Leaders in the making Leaders in the making (February 18, 2005)

MV students attend popular camp

By Julie O'Shea

Next month, about 60 students from Mountain View High School will jump on a bus and head an hour south to Boulder Creek where they will set up camp and talk about how to break down prejudices.

The four-day "Camp Anytown" is a popular leadership retreat where teens are involved in team-building exercises and learn skills to help dispel destructive stereotypes.

"It's like a life changing experience," said Kevin Feaster, a senior at Mountain View High who participated in the camp last month. "You meet a lot of new people. ... It was actually one if the best camps I've been to."

Added sophomore Ali Dicello: "When I got there, I didn't want to leave. Yeah, basically it was an eye-opening experience."

Students chosen to participate in the camp are nominated by a teacher and must fill out an application and go through an interview before they are selected.

"This gives kids a new way to think about the people around them," said Donna Peltz, an assistant principal at Mountain View High. "We want to have the biggest impact on our campus. If we could, we would send every student and every staff member."

Camp Anytowns are located all over the U.S., and there is often a one-year waiting list for schools to participate in the program. Students, who will leave after school on March 22, are not allowed to bring cell phones, radios or CD players. They will bunk with other classmates, participate in group discussions and activities and hopefully take what they've learned back to Mountain View High and share it with their peers.

"These kids bond at the camp; they share deep things about themselves at this camp," Peltz said. One issue of particular interest from last month's camp was gender roles and the different ways girls and boys are treated by their peers, she said.

That discussion "had the biggest impact on the kids," Peltz said.

Peltz said she hopes 60 students and nine teachers or adult chaperones will participate next month. The cost of the program -- approximately $20,000 for the entire weekend for all 60 students and chaperones -- will be covered by donations from the Mountain View Parent Teacher Student Association and Site Council, Peltz said.

Speaking to a group of prospective campers last week, Peltz gushed: "It will be like really camping in the woods. The food is great, and there is more than you can possibly imagine."

But for those who might be deterred, one student was overheard reassuring a friend: "It's not like ... roughing it. You don't have to dig a hole or anything."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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