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Araceli and Francisco Curry
Two young people from the Tri-Community have returned from summer camp with a better understanding of themselves and the world.
Araceli and Francisco Curry live in Mammoth. This summer they attended Anytown Leadership Camp. Anytown’s mission is to celebrate diversity and reduce bias, bigotry, and prejudice. They teach using a unique and structured curriculum where all students participate in the programming which is experiential, interactive and in a safe setting.
Ramona Curry, the mother of the kids, said she attended the camp 30 years ago. When she attended the focus was on racial, religious and ethnic prejudice. At that time, they were not taught about bias towards gays and the LGBT community. “We knew little about that back then,” she said. Now the camp teaches about tolerance and the bias and prejudice toward LGBT. Ramona said that both kids came home excited. Her son had changed. He has a different attitude about things.
Francisco attended Camp Wamatochick in Prescott. He says he will try to pass on what he has learned to his friends. He knows that he will stop “cat calling” girls and not be prejudiced. He learned that there are people who are not going to like you because of your ethnicity or color and you need to not mind people like that, show a positive attitude and keep going.
Araceli went to Mingus Mountain Camp in Prescott Valley. “It was a very emotional experience,” said Araceli. “I cried a lot,” she added. She said she learned about hate and diversity and how everybody should be treated equally no matter their skin color, nationality, religion or sexual orientation. “Everybody has some type of privilege and should use it to help others.” Araceli hopes to pass on her knowledge to her friends and others. Both kids received a certificate and credit for 50 hours of community service.
Ramona Curry said she would like to see more kids from the Tri-Community attend these camps and perhaps get the schools involved in at least passing on the information to students and parents. When she attended the camp, it was a high school counselor, Randy Cordero, that told her about it. She filled out an application and four students were selected by the school counselors to attend.
The cost of the Anytown Arizona Camp is $425 for a seven-day, six-night stay including accommodations, meals and roundtrip transportation from Phoenix. Scholarships are available and no one is turned away. Ramona, because she was an Alumna, only had to pay $25 for each kid. The education that these students receive helps to build community. The lessons learned about tolerance for others, and working to reduce, bias, hatred, prejudice and bigotry are important today.
If you would like to learn more about Anytown Leadership Camp visit their website. You can donate by sending contributions to:
Anytown Leadership Program. Inc.
P.O. Box 446
Phoenix, AZ 85001
You can also donate on the website. They are a 501c3 non-profit.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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