12 FIRST GRADS OF STAR CAMP.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A dozen Antelope Valley teens who dedicated themselves to changing their current paths graduated Saturday from a boot camp-style program for at-risk youth.

The 12 teenage boys and girls stood onstage at Highland High School to accept their diplomas as the first graduates of the United Community Action Network's STAR program.

``A lot of these kids really enjoyed (the program),'' said Chief Sid Melvin, an Air Force ROTC instructor at Lancaster High School who helped with the program. ``A lot of them were looking for discipline. Hopefully, they will take what they learned here and use it in life.''

The STAR program was put in place after the Sheriff's Department's budget crisis forced the closure of the successful Vital Intervention Directional Alternatives (VIDA) program, a similar program for youth at risk of becoming involved in drugs or gang activity.

Because of the success of the VIDA program, Billy Pricer, UCAN executive director, created the STAR program to pick up where VIDA left off.

The teens spent 16 Saturdays at the UCAN office starting as early as 7 a.m. They began with physical training, including marching, running, sit- ups and push-ups, then went into behavior modification and community service. The teens were hounded by Marine reservists and Lancaster High School Air Force ROTC cadets barking orders at them and, in Melvin's words, ``forcing them to push themselves.''

The teens would also have to participate in Thursday counseling sessions, which often included family members to help them get past whatever was driving them in the wrong direction, program instructors said.

When the STAR program took over, 52 young people had signed up to participate in the program. Before the first class started, more than half had dropped out. Just after classes started, nine more quit and almost at the end of the program, four more were lost - but all four promised to return to the next class.

Melvin, whose team took over for the Marine reservists after several of them were deployed to Iraq, said he hopes to work with the next class. He also wants to have the graduates talk to future classes.

``They could tell them what it's like,'' Melvin said. ``They've been in their shoes. They can explain to them that it doesn't matter how you start the race, it's how you finish it.''

Pricer said they already have more than 200 people on a waiting list for the next class, and he hopes to see the program become more and more successful.

UCAN is a nonprofit organization that helps youth avoid gangs and drugs through a variety of programs.

Greg Botonis, [phone]

gregory.botonis(at)dailynews.com