The Leadership Camp, sponsored by the Oconee County Sheriff's Office and the School District of Oconee County, recently received a $5000 grant from "Dabo's All In®" Team Foundation formed by Coach Swinney and his wife Kathleen. The mission of their foundation is to raise awareness of critical education and health issues in order to change lives of people across the state of South Carolina. The funds will allow the Leadership Camp to expand the number of participants within the camp.
Three years ago, Evie Hughes, SDOC Director of Student Services, Lt. Mark Lyles and the school resource officers, from the Oconee County Sheriff's Office, met to discuss ideas for reaching students at-risk for dropping out of school. The group decided to target boys between the ages of 10 and 14 and offer a summer Leadership Camp. The goal of the camp was to help these young men develop skills they would need to change some habits of the past and plot a more positive future. Part of the strategy would be to raise awareness of law enforcement officers by developing personal relationships between officers and the boys.
During the camp, School Resource Officers participate as team leaders. The participating students are divided into groups of five or six students and are paired with an SRO. There are daily competitions, activities, and team building challenges.
The camp lasts for one week, but the relationships with the SROs, as well as other law enforcement officers, continue throughout the year. When officers see any of the participants, they make a point to say something and engage the students in conversation to let them know they are important.
Mrs. Hughes and Cpl. Chris Roach collected some feedback information from last year's participants. They were interested in finding out which parts of camp the students enjoyed the most and what impact the students felt the camp had on them long-term.
Throughout the spring, school administrators and guidance counselors fill out referrals for camp participants. Typically, the referrals are based on poverty, lack of male role models, and discipline issues but any student can be nominated to attend. The group is currently prioritizing the applications and will soon notify those who are selected.
"Helping these young men to develop character, build more positive relationships with law enforcement and become better citizens is important to us," said Lt. Lyles.