Teen ready to pass on lessons

Scenery marked by dirt, slugs and raccoon paw prints may not seem like a place where you need to mind your manners, but the outdoor space at Camp Mariastella is exactly where 15-year-old Gina Dance says she learned her Ps and Qs as a young girl.

“I remember one of the counselors taught me how to hold my utensils right because I did it wrong all the time,” Gina says. “And you know how little kids never say ‘please’? The staff would always insist we were polite.”

Social graces aren’t the only skill Gina has acquired during her years attending Camp Mariastella, where she has been a camper every summer from age 7 and this month will serve as a counselor-in-training. Gina has committed nearly 60 “funny” camp songs to memory, along with many happy experiences.

“As a younger camper, I had to go on a hike on a ridge to a waterfall,” Gina says. “We used to believe that fairies like Tinkerbell lived in the water. I’ve had so many fun times at camp.”

Founded in 1941 by the Sisters of Social Service, Camp Mariastella hopes to cultivate an appreciation for nature and the role of God in the lives of its campers. Approximately 100 girls ages 7 to 15 travel northeast of Los Angeles -- 6,500 feet up in the Angeles National Forest -- during each of Mariastella’s six weekly summer sessions.

“They’re just free up here,” explains Jennifer Gaeta, executive director of Mariastella. “The illusion of being independent exists at camp. You’re in a safe environment, but kids can look up and see stars, and at home they just see haze.

“When they’re on their own, they can establish their freedom. I mean, when these girls leave their parents at the bus stop to head up to camp -- the moms are crying and the little girls are ready, acting all cool.”

Campers learn how to cook outdoors, build their muscles on outdoor hikes and attend prayer services with their female friends.

“There’s been mounds of research done, which has shown that girls excel far more together than when they’re in mixed-gender groups,” Gaeta says. “It’s good for their sense of adventure. They’re able to get to know themselves and try new things while proving their self-esteem.”

Gina, a Pasadena resident who was adopted by a family from foster care at age 9, attributes much of her individualism to her summers spent away from home.

“During my first summer, all of the girls in the cabin cried, so I did too,” she recalls with a laugh. “I wasn’t really homesick, but I was just going along with them. Now, I’m the one comforting the younger girls who miss their mothers.”

Camp Mariastella is one of 60 organizations receiving financial support this year through the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign. More than 8,000 underprivileged children will go to camp this summer, thanks to $1.5 million raised last year.

The annual fund-raising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.1 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations are tax-deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To make donations by credit card, go to latimes.com/summercamp. To send checks, use the attached coupon. Do not send cash. Unless requested otherwise, gifts of $50 or more will be acknowledged in The Times.

amy.kaufman@latimes.com