Program Teaches Teens Discipline, Focus

The longest amount of time 15-year-old Tomas Ortiz ever spent away from his family was one day. So it isn’t surprising that he feels nervous about leaving them for a three-week backpacking trip.

Ortiz is one of three Petaluma students about to embark on a wilderness expedition sponsored by Summer Search.

With seven locations nationwide, the nonprofit works to inspire leadership in resilient low-income high school students through year-round mentoring, college advising and life-changing summer experiences at the end of their sophomore and junior years.

Immersion in the outdoors is the focus of the first summer. The second includes academic enrichment on a college campus, community service, or a cross-cultural homestay abroad.

The trips challenge young people to take healthy risks with the support of a group, according to Ryan Cooney, outreach director of the North Bay office based in Petaluma.

“The confidence they return with is mind-blowing,” he says.

Ortiz, a Casa Grande student, says he’s “excited to do new things” with Sierra Nevada Journeys, such as whitewater rafting and kayaking. To prepare, he has been running and playing soccer with friends. But the training, which requires resiliency to push through discomfort, isn’t just physical.

“Hiking is pretty hard after hours and hours, but you don’t give up. You keep going.”

The second youngest of five boys, Ortiz wants to attend medical school. He describes himself as a shy person, but says his mentor, Lindsey Roark Yee, has helped him talk to people and to become more open-minded.

Mentors encourage students to anticipate how they’ll respond to stress, homesickness, and being in a new situation, according to Cooney. The goal is to support them to take their first steps toward leaving home for unknown territory—ultimately preparing them for success.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 50 percent of low-income students graduate from high school and just 11 percent complete a four-year college within six years.

But Summer Search is changing those odds.

In 2010, 99 percent of Summer Search seniors graduated from high school, and 85 percent of those in college are on track to graduate.

Sergio Diaz, 15, credits Summer Search for helping him figure out what he wants to be.

“They’re pushing me in a positive direction in my academics. Molly [Curley] is a great mentor. It’s good to have that extra support.”

College is something this Petaluma High student is definite about, and he hopes his trip to Wyoming to study plants with Teton Science School might give him a focus.

Although he and his younger brother visit their grandmother in Mexico, this trip will be the first time Diaz leaves California without his family.

An avid skateboarder, he’s used to seeing obstacles as opportunities.

“If you’re mentally prepared, the rest will follow,” he says, taking a positive spin on the challenges ahead.

“It’s the reason I keep skateboarding. It’s not like a game that you beat and it’s over. You keep advancing.”

Lacey Ly Trinh, 16, heads to Utah this week. She’ll join National Outdoor Leadership School to practice leave-no-trace backcountry skills during a month-long hike in bear country. She’s been breaking in her boots and preparing to carry a 50-pound pack by hiking in Helen Putnam Park.

Trinh says being nervous comes with the territory, but looks forward to developing her independence, communication skills and perseverance—“telling yourself you can do it when sometimes you think you can’t.”

“I like absolute answers,” says Trinh, who calls herself a huge science and math nerd. Tackling honors chemistry, AP Calculus and AP English at Casa Grande next year, she plans to follow the footsteps of her two older sisters to UC Berkeley.

But life for Trinh has not been without its trials. She was just 3 years old when her parents divorced and her father, whom she would visit in Vietnam, recently died from cancer.

She says her mentor, Alex Walter, is helping her figure out who she is versus who she was trying to be.

“It’s definitely with her that I have found a little bit more of myself with each call.”

This year, Summer Search North Bay served 134 students, including recent graduates and 77 of them will attend an experiential learning program this summer. Summer Search supplies boots, outdoor clothing and travel expenses, while more than 70 partner organizations offer tuition-free scholarships.