WESTMINSTER : Police Camp Aids at-Risk Students

A month ago, Jack, 14-year-old junior high student, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Now he wants to become a police officer.

Jack is one of 35 fifth- through seventh-graders chosen to participate in the city’s DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Youth Academy this week. The program, sponsored by the Police Department, is aimed at youths who have been identified by counselors and drug prevention officers as being at risk of becoming involved in gangs and drugs.

The academy, developed by Officer Cliff Williams, is funded by private donations and grants from the Westminster School District Foundation for Educational Excellence. The camp-like program includes physical training, games, field trips, peer leadership training, lectures and discussions.

“It’s showing me how to control my temper,” said Jack, who is entering eighth grade. “After meeting these people and working with the kids, I want to become a cop--it looks like a fun job, and you can help people.”

As a result of the program, he said, he’s “going to do better at school now and not get into any more fights.”

Jack, who has been sent to the school district’s intervention program four times, plans to join the Explorer Scouts, a program for students interested in becoming police officers.

Sharon Kerbow, drug prevention counselor for the district, said Jack could be one of the program’s success stories. “All he needs is to get his energy channeled” correctly, she said.

One of the academy’s goals is to expand the horizons of these at-risk students. The field trips are valuable because many of the students have never been out of Westminster.

Among the trips are visits to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, to Anaheim Stadium to see speed soccer and to see the campus at Cal State Long Beach.

“Most of them have a desire to be better, but they haven’t known where to go,” Kerbow said. “We’re taking them out, showing them there is something beyond Westminster.”

It is important to show them what they can aspire to, she said, and that they need an education.

“We know we’re not going to change them in a week,” she said, “but they’re seeing a lot they wouldn’t have otherwise. A lot of these kids didn’t know what they were going to do tomorrow. Now they have something to shoot for.”

Nine-year-old Sarah has found the program inspiring. “I thought of going to college before, but now I’m more serious about it,” said Sarah, who will be a fifth-grader at Webber Elementary School.

“Everything we’ve done has been pretty fun,” she said. “We learn about (drug prevention) and how to keep out of being a gangster and helping the environment. And this is helping me get along with people.”

The program is free, though families are asked to donate $12 to the Westminster Boys and Girls Club.

Another goal of the academy is to teach the youths discipline. Some of youths “don’t even go to school every day,” Sarah said.

But this week each child has showed up daily at 9 a.m., decked out in his or her DARE shorts and a T-shirt that reads “DARE Youth Academy” on the front and “The Future is Now” on the back.

Program participants include Latino, Vietnamese and Anglo youths. The academy tries to encourage tolerance by getting the campers to work together at team activities.

“Many of them live in segregated areas where they don’t mix,” Kerbow said. “Now on a team it doesn’t matter who is on the team or what they look like. They have to reach the goal.”