Peoria’s ELITE Summer Camp program seen as a success.
ELITE Founder Carl Cannon says the program, run under the umbrella of the Peoria Park District, aims to put youth destined for violence and street life on the right path.
Mentor ‘Austin’ says the camp started with 20 kids, and finished with 14. He said the other six just weren’t ready.
“It started off bumpy, trying to get those kids to change their ways, and get into a different lifestyle like breaking their bad habits, but it ended great,” Austin said.
He told WMBD’s Greg and Dan that the youth were given life skills that will set them up for success in school and in life in general.
“We focused on anger management, bullying, peer pressure. We went over A Gang-Free Life…that’s a subject that they came up with in California. We went through that. We gave them basic interview skills,” Austin said.
The camp mentors, known as Game Changers, met with the youth three times a week through the summer, providing them constant modivation to stay in school and out of trouble.
Mentors for the camp were men who had been a part of street life, who wanted to turn their lives around and get through the kids that appeared to be on the same path to violence.
Camp mentors are being offered an opportunity to further their education with the help of Illinois Central College. ‘Austin’ said he was going to be able to complete his GED at ICC soon.
