Staking Out Nature’s Turf : Students Take to the Wilderness and Receive a Push Away From Gangs

Hugging the large oak tree for dear life, Marco Mongue seemed oblivious to the shouted words of advice and encouragement coming from the group of middle school students and counselors on the ground 30 feet below.

Although connected to a rock-climbing harness and assured that there was no chance he would fall from his precarious perch, Marco refused to tiptoe across a thin copper wire strung between the trees.

The rope-climbing exercise, which took place Monday at a camp in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area near Calabasas, was part of an inaugural program that Conejo Valley Gang Task Force members hope will prevent local youths from becoming involved in gangs.

Marco is one of nine middle school students attending the five-day wilderness retreat called Adventures in Building for Life’s Experiences. The Colina Intermediate and Redwood Intermediate school students left Thousand Oaks Sunday and will remain at the retreat until Thursday.

During Monday’s exercise, one of his friends urged Marco, an eighth-grader on spring break from Redwood Intermediate in Thousand Oaks, to “be like Tarzan. Trust me, just swing out for that rope.”

Unconvinced, Marco held fast to the tree trunk. “Tarzan grew up in the jungle, man,” he said, drawing laughs from task force members.

Each of the students was recommended for the program by a principal or assistant principal based on poor school attendance, grades, behavioral problems or because they associate with gang members, task force member Bradley V. Childs said.

Childs, a Thousand Oaks resident and founder of The Wilderness Institute, a nonprofit outdoor adventure organization coordinating the retreat, said he hopes that the program will give the students more self-esteem and help them avoid the growing gang activity in the Conejo Valley.

“There’s no familiarity to this setting for these kids,” Childs said. “They can learn from the environment and the difficulties they face here, because this is no one’s turf. It’s neutral ground.”

The retreat costs about $400 per student, a price tag picked up by corporate sponsors.

The cost is money well spent, Childs said. “They can do things here, like holding hands with each other in a group exercise, that they would never do away from here because it isn’t cool,” he said.

Students must rely on each other to successfully complete the rope-climbing exercises and other trust-building activities.

Many of the 12- and 13-year-olds wore the black Raiders hats and bandannas that are linked to gangs. Some said they were recommended for the program because they have friends who are gang members.

But retreat coordinator Shoshana Brower of Westlake Village said none of the youths are associated with gangs.

“We’d like them to feel like they can be part of another kind of group, or family, some other group to get support from,” Brower said. “Hopefully, they’ll get enough out of this experience, and feel connected enough with each other and to us, to want to stick with this program.”

Michael L’Ecuyer, a Ventura County probation officer and a task force member, said he has dealt with several of the juveniles through informal probations that they’ve incurred for minor crimes. “I think it’s better to do something for these kids before they get to me,” he said.

Organizers hope that veterans of the wilderness program will not go straight back to their old lifestyles. They plan to assign the students mentors, get them involved in sports programs, and later assist in job placement and career guidelines, Brower said.

Most of the students said the rope-climbing was fun, but not extremely difficult.

“I wasn’t scared,” Marco said. “I was just shaking. I guess I’ll never bungee jump.”

Sam Foy, an eighth-grade student at Redwood Intermediate, admitted later to some fright. “Sure it’s a little scary, but then it’s a rush,” Foy said. “But once I was up there it was rad.”

John Danforth, a seventh-grader at Colina Intermediate in Thousand Oaks, excelled in the rope-climbing exercise. John, who said he was selected for the program because of bad grades and associations with gang members at school, said he did not mind spending spring break at the retreat.

“I would just be hanging out with my friends if I wasn’t here,” John said.