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Rising to the challenge
Camp program helps children learn valuable social skills
By JoAnn Jones
It’s a challenge for 11-year-old Tyrone of Youngstown to ignore kids who tease him.
It’s a challenge for 10-year-old Gabriel, also of Youngstown, to “calm down when people are messing with you.”
Both boys, though, are learning to deal with these and other problems through D&E Counseling Center’s Camp Challenge, which started this year’s session on July 6 and will run through Aug. 12.
Located on five acres at the edge of Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, the camp is a therapeutic outdoor program for emotionally challenged youth.
The campers range in age from 7 to 12; are all Mahoning County residents and are in counseling at D&E. The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
The goals of the camp activities are to build self-esteem, develop respect for others, and learn positive and appropriate ways to deal with problems.
“Our program is simple, not really complex,” said Brett Roberts, a certified therapist who is serving his second year as director of the camp. “We base it on three areas: listening and following directions; positive talk and behavior; and sharing, smiling, helping and participating.”
“Good habits, good health, that’s what we try to build,” he said. “We have 30 minutes of walking daily, and we stress health and nutrition. A nutritionist comes in once a week to talk about exercise and activity.”
“Everything is based on therapeutic experiential activities,” Joe Shorokey, D&E’s clinical director, said. “It’s nontraditional group counseling here.”
“We focus on social skills, following directions, cooperation and teamwork,” Shorokey said. “In many ways, it’s akin to a classroom. We teach them socially appropriate behavior — the same skills that apply in school. All groups are led by master’s-level licensed therapists, and each has aides and assistants.”
“These children have to be successful at school,” Roberts said. “We choose them for the camp if we haven’t made enough progress in counseling.”
Posters that adorn the walls of the two buildings where the therapists teach the children say: “Believe you can achieve,” “On your mark … get set … go … succeed” and “Good choice or bad choice?” A poster with a list of assigned chores also hangs on the wall.
“The children are assessed and get points every day,” Roberts added. “When they earn points, they can go to the camp store and get grab-bag items like toys, balls or crackers. But they can save their points up for something better at the end of camp, such as school supplies. I’d like it if we could give each of them a backpack filled with supplies at the end of camp, but we can’t.”
Shorokey said the points are the equivalent of a paycheck that they can spend or save. If there is something they want that the store doesn’t have, the leader hangs up a sign or note telling how many points it takes to reach that goal. Then, as the camper works toward the goal, the staff gets that item so the camper can buy it with his or her points.
“If what I want costs too much,” Tyrone said, “I save my points.”
The activities at the camp are a lot of fun, too, according to Gabriel and Tyrone.
“We do climbing and stuff and rope camp,” said Gabriel, who is attending for his second year. “I climbed all the way to the top,” referring to the Michael R. Antonoff High Adventure Course at the camp.
“We’ll do it later, and you’ll love it,” therapist Bob Conkey promised a camper who was begging to climb. “You have to be attached to a harness first.”
Tyrone, also in his second year at Camp Challenge, likes the zip line.
“You’re strapped on it, and it carries you across [a wire],” he said, adding that the basketball court is also another favorite area of his.
Other activities, according to Roberts, have included field trips within the park at Lanterman’s Mill and the Ford Nature Center, as well as trips to the Wagon Trails Animal Park in Vienna and the planetarium at Youngstown State University.
The camp, as well as the regular counseling, focuses on family involvement, Shorokey said.
“A couple of staff members function as parent liaisons,” he said. “Their role is to connect what’s happening here and at home. They go to the homes to let parents know what the goals of the week are and talk about the progress the children have made. They also check to see if anything is going on at home that we should know about.”
“We have two parent-group meetings a week — one here at the camp and one at our Belmont Avenue office,” he added. “We try to encourage the parents to focus on the same skills. We welcome parents here any time, too. They’re a very strong component of the program.”
Funding for the program comes from the Mahoning County Mental Health Board, United Way, Medicaid and grants the center applies for, said Cathy Reppy, executive assistant and community relations director for the counseling center. But fundraisers also help the staff do extra things for the children.
The Circle of Friends Foundation, a charitable foundation that provides financial support to programs of D&E, recently held a golf outing at the Lake Club in Poland. Reppy said the annual COF event can raise between $30,000 and $40,000 in a good year.
Also on tap is a sausage-eating contest at the Italian Fest in Youngstown at 4:30 p.m. July 31. Ohio state Sen. Joe Schiavoni was a participant last year and plans to compete again this year. Others from area agencies such as United Way also plan to participate, Reppy said. Proceeds from the contest, featuring sausage donated by DiRusso’s, go directly to the camp.
“The goal of this camp is for them to use behaviors to improve in school,” Reppy said. “We’ve followed some of them through school, and we’ve seen quite a few become successful.”