Getting into college. Designing and building the best racing car. Becoming a nurse. Having a career as a massage therapist. Being a better, more positive person. These are goals we can achieve.

All this was heard at the Step Up summer camp held at Camp Tilikum outside of Newberg, OR. from August 24-28. Attended by 30 incoming high school freshman students of Step Up programs at various Portland schools, including Open Meadow, the camp focused on helping the students set a successful path for their high school careers.

Combining hard work and hard play in a fast-paced week, the camp program moved the students from questioning and defensive attitudes on Monday to clearsighted, positive visions by Friday about what they want to get done in high school and how they're going to do it.

I attended the camp as a volunteer coach and a representative of Pearl Rotary Club which is partnering with the Step Up program at Open Meadow School, an alternative middle and high school program in North Portland. It was my honor to assist the students, Step Up staff and student Advocates, and to witness the surprising transformations that can happen in just one week.

Here are some highlights of Step Up summer camp as I observed and supported the students:

n Hearing these 14 and 15 year olds tell the stories of challenges they have faced in their young lives at home, in school and sometimes entirely on their own.
n Watching and supporting them as they faced the fears presented by a rope course test, from climbing 100 and more feet into the air on a stripped-down Oregon evergreen tree, to navigating a catwalk 50 feet above ground between two large trees, to making a big swing from high up another tree out over a lake flying initially at speeds of 50 mph or more. Yes, there were harnesses for support but their courage and fortitude were what truly marked their achievements.
n Seeing their dreams in the colorful drawings and posters they made to depict them.
n Cheering them on as they improved on their personal bests: In their second 1500-meter race of the week, as they challenged their times recorded in the first outing, every single one equalled or improved on his or her time -- even though the second effort came near the end of a busy, exhausting week.
n Supporting them as they focused on their positives, articulating their strengths and how they planned to be successful high school students.

I was also very impressed with the skill, intelligence, high energy and patience of the Step Up staff and Advocate group as they moved students through an ambitious agenda with warmth, humor and great care.

At the end of the week, each camper went home with the direction he or she developed as guidance for the upcoming freshman year and beyond to graduation. Each headlined the result as “The New Me”, and indeed 30 very different incoming high school freshmen boarded the bus at week's end to head home.

These Step Up students have every reason to be optimistic, knowing their program Advocates
-- adult advisors assigned at the camp -- will work with them, their teachers and their families some 15 hours weekly and support them throughout the coming year with mentoring, tutoring and counseling opportunities.

Another reason for optimism: Among those students who have participated in the Step Up program, up to 90% have graduated from high school, compared to not much more than 50% of non-participating peers.

Oh, yes, there is a New Me also, with these positives I developed at camp to put into action:

-- Self-confident
-- Risk-taking
-- Focused on positive things of life
-- Answering directly and truthfully
-- Active
-- Listening carefully
-- Thinking of others
-- Caring
-- Letting go

Listed here just in case you don't recognize me the next time you see me.