City kids get a taste of country, lessons in peace

By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
VILLA MARIA, Pa. -- Aric Williams stretches out as he prepares to walk down the gauntlet.
He's trying to ignore the other children who are making funny faces and screaming at him, but he can't help but crack a smile.
"It was hard going past people who are laughing," said Aric, a Warren sixth-grader from East Middle School.
While fun, the exercise is meant to help the children realize they can try to ignore others who, in real life, may not be making funny faces, but, instead, piling on insults.
It's all part of LEAP (Leadership, Education, Arts and Play) Camp at the Villa Education Center on the grounds of Villa Maria, home to the Sisters of Humility of Mary in Pulaski Township.
Inner city youth
About 50 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders, most from area inner cities, are spending three weeks this month playing games, exploring nature and making arts and crafts at the day camp.
And they are also learning about peace and how to deal with conflicts.
"We want them to be stimulated and learn in a sense of getting along with each other. There's nothing wrong with fun and games, but this is much more," said Sister Rose Marie Kramer, H.M., director of Villa Maria Education Center.
The camp started in 1990 after a friend of Sister Rose Marie's from Youngstown commented that she was tired of seeing children play on asphalt.
"Because we have what we have," said Sister Rose Marie, gesturing to the lush green grounds of Villa Maria, "we thought what a wonderful place for kids to come for day camp."
They also wanted to make it affordable for all children, and charge only $10 a week. That includes bus service from Youngstown, Campbell, Warren, Girard and New Castle, lunch and two snacks a day.
Private grants and advertising from a booklet put out at the end of camp cover most of the $30,000 cost, Sister Rose Marie added.
The day begins promptly at 9:30 a.m. with campers praying in the education center gymnasium and then heading outside to raise the American flag.
Then they are off to the fields for sports and games, inside for arts and crafts, to the gardens and barns for Wonderful World -- a science- or nature-related activity -- or to the gymnasium for a song and dance class called Showtime.
At the end of camp, the youngsters put on a show and display all their projects for family and friends.
Learning respect
One additional class, Promise Peace, is an effort to teach the children how to respect one another and get along through activities and talking.
Last week, youngsters were divided into groups of three, where two were blindfolded and the third had to instruct them how to create shapes with large flotation devices, sometimes called noodles.
"They are learning reliance upon other people and responsibility when people rely on you," said Melissa Durse, the Promise Peace teacher.
Aric and Rodney Bills, a sixth-grader from Youngstown's East Middle School, struggle to get the noodles in place as Zachary Connolly, a sixth-grader from Taft Elementary School in Youngstown, has an equally hard time trying to explain to them where they go. He's not allowed to touch them or the noodles.
All three boys are in their second year at camp and say they look forward to it each day.
"It's good. It keeps us going. We are not at home watching television," Rodney said. He also credits Wonderful World classes with helping him bring up his school science grade.
"It's the [most fun] thing in the whole summer," Zachary adds.
Came back to help
Sharece Armour, a junior at Woodrow Wilson High School in Youngstown, attended camp when she was a youngster and is back this year as helper.
Teens are asked back as nonpaid camp helpers. About 10 are there this year.
Sharece says the camp is just as she remembered it.
"Everyone was really nice, and we learned things like how to be peaceful," she said.
Sister Rose Marie said the camp's goal is to give the children a foundation for dealing with life.
"We are giving them something to use, so when they encounter things, they have a way to deal with it. We hope we are sowing some seeds," she added.
cioffi@vindy.com