============================================================ QUICK WEIGHT LOSS PLAN - LOSE 2-5 POUNDS A WEEK! Lose Weight Now! using real food, No pills or packaged meals Join today - start today! Free newsletter and bonus gifts http://click.topica.com/caaacEPb1ddNBb2HgmNb/Pianos ============================================================Anasazi experience gets praise
Teens find way in wilderness
Karina Bland
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 15, 2001At 12, Ron Massey's little boy, the one who talked at 9 months
and got perfect test scores though he never did his homework, was selling
drugs at school.He stole. He ran away. He was in and out of rehab before he
was old enough to drive."We tried everything," says Massey, of Mesa.The
desperate father sent his 16-year-old to the Anasazi Foundation, a
well-known, nationally accredited wilderness program in Mesa. Although some
"tough love" teen camps are under fire, many say Anasazi is an example of one
that works.The boy lived in the Tonto National Forest west of Payson,
sleeping under the stars, for almost three months.The kids hiked from one
place to the next, where letters, counselors and a nurse waited for them.
They carried a canteen, bedroll and a week's supply of food. They built fires
without matches, purified water and built shelters. "Day to day, they walk,"
says Mike Merchant, CEO of the non-profit program. "They get the drugs out of
their systems.."Kids who want to leave simply walk out of the woods, followed
by staff members for safety.Half the kids who finish have no repeat of the
problem that brought them there. Less than 5 percent need inpatient care. The
cost is $375 a day and is covered by some insurance. Financial aid is
available.When Massey's son came home, he stayed out of trouble for a few
months until he hooked up with his old buddies.Then one night he came home,
long after curfew, and quietly asked his dad if he could go back to
Anasazi.His father joined him for part of his stay. They lived in a shelter
the teen had built.Now 27, Massey's son manages a pizza place and goes to
college, studying to be a biology teacher. Massey asked that his son's name
not be used."They really turned him around," Massey says. "They gave my son
back to me."
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Copyright 2001, azcentral.com. All rights reserved.
"Never cease in the fight for peace, justice, and equality for all people. Be
perisitent in all that you do and don't allow anyone to sway you from your
conscience.".....Leonard Peltier
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Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Sign the Petition. http://petitiononline.com/Release/petition.html
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