At-risk teenagers take alternate path

GOODING, Idaho – His shirt said it all. Charles Drake, 16, arrived at the Schubert Theater emblazoned with his statement to the world: “I am no longer a danger to society.”

Drake, of Shoshone, openly talks about his crime – drug distribution within 1,000 feet of a school.

The incident at Wood River High School last September got him expelled from school – and took him on a path that led to the stage.

With four other at-risk teens, he presented the last two months of work – the commercials he and the others wrote, directed, acted, edited and polished.

Western States College has been working with area youth in an effort to give students a chance to learn about TV and film production.

Lincoln County is the first to benefit from the juvenile probation outreach.

“It shows an alternate path for delinquent kids,” Drake said. “It’s not that hard. Anyone can learn.”

At first, he was skeptical, thinking it would be a waste of time. But lack of options motivated him to give it a try.

“It was something to do,” he said. “I’ve been on house arrest for 10 months. We were all pretty willing to do whatever.”

The evening featured a showing of the two commercials the students created: “Miracles Happen at Miracle Hot Springs,” shot on location among the alligators and geodesic domes, and “Still Fly,” a humorous pitch for a sports car.

“They’re getting recognition,” said Micheal Clair, WSC president and program co-creator. “That will pump up their self-esteem. That’s what they need.”

Cheryl Adams, chief juvenile probation officer in Lincoln County, heard from a friend about the program and selected five youths for whom she believed the program would be of particular benefit. “The kids I picked I felt were really at risk at this time – not in the community, but they weren’t responding to other programs,” she said.

The students began the program on May 19, meeting once a week. Each took his or her turn at recording audio, running the cameras, running the slate, acting and directing.

“I teach them how to make film, but they do the work,” Clair said.

Along with Daron Novotny, Al Herrin, Darcie Clair – and juvenile judges and probation officers – Michael has been working with at-risk youth for a couple of years.

“Ninety-nine percent are creative geniuses,” Clair said. “They didn’t have an outlet, so they turned to the dark side.”

Clair knows of what he speaks.

“(Daron and I) were pretty rowdy kids, so we brainstormed and said, ‘What would we have liked to do?’ “

Filmmaking appeals to a range of people, he said, including those supervising probationers.

“I had two kids who weren’t responding to hardly anything,” Adams said. “Then within the first hour or two of the program they were interacting with the group.”

Adams saw for herself the results: The kids learned teamwork, tapped into their creativity and developed technical skills.

“It’s such a positive thing to do,” she said.

Too often, people dwell on the negative, Clair said.

“These kids feel they are the crimes they committed,” he said. “They just made bad choices. I want to prove to the community they are sorry for it. Once you prove it to the kids (that they’re good), they’ll prove it to the community.”