Some Lemoore teens are anxious to be involved in school -- some moreso namely in a program targeted to keep them away from one of their biggest temptations: gangs.

Two Lemoore High School juniors presented Thursday to Lemoore Joint Union High School District trustees about Gang Resistance Intervention and Prevention, or GRIP. GRIP, which began three years ago, uses mentoring, field trips and grade accountability as a means of keeping students out of gangs.

Anabel Lopez, 17, and Dynora Concilion, 16, got into GRIP this year after waiting for space to open up -- with even seats on each side because GRIP has to be balanced with equal enrolled students from each of the two predominant local gangs -- and improving their grades and staying out of trouble.

In GRIP, students do community service, visit college campuses, go camping and this year even ventured up to the snow.

But to stay in GRIP, students have to stay on track. They have mentors, which are school staff members, that are helping to make sure they do. Some students derail. Rodney Brumit, coordinator of GRIP and an assistant principal at Lemoore High, said six students got dropped this year for fighting, getting suspended or breaking another of GRIP's conditions.

"Some kids slip and choose the gang," Brumit said. "Because they know the program won't be around after they graduate."

But Lopez said she's not about to slip. Trustee Lois Hubanks asked her if she had the willpower to continue to stay away after she graduates, and Lopez said she did.

Though she said that many of her friends and family members are in a gang, she worked hard -- raising her GPA from a .76 to 2.0 -- to get in the program. She added that a visit from a Corcoran prisoner to talk to GRIP students about making good decisions reiterated to her that gang involvement wasn't "worth it."

"This is a really good program," Lopez said. "It improves you a lot."

Brumit mentioned after the board meeting that about 10 GRIP students will graduate in June, including one with near a 4.0 GPA. He said some had gone from a 0 GPA and improved, and they are all students that are affiliated with gangs.

"They don't change the way they dress or the way they look," Brumit said. "They just change their behavior."

Students in the program value its ability to give them a sense of self worth, said Trustee Noah Lawson.

And they even recommend their friends for it who they feel are "slipping" into the gangs. But only certain types of students can handle it, because they have to be willing to change, Brumit said.

"They just want to belong," Brumit said. "Like we all just do want to belong to something."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2424.

(March 28, 2008)