European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Growing up at Colorado school for troubled girls by Julia Rubin associated Pressl in. A 17 year old with a siring of drug Arn its lil a Cigar tic and summed up her 10 Montri in Colorado with he bored look of a Gartu Jilg senior. I grew up she said. Sho had not wanted to come to Excelsior youth centers and was Mote than Teady to go Home. But she said the school Kratly helped her escape the revolving door o Juv Cito courts and group Homes she had been stuck in Lor years in Indiana. Excelsior a Dace Lor troubled Girts perched on the High Plains in Aurora Southeast of Denver consists of a Junior and senior High school and residential child care facility Excelsior i. Ono of a Tew such schools or Gills in the United staler and draws students irom 17 Stales for Many Gnirs. The school represents one last Chon co Halo or they arc locked up or placed in a Hospital void have to put up with the Girts with their smart Maulli and Dion altitudes and their  oar i not her a Cal name but you get the support of the girls Loo. And of Iho stall and Iho therapist a she Narn to c pc Casior on the recommendation of a caseworker in Gary ind Allar live previous placements had failed to improve her behaviour. A Lisl i was Mil realty upset because i was gelling Send away irom my family she says then she started working ill a Caiby Elo Lhing store saving Money making irions and continuing to Woik Wilh a therapist things Gol Bill or they make you Deal Wilt your issues you jus i have to be wiling to Deal with your issues she says. The issues Lor Excelsior s 130 girls Ages 12 to in Range trom incest and abuse to murder prostitution and. Often depression there s 13-year old Jackie Lound by social service workers in n n in Down Shack in Rural Wyoming Una to to speak Aller years of sexual and emotional abuse. When she arrived at Excelsior sue would Hoard pieces of Metal in her clothes and try to kill herself with Thorn school officials said there s Laura who will stay Al Excelsior a Natl she recovers from the Stock of losing iwo family members to violent Deal is and Tracy who arrived Aller Ficq enl encounters with Iho even to system in los Angeles for prostitution and drug abuse. One of the school s belter known graduates is Deborah Jahnke. The Wyoming teen Ager who was convicted with her younger brother Richard in the november 19b2 shool my death of their abusive talk or. Deborah Jahnke s prison sentence was commuted and Erma Bombeck the re tit Tonta they cant Dunta to on Public Schoot Byom Center diameter Wiki a c. Angry. She spent 1 i years Al Excelsior undergoing psychiatric evaluation and awaiting court rulings. Thase Are students they can t educate in the Public school system.,. Kids with severe emotional and behavioural problem who would otherwise probably be in a psychical ii  says Excelsior director William a Gregory known to the Girts As or. Bill when Gregory walks through the Halls during a typical school Day he in greeted with Hollos and hugs in one room a class is making sushi and or Bill is inv cd to test it. In another room a chorus of girls is preparing Lor a Concord Hoy ask him in hell come to Sec it. The cottages where the girls live look out on the Rockies. They ror Ombac College dormitories More than a a Corm school. The Gills rooms Are plastered with posters of animals Rock Stais. The Denver Broncos and inspirational quotations. Gregory says a can toll How Well a girl has Adius cd by How much she has plastered on her Wall. Gregory said Excelsior girls have had an average of eight previous placements in institutions such As psychiatric hospitals Hatway houses and Foster and group Homes. The majority come out of locked instil Ulione. Most referrals to Excelsior ecu no from county social workers and school districts. A few what Lior student arc placed privately by their parents. Tha average slay Al the school is 13 months and there s a Long wailing list Excelsior a private association Tun by an 11 member Board is funded mainly by counties which pay a fee for each child placed at the school. The fee Lor Bolh Kraal Mcnol and school comes to about $2,700 per month per student which Gic gory says is cheaper than psychiatric Hospital ipalion. In Elfeel what we re doing is taking kids who be been in the system Tor a Long time. We re Pul Ling kids out of the  while Rusi denial child care facilities Are numerous there Are Only about 15 girls schools in tha country Hal Otler lha Broad program Excelsior does Gregory says Excelsior began its operation in 1973 and runs on on annual budget of $4.5 million derived from the tees paid by counties and irom contributions. Because the stale of Colorado has imposed a three year freeze on county payments for child care facilities Excelsior has been seeking More out of Sale students it needs More help from the state Gregory says with Iho number of disturbed adolescents and teen suicides rising meantime fund raising and a Bond Issue is to finance a new $700.000 building thai will include a 12 bed treatment unit. Originally isolated the 33-acre Campus now is surrounded by Homes and shopping centers. Neighbors have never complained about the school Gregory says. An accredited Junior and senior High school Excelsior offers a licensed school of cosmetology and Fields basketball volleyball and Soll Bab teams calling themselves the eagles. It also has a treatment and learning Center lha can handle severely disturbed students. Gregory says there Are three or Lour incidents a month. There have been no suicides but we be come  the school s 170 employees include therapists medical personnel teachers and Counselor who live wish groups of students in cottages. Gregory cells the treatment  a lot of these kids missed Good parenting in their important developmental needs to Don t locus exclusively on the psyche. We take care of the Tola child raining in Hygiene social skills. We As adults Are in charge and Icse types of kids need Good he ally authority la s not a punitive authority bul a Strong nurturing parenting kind of authority Excelsior also emphasizes family therapy sometimes Hying child and therapist to the parents Home in an Effort to get tha girl Back into her family. Gregory says about 85 percent of Tho girls who leave Excelsior have completed treatment and Are Able to function independently. I never paid much att lion to Tho House across the Street Irani my grandma s unlit one Day in 1942, the owner Hung from the window Shade Cord a Little 4-by4-Inch Flag with a Gold Star in die Center of in. When i asked grandma what it meant she said ii Means her son was cited in Iho War. La s her medal i did i realize Al Tho Lime thai this Small hag also gave the owner membership in a group called Gold Star mothers who found Solace once a month by visiting women who had also paid the ultimate Price of War Wilh their Young sons a couple Al years ago i wondered in they still banded together i called around and Gol a Nde to a Mealing with the Only member in the group who had lost her son in Vietnam. She was notified on Mother s Day. As she drove she handed me the worn letter thai had arrived irom the defense depart men on that fateful Day. As i read it she recited from memory every word on the Page. There used to be a membership of More than 200 in the Phoenix group bul Onty eight women arrived that morning Al the multipurpose room of the american legion Hall in a room that usually housed Bingo games the women carried Inchoo Kobs for the social hour and a larger version of the Gold Star nag. One woman dug a faded artificial Wreath of Flowers from the trunk of her car. All had brought framed pictures of their sons in uniforms and stories Hal went Voth i hem. Vera Lacey the president said she had a premonition of her Only son s death she awoke in the Middle of the night and knew Roberl was in trouble in his plane Over North Korea. After 38 years she was Slit disturbed Hal on the burial Sag Al the veterans Hospital they left the a out other son s last name. As these while hailed warriors most of them approaching 90years of age blood Al attention their hands Over their hearts their eyes on the Flag reciting the pledge of allegiance i All i was seeing the last bit of unashamed patriotism ii was the last vision of red Skelton doing his Lamous pantomime of Ihu aging Veteran saluting Tia lag Asil went by. The last John Wayne movie where he shouted the Tine Hal always brought Goose bumps to the audience take thai Flag Down Soldier and put up old glory it was the last sound of taps in the cemetery that somehow made it seem like everything happened Lor the Best. A few Days ago i called Vera Lacey and asked har if lha Gold Star mothers were going to meet this memorial Day of no dear we re not meeting anymore. We re All so old and we can t drive ii does t mean there s a Day goes by that our sons Aren t on our minds. We loved to talk about them and keep in emotive. It helped us to remember. I Hope the world remembers them  and so do i. C i4ba Cama Comsech Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday May �8.190b