Camp teaches peaceful solutions

Reaches out to at-risk children

Tamayah White, 9, jumped rope yesterday during the Red Auerbach Future Stars Sports and Leadership Program at John Marshall Elementary School. ''Here [at the camp] they teach you about not doing bad things and to stay in school,'' said White. (David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

Last year, two alleged gang members led police on a foot chase that ended in a gunfight in front of John Marshall Elementary School on Westville Street in Dorchester. Several months later, police discovered a homicide victim slumped in his car in the school's back parking lot. And three weeks ago, police shut down Westville Street while they investigated a shooting several houses away from the school.

But yesterday, inside the school's gymnasium, the message was peace. About 100 at-risk youths, many from that Dorchester neighborhood, tossed basketballs, chatted, and listened to Mayor Thomas M. Menino talk about the importance of going to school and choosing peaceful solutions over violence. Yesterday was the final day of the six-week Red Auerbach Future Stars Sports and Leadership Program summer camp.

Matt Wolf, the son of US District Court Judge Mark Wolf, created a summer camp for children in Lowell in 1998, and early last year presented a proposal to Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis to conduct a similar camp in Boston. Davis, former Lowell police chief, embraced the idea and brought together Boston officials to help make the camp a reality. With funding from the Red Auerbach Youth Foundation, Wolf and other organizers started the summer camp last year with about $60,000 from the foundation. This year, the foundation, which is funded by local businesses and former associates of the legendary Celtics basketball coach, provided $75,000.

"It's really rewarding to see all the smiles on these kids faces because many of them have been through a lot and have seen a lot," Wolf said yesterday.

Children ages 8 to 14 participated in the camp, and many of them were well aware of the violence that plagues their community and had dealt with the loss of loved ones because of it.

Dajunnay Wade, 12, a seventh-grader at Mildred Avenue Middle School said, "Where I live, there's a lot of violence. You can't go out at night because there's shootings. You don't know what's going to happen."

Wade said her cousin, Jahmol A. Norfleet, was a victim of fatal violence. "We still can't believe he's gone," she said. Norfleet's death on Nov. 28, 2006, drew widespread media and community attention. Norfleet, a former leader of the H-Block gang in Roxbury, was shot twice in the head as he walked out of his grandmother's house on Holworthy Street. By many accounts, Norfleet had turned his life around before his death by embracing peace and telling youths who looked up to him to discard violence.

Keineka Tavares, 9, and Tamayah White, 9, both fourth-graders, said they've heard about violence in their neighborhoods. But "here [at the camp] they teach you about not doing bad things and to stay in school," said White. "And to get good grades."

The camp, which started July 7, ran from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and provided breakfast and lunch. They played basketball, soccer, touch football, and other sports, and, at 10 a.m. each day, they gathered for an hourlong leadership and antiviolence session. Over the past six weeks, they have listened to several guest speakers, including Davis, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, and, on Thursday, Celtics player Glen "Big Baby" Davis.

Stacy L. Brown, the summer camp program director, said Glen Davis told the children, "when you have something you love, you have to focus and have discipline."

Wolf said the speakers "encouraged the kids to live healthy lives and informed them about the consequences of what happens when violence occurs."

The participants were recruited through community outreach programs such as the Boston Centers for Youth and Families, and Action for Boston Community Development, and from the Department of Social Services referrals, he said.