Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

CHAMPS students show imagination rules

"It's loud."

Those were the first words spoken by Melissa Franklin, primary school counselor, at the entrance to the activity room at the First Methodist Church. And loud turned out to be an understatement.

The entire fourth grade class from Gurdon Primary School, along with a dozen students in grades 8-12, were busily building towers using nothing but balloons, masking tape and their imagination. The rules were simple  use only the materials provided, the structure must be free-standing, and work together.

And despite the racket and the obvious age differences, there was evidence of the fact that they were working together.

Franklin said CHAMPS is a nationally-recognized program that provides an opportunity for interaction between fourth graders and high school students. Originally used in Arizona, CHAMPS stands for "Champs Have And Model Positive Peer Skills." The goal is to have fun with positive role models, encouraging the younger students to follow these role models.

Students at Gurdon who participate were trained by the Dawson Educational Cooperative.

The program is active throughout the year, with the older students first going through the training to become certified CHAMPS members. To participate, students must make the choice to be drug free and to serve as positive role models.

Debbie White, art teacher at the high school, said students are then selected based on academic performance and character.

The fourth graders were obviously having a good time during the activities, but what of the high school students?

"It's been fun," said Tynesha Ivory, and eighth grade student.

Junior Cody Pruitt agreed. "It's fun and I enjoy spending time with the kids, trying to help them out, doing activities."

Junior Jordan Purifoy said it's a chance to be a role model while having a good time with the kids.

As important as the role models are, this is also a chance for interaction between two groups of Gurdon students who would likely not come into contact with each other.

"I only knew one kid in my group," said eighth grader Candace Cooper. "Now I know all of them.

"They really like this," she said, gesturing to the room filled with balloon towers. "It's a fund day and they're excited about CHAMPS."

She predicted that some of the future CHAMPS role models were in the room.

And Cooper said the fourth graders had also given some insight to their own lives that she wouldn't have otherwise known. Though there were fun activities, there were also workshops and Cooper said the fourth graders were asked about favorite movies, books and other aspects of their lives.

"They gave some really good answers," she said.

Part of the day's activities included a workshop on how to handle peer pressure and specific situations.