A cheer rose from the crowd of students as C. Jay Jones successfully jumped the river -- the space between two jump ropes that lay on the grass at Avenal Elementary School. All but one of the children's feet had missed the far bank of the river -- the second jump rope -- but their counselor had cleared the expanse with inches to spare. Just one more reason for the children to look up to their positive role model.

About 18 of Avenal High School's students and recent graduates were hired on for summer jobs as counselors at the Avenal-Kettleman City Summer Camp. And after several weeks of field trips, art projects, cooking lessons, dance classes and outdoor activities, the camp will wrap up on Thursday. Jones' mom, Alicia Jones, who co-directed this summer's camp with Thomas Knight, hopes that the 200 students that attended the camp will walk away having interacted with a positive role model.

"If you have no idea what you want to do because of negative examples you have seen around you, this is a positive example," Alicia Jones said of the counselors hired to mentor children at the camp and lead them through the daily activities.

Jones added that not only does the camp benefit the young children and keep them off the streets and away from the TV, but it benefits the teenage counselors. She said it helps develop their leadership skills as they give back to the community and earn some summer cash.

Camp staff members' and counselors' skills at setting positive examples no matter the circumstances were put to the test two weeks ago when five children vandalized Avenal Elementary. Components of the camp had to relocate to different classrooms on the campus, but camp went on.

"Just because someone does something negative in the community that's not going to stop us from doing something positive," Jones said.

The camp has existed in prior summers, but this is the first time it has been directed by Jones and Knight. And both being physical education teachers and coaches at Avenal High, they believed it needed one additional component beyond the four offered previously: cooking, dancing, art and a game room. So, they added an outdoor component with physical activity.

"The camp is set up as fun but also educational and ordered," Knight said.

Every child did an hour of each activity each day of the camp, four days a week, except on field trip days. Camp attendees also received swimming lessons two or three times a week.

Maribel Jimenez, site supervisor for the camp at Avenal Elementary, said the summer camp is good because it gives children something to do that includes recreational activity. Jimenez emphasized that the camp's swimming lessons were especially beneficial because the majority of the children were not previously proficient swimmers.

The camp was offered to first- through fifth-graders at Avenal Elementary School, to first- through third-graders at Tamarack Elementary School and to first- through fifth-graders at Kettleman City School.

Reef-Sunset Unified School District provided facilities and equipment necessary to run the summer camp but Paramount Farms funded the entire camp and its field trips. Fifth-grade camp attendees traveled to Oakland for a major league baseball game and to Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria within the last few weeks. All camp attendees visited Avila Beach last week, and will travel to Cayucos this week.

Jimenez said the field trips were a first visit to the destinations for many of the children.

"Here in Avenal the poverty level is something big," Jimenez said. "The farthest some of them have been before is Hanford or Fresno."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2424.

(July 22, 2008)