Cool camp for hot summer days




JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SUMMER CAMP FUN—Above, from left to right, Gaby Zacuto, Kellyn Holmes, Alyssa Flanders, Alyssa Kogel and Shannon Tempelton from Agoura Hills enjoy a moment of friendship at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s STAR summer camp. Below, from left, STAR summer campers Matthew Aravantis, Dylan Dadon, Sam Felton and Matthew Kozal of Lupin Hill  Elementary School paddle on Lake Calamigos. The popular camp just completed its ninth year.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SUMMER CAMP FUN—Above, from left to right, Gaby Zacuto, Kellyn Holmes, Alyssa Flanders, Alyssa Kogel and Shannon Tempelton from Agoura Hills enjoy a moment of friendship at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s STAR summer camp. Below, from left, STAR summer campers Matthew Aravantis, Dylan Dadon, Sam Felton and Matthew Kozal of Lupin Hill Elementary School paddle on Lake Calamigos. The popular camp just completed its ninth year.


Dressed in a sleeveless Tshirt, surfer shorts and a white sun visor, it’s tough to tell that Bob Amstutz is on duty.

Amstutz, a deputy with the Los Angles County Sheriff ’s Department, isn’t working undercover. He’s one of the head counselors for the annual STAR (Success Through Awareness and Resistance) summer camp that recently ended at Calamigos Ranch in rural Agoura.

The camp, led by Amstutz and Dep. Dave Bates Amstutz of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, is offered to youth ages 9 to 14.

Now in its ninth year, the camp is divided into two, weeklong sessions. Seven deputies from throughout Los Angeles County oversee a total of 240 campers during the summer.

Founded in 1985, STAR sends deputies into over 202 schools in 30 districts throughout Los Angeles to teach antidrug and violence programs to students from fourth to ninth grade. According to department officials, the program teaches over 48,000 students each month.

The camp is an offshoot of STAR.

In between ice-cream eating contests, fieldtrips to the beach and Magic Mountain, swimming and other camp activities, the deputies talk to the campers about the dangers of drinking, drugs and other dangerous behavior.

“Because so many times people’s experience with law enforcement is negative, I really like having the opportunity to make it positive,” Amstutz said. “This camp gives us a chance to do that.”

Camp activities include demonstrations by the sheriff’s K-9 unit and deputies on motorcycles, as well as a presentation by the FBI.

Amstutz said the camp, one of five held throughout LA County, is so popular it typically sells out during the first day of registration.

Many of the campers are students he regularly sees while teaching STAR classes at schools throughout Las Virgenes.

“The camp gives us an extra way to build bridges with the kids and build relationships with them as they grow older,” Amstutz said. “It’s a big positive for the kids and the sheriff’s department.”

Amstutz said the program is made possible because Calamigos doesn’t charge for the use of its facilities. He also said the campers benefit from donations by In-N-Out Burger, Wood Ranch Barbeque and Grill, Sharky’s Mexican Grill and Paradise Cove in Malibu.

He said the Good Nite Inn provides rooms for deputies working at the camp who live in the Antelope Valley and other areas of LA County so they don’t have to commute each day.

Campers said one of their favorite activities was walking “The Plank,” a two-by-four-foot wooden beam that stretches across the deep end of the camp’s pool. Campers put on goggles that simulate the vision of someone under the influence of alcohol and then try to walk across the narrow piece of wood without falling into the pool.

Amstutz said the exercise helps show children the negative affects of alcohol and drugs on the body.

Gaby Zacuto, an 11-year-old camper from Agoura Hills, said she likes the camp’s food and activities.

“We get to learn stuff about police officers and what they do,” said Shannon Tempelton, also 11 years old and from Agoura Hills. “And they come and teach us how to be safe.”

For more information about STAR, please call (818) 8781808, ext. 3071.

 

 

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