Ledger-Dispatch

By Helen Bonner=20

More than 50 wards at the Pine Grove = Youth=20 Conservation Camp earned high school diplomas and GED certificates = Friday.=20 Not all the graduates were present, however, as some traveled to = Southern=20 California in strike groups to assist with firefighting = efforts.

Photo by: Helen Bonner

Teacher Lynn Louderback expressed pride = in Pine=20 Grove ward Kevin Jauregui, one of more than 50 to graduate in = Friday's=20 ceremony.

Photo by: Helen = Bonner
The=20 graduation ceremony at the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp on Friday = wasn't=20 your average high school celebration.

Wearing traditional caps = and gowns=20 were 18- to 24-year-old-men mentally hardened by gang or prison = experiences that=20 once left them with dim prospects. Now tempered by firefighting and = diligent=20 physical and mental training, their dignified faces showed these wards = of the=20 court had found hope and respect.

Of the graduates, 28 earned = high school=20 diplomas and 23 had passed their GEDs. There would have been 51 on the = platform,=20 but a few minutes earlier, some had to exchange their black robes for=20 firefighting gear and head for Southern California in strike = teams.

After=20 a formal processional, camp Superintendent Mike Roots, a tall man in = uniform=20 obviously proud of the camp, welcomed families of the remaining = graduates, many=20 from Fresno or farther. Guest speaker Jim Cripe, the school's principal = and=20 district assessment coordinator, expressed the sentiments of many others = when he=20 said how rewarding his work is.

"Ten years ago I came here hoping = to hire=20 on and was told 'no chance.' I got out of L.A., stuck to it, and since = then I've=20 worked at the greatest place on the planet," he said.

Capt. = Howard=20 Drummond of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention, = praised=20 the young men for their courage and dedication to the goal of giving = back to the=20 community. "Sometimes they face hot lines within a few feet of advancing = flames=20 50 feet high," he said.

Families and friends cheered as each = youth picked=20 up his diploma.

With its split rail fences and forest setting, = the Pine=20 Grove Youth Conservation Camp looks more like a prestigious summer camp = than a=20 correctional facility. Tucked in the foothills a few miles above Pine = Grove, it=20 is operated by the California Department of Corrections and = Rehabilitation's=20 Division of Juvenile Justice and is the oldest, continuously operated = fire camp=20 in the U.S. With approximately 80 wards from all over California, the = camp=20 maintains its own high school diploma program, as well as a partnership = with CAL=20 FIRE.

"The camp is more than your average correction and rehab = center,"=20 Roots said. "It's a no-fence facility with a program based on honor and = personal=20 achievement. It is for wards who are committed to making major changes = in their=20 lives."

The men are "a mixture of most gang sets: northern and = southern=20 Hispanics; Fresno area Bulldogs; Bay Crips and Bloods," he continued. = "But we=20 tolerate zero gang activity."

Instead, the wards must learn each = day how=20 to work together inside a fire camp, how to fight fires and cooperate in = community clean-up projects. Each night, they attend four hours of=20 school.

"Our youth are elite members of the statewide fire crew = family,=20 providing high levels of responsibility, the need for teamwork, the = satisfaction=20 of becoming part of this statewide project - instilling character and = confidence=20 in the youth that cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the correctional = field,"=20 Roots said.

The criteria are strict, he added. "There can be no = history=20 of escape by force or violence, no arsonists or sex offenders," Roots = explained.=20 "Any deviant behavior leads to immediate expulsion. We can't jeopardize = the=20 safety of the community."

Roots described a four-point program = for=20 success: Group living teaches respect for the rules, discipline and = positive=20 decision making. Time with one of 12 specially-trained youth = correctional=20 counselors, individually and in groups, deals with drug usage, anger=20 replacement, impulse control and domestic violence, all aimed at = changing=20 gang-formed value systems.

Education is a major element. Wards at = Pine=20 Grove are required to earn their high school diplomas or obtain their = GEDs prior=20 to consideration for parole. But, according to Roots, "the most=20 youth-transforming program is the partnership with CAL FIRE, providing = daily,=20 year-round employment assignments. All summer long they are in demand. = Two crews=20 might be in San Diego, while others are in Humboldt's redwood area. In = winter,=20 you see them performing brush removal, creek maintenance, road border = management=20 and various municipal projects. Last year, they fought 108 fires, for a = total of=20 92,000 hours. This is a tremendous fiscal boost to the = state."

Three=20 years ago, the CDCR implemented sweeping changes in academic education = programs=20 for juvenile offenders. "Progress is being made because of dedicated = staff,=20 improved curriculum, standards-based instruction and partnerships with = community=20 colleges," said Bernard Warner, chief deputy secretary of the Division = of=20 Juvenile Justice.

College enrollment is up 300 percent, with GED = and=20 vocational education programs increasing graduation rates. More than 50=20 graduates from the Preston Youth Correctional Facility recently received = high=20 school diplomas and GED certificates. There has also been a 70 percent = increase=20 in career technical education certificates.

"This is a sign that = the=20 reforms underway are working, and demonstrates that California's = investment in=20 successful youthful-offender education programs are paying off," Warner = boasted.=20 "The credit goes to the youth who are taking strides toward their own = future=20 success and educators diligently working to meet the needs of their=20 students."

One of those educators, Lynn Louderback, recently made = the=20 transition from a local elementary school. "This work is so rewarding," = she told=20 the Ledger Dispatch. "After a mixture of bad breaks and bad choices, = some of=20 these kids checked out in junior high, thinking they wouldn't live to be = 23.=20 They never valued life. Now look at them."

She pointed to new = graduate=20 Kevin Jauregui. Solemn and strongly built, Jauregui said what sent him = to prison=20 was "robbery with great bodily injury. But I've come a long way. = Hopefully I'll=20 get a good job as a firefighter."

Because of new state mandates, = wards=20 released on probation will no longer be sent back home with no further = help,=20 Roots said. They were once expected to get jobs when they had no skills, = drivers=20 licenses or social security cards. "We now make sure they have these, = and follow=20 up to assure their transition to a lawful life is successful," Roots=20 added.

Camp teacher Betty Clark said, "We hear from the guys = after they=20 leave, the new job, new baby - they are doing good = things."

According to=20 realcostof prisons.org, it costs at least $123 a day to keep a man in = prison,=20 and $5.6 billion a year for all California prisons. California spends = more money=20 on its burgeoning prison system than on education, according to the = state budget=20 committee.

Helen Bonner
Ledger Dispatch Contributor=20