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But, what eventually happened was, the sheriff’s office was inundated with telephone calls from parents complaining of the costs of summer camp for their youngsters. Most parents know that it could easily cost $250 or more a week to send a child to camp. They felt their children could benefit from Cousin’s free camp, so it became less of a camp for at-risk chil-dren and open to all children from Essex County. While there are children whose parents feel their kids could benefit from the structure, many campers are aspiring law enforcers. Under the direction of North Andover resident John J. O’Connor, Assistant Director of Training for the Essex Sheriff’s Office, the day camp has entertained and educated hundreds of children over the past five years. Realizing that mandated attendees who did not want to be there are present and it being somewhat chaotic, O’Connor sees the camp for all children as being sort of a preemptive strike against the issues facing middle school and junior high school children. He has organized the daily structure of the camp to include working with the District Attorney’s office to provide programs about OxyContin use and Internet safety. It is ever evolving to address these needs. On the first day of the week-long camp, children are given a “Scared Straight” tour of the Middleton House of Correction and the sheriff’s facility. They hear testimonials from those incarcerated and warned against following in their paths. The Leadership Academy challenges the children not only mentally but physically, as well. On another day of camp, they are taken on a charter fishing vessel, the “Captain George,” for a boat cruise. They are taken out on the Merrimac River. Many experience fishing for the first time and have the thrill of catching dogfish or blue fish. Another physically challenging day includes teaming up with Project Adventure at Moraine Farms in Beverly. The activities for the children include trust-building games and team challenges. They take a hike and even learn to do a ropes course. There are several members of the sheriff’s office who act as guides and mentors for these young campers. Project Adventure, which began in the early 1970s, is a physical and mental program designed to “create teams out of groups and friends out of strangers.” Campers are encouraged to extend their own limits and reach beyond all expectations through the respect and trust of others. The goal of Project Adventure is to foster leadership and teamwork. The week is completed with a graduation ceremony for the campers with all parents/guardians and relatives in attendance. Part of the ceremony includes a demonstration of the K-9 Division. Dogs, specially trained in law enforcement, respond to commands in Czech and German by their sheriff partners. The demonstration provides all with a lesson in dog safety and respect for animals. Everyone receives a delicious barbequed lunch and a tee-shirt. O’Connor, a part-time EMT/Middleton Fire Fighter, is responsible for the in-service training of the members of the sheriff’s department. He shares Cousin’s vision of a community-oriented department and sees the Leadership Academy as a natural part of that commitment. Cousin’s created the Office of Community Corrections, which focuses on outreach not only to all those recently released, but even includes work with senior citizens in a Triad Program providing smoke detectors. For the first time in five years, the money to provide this camp to children from Meth-uen, Lawrence, Peabody, Masco, Salem, Haverhill, Beverly, Georgetown and Ipswich is not from state grants. It comes directly from Sheriff Cousin’s operating budget. The cost of the nine week program is a-bout $37,000. Buses alone are $13,000 and the Project Adventure portion is also a-nother $13,000. When O’Connor and Cousins were faced with the reality of no funding from grants, O’Connor recalled Cousin’s attitude. O’Connor said, “There was no doubt in his (Cousin’s) mind that we are going to do it. We will make this happen.” As a personal example, my own son has enjoyed the Leadership Academy for two years and without the commitment of the sheriff’s office to youth and the desire to lead by example, this would not have been possible. *Kathleen Corey Rahme is the Central District Councilor in Methuen and the founder of the Methuen Youth Corps. You can email her at kcoreyrahme@comcast.net *Send your questions
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Since its inception five years ago, the
Essex Sheriff’s Leadership Academy has evol-ved to
meet the needs of Essex County’s youth. When it
began, Sheriff Frank Cousins intended to take at-risk
children, ages 12-14, and expose them to a military style
boot camp to get them off the streets.