A NEW BEGINNING; SUMMER CAMP WITH A TWIST: HIKING, BIKING, SWIMMING AND FUN, BUT FIRST, DO YOUR MATH

Frank Hollis, Tacuma Smith, Jerome Carr and Kourtney Wiggins made a pledge after they traveled to Washington D.C. in 1995 to attend the Million Man March.

The four men pledged to dedicate themselves to improving the black community where they live in Cairo, Ill. They made plans to take on more responsibilities, clean up their neighborhoods, and help others improve their lifestyles.

Three years later, the group has founded a successful trucking business and is ready to make good on that pledge. However, now they envision a community much larger than Cairo. Their goal today is to help develop character, discipline, academic prowess and integrity in disadvantaged youth who live in southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri and western Kentucky.

This summer the men will sponsor Camp Genesis, a series of week-long math adventure camps for disadvantaged boys ages 11-15. Informational flyers emphasize the biking, hiking, swimming, astronomy, archery and other activities that will take place during the camp. However, organizers said boys and their parents shouldn't miss the main reason for attending the camp.

"There is a vigorous, mandatory, two-hour math course that they have to complete every day before they do anything else," said Hollis, who is the camp director and will serve as a math tutor during each camp. "We're giving them an opportunity to do things most of them have probably never done before, but they're not going to do them until after we've stretched their minds with the math, because that's what we want them to take back with them."

The camp will be held in Pulaski, Ill., on land donated by a local farmer. Many of the water and biking activities will take place at Giant City State Park near Carbondale. Participants will be picked up from their home each Sunday beginning June 1 and returned home the following Saturday evening.

The cost of the camp is $150, a figure which has made many parents blink twice. However, Hollis said the amount doesn't really cover the costs of food, activities and transportation for each child.

"We're not trying to make any money off of these kids," he said. "We've already bought all of the equipment -- all they've got to do is come. We also encourage the kids to use the sponsor sheets we provide and ask people to sponsor their trip."

Wiggins said the sponsor sheet should be viewed as the participant's first math problem of the camp. "They know how to save their money when it comes to buying the new Jordan's on the day they come out," said Wiggins, a former gang-member who is a certified life guard and will act as a camp counselor. "We want them to figure out how many sponsors they will need to get the $150, then go and ask those businesses and organizations in their community to help them get to camp."

Hollis said the camp is not going to be an easy experience for participants. Discipline is very important for development from boyhood to manhood, and Camp Genesis will include long, activity-filled days that begin around 5 a.m., he said.

Daily physical conditioning activities will be coordinated by Carr, who served 14 year as U.S. Army staff sergeant and has worked nine years at an Illinois correctional facility. He said he plans to condition the boys to respect themselves and each other by involving them in activities.

"We want them to condition their minds and their bodies so that when they come home, they'll see the progress they've made and keep at it," he said.

Hollis said although activities will be occurring constantly during the camps, participation levels will vary by individuals. Activity involvement will be evaluated for each camp participant and forwarded to their communities later in the summer, he said. In addition, the final week of camp will be reserved for the most productive campers of the summer, who will be given an expense-paid trip to the Grand Canyon.

For the past month, Smith and Wiggins have been hitting the streets in various towns to button-hole young men they believe would benefit from attending the camp. They said reception from young men and their parents has been excellent so far, even before the Grand Canyon trip is mentioned. Several participants are already scheduled to attend the camp, and many more boys have indicated they plan to be there, they said.

"We want to show them the universe because we want them to see that's where they need to be looking," said Smith, who will coordinate math, chess, dominoes and checkers activities. "They need to take the attitude that this country is not that big, and if they want to learn about it they can."

Numerous people and organizations are endorsing Camp Genesis and spreading the word in their towns. Ministers in several towns, including Cape Girardeau, Sikeston and Blissettville, have agreed to share information with their congregations and if possible, to sponsor young men for the camp. Educators, juvenile and police officers and other officials are also helping to spread the word about the camp.

Sheldon Tyler, Cape Girardeau Alternative Education Center director, said he believes the camp would benefit young men. Good role models and positive activities are always beneficial to young people, and Camp Genesis appears to offer both, he said.

"I believe that their objectives are sincere and although some people believe seven days aren't a long time, we've all had an experience where a short-term activity had a long-term affect," he said. "I think this is one of those experiences."

Tyler said he appreciates the invitation Hollis and others have made to organization leaders for a sponsor from each town to attend the camp free of charge with participants from their community. The offer is proactive and gives organizations an additional reason to promote the camp in their communities, he said.

Hollis said his group is taking their pledge to heart and is currently working on similar activities for young girls. The focus is placed on the boys for the moment because girls often take their cues from their male counterparts, he said.

"Usually if you straighten up the boys, the girls will fall in line," he said. "Girls usually base their behavior on what the boys are doing. That's what Camp Genesis is all about -- we're going back to the beginning to build up our men."

CAMP GENESIS

*Weeklong adventure and tutorial camp for disadvantaged boys ages 11015 in Cairo, Ill., Ullin, Ill., Tamms, Ill., Mounds, Ill., Mound City, Ill., Cape Girardeau, Charleston, Sikeston, Hayti, Wyatt, New Madrid and Paducah, Ky.

*Most activities held at Giant City State Park near Carbondale.

*Activities include bikding, camping, canoeing, cookouts, horseback riding, archery, pathfinding, astronomy and chess -- ALL AFTER a daily, mandatory, two-hour math course.

*Camps run every week beginning June 1-Aug. 22.

*Sponsor sheets (for boys being sponsored by individuals or groups), physical conditioning questionnaire and $150 camp fee must be turned in no less than one week prior to the date of attendance.

*For more information contact Frank Hollis at (618) 734-4556.