined the Esteem Team because it sounded like fun.

“I’ve learned to speak up and that I’m special,” she said.

Her mother, Edie Gibson, believes that youngsters need more positive reinforcement.

“I don’t think children can get enough self-esteem,” she said. “I wish they’d had programs like this when I was a kid.”

Principal Dick Hamilton said: “Anything we can do to develop the students’ character and mental health to resist drugs and other peer pressures is of value.”