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Oak Grove in Murrieta provides oasis for troubled, at-risk youth
"We have 76 kids who live here 24/7. These kids have more serious issues," said Tammy Wilson, Oak Grove's CEO.
By Toni McAllister, SWRNN

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

On a stormy, blustery Tuesday afternoon, smiling hellos and reassuring hugs warmed the otherwise dreary weather at Murrieta-based Oak Grove Center for Education Treatment and The Arts.

Although rain and cold grayed the school’s covered corridors, the facility is a year-round sunny safe haven for nearly 160 kids who have some very dark clouds hanging over their young lives.

Specializing in the arts, Oak Grove is a non-profit residential and education facility serving mostly local at-risk elementary- through high-school-aged kids and their families.

With two campuses (one in Murrieta and one in Perris), the state-funded school works to help students who have a variety of psychological, social, emotional, behavioral, medical and neurological problems. Many have substance abuse issues and come from dysfunctional families. Some have been abused; others just neglected.

“We have 76 kids who live here 24/7. These kids have more serious issues,” said Tammy Wilson, Oak Grove’s CEO. “We have another 80 who are here during the day but then go home at night.”

Visiting one of 15 classrooms Tuesday afternoon, Oak Grove staff works with a small group of special-needs kids who are learning job-training skills. A smiling, dark curly haired girl with almond-shaped brown eyes talks of her work with helping bring food to local senior citizens. She seems confident and happy.

Referring to students like the girl, who have severe disabilities, Wilson said, “These kids aren’t going to have bright college careers, so we provide job training to prepare them for life outside Oak Grove.”

Some Oak Grove students have college potential, however. Wilson recounted the story of one such student who had substance abuse issues and has now moved out into the world, far beyond the small Murrieta campus.

“She graduated from U.C. Berkeley and just got accepted into graduate school,” Wilson said. “Her father called recently and told me, ‘Without Oak Grove, I know she would be dead or in prison.’”

According to Wilson, Oak Grove’s success with students relies heavily on a large contingency of expertly trained personnel who adhere to the philosophy of nurturing relationships rather than a dictatorial approach.

“We are relationship driven,” Wilson said. “The staff here works to build positive, trusting connections with students. We build a sense of community.”

Wilson said the approach has seen about an 80 percent success rate, as qualified by “reunification” with family.

“We have an intensive family therapy program here,” Wilson said. “Our goal is to reunify as much as possible.”

During a recent student poetry reading where parents were invited to hear their kids deliver themes of personal experience such as rape, abuse, rejection and forgiveness, Wilson said her faith in reunification was reaffirmed.

“The poems were incredible,” Wilson said. “I get chills thinking about it. One father said, ‘I came to see my daughter read a poem and I left a transformed man.’”

Many Oak Grove parents look upon the school as a last desperate act for their kids, and it’s not an easy decision.

“It’s gut-wrenching,” Wilson said. “They wonder, ‘Am I going to get my kid back?’ We don’t make promises, but in so many cases it does get better.”

As a small-framed little girl with long dark eyelashes and cornrows tied back into a ponytail hugs Wilson and chats quickly with a toothy grin, the possibilities at Oak Grove seem attainable.

And watching a group of students practice their song and dance routine for Temecula Live!, an upcoming country musical event Jan. 22-23 that benefits Oak Grove, hope is in action. The kids who are part of Oak’s Grove Performance Team work hard to get their steps down for the weekend’s big performance.

“They are so excited about it,” Wilson said.

The kids - different ages, different issues — dance their way through their powerfully loaded song … “When you walk, walk with pride … when you dream, dream big … dream as big as the ocean …”

PUBLISHED IN CALIFORNIAN AUGUST 22ND 2009

MURRIETA: Oak Grove garden gets makeover
Employees of Ponte Winery spend Friday, Saturday helping out

Students and volunteers at the Oak Grove Center for Education and the Arts learned this weekend there's a lot more to vegetable gardening than merely watching things grow.

For instance, every good garden needs a scarecrow. That's where Ali Suchand, 13, from Culver City, came in.

"I made the head, the body and the gloves," said Ali, who built the 6-foot scarecrow with Taryn Moyer, 13, of Murrieta, and Cristian Flaaten, 13, of Lake Elsinore. All three are students at Oak Grove. "We filled it with potato sacks and then put the clothes on."

That fixture was just one of several gardening activities Friday and Saturday as about 35 students from the school and volunteers from Ponte Winery in Temecula's Wine Country spruced up the garden in preparation for the start of classes Sept. 6. Now the incoming students will be expected to keep the garden going, and growing.

"We started this garden about two years ago as a labor of love," said Tammy Wilson, chief executive officer at the school. "It's been here but was overgrown, full of weeds, and in sad need of an update."

That's where the Ponte Winery folks came in.

One of the mainstays on winery row, Ponte has often donated money and time to help the school, said Wilson and Ragan Erickson, the winery's marketing manager. Recently, it hosted a half-marathon to raise funds for Oak Grove and in a few weeks, the winery will co-sponsor the institution's annual gospel music festival. Ponte has also been a major donor for the school's library.

Most of Oak Grove's 150 students come from troubled homes or have spent much of their young lives fighting addictions or social problems.

"It's our way to help the school and these kids," Erickson said. "We really enjoy doing this."

And that's where Patti Kilborn of Murrieta came in. An administrative assistant at the winery, she and her daughter Alexis Paul and her nephew, Dylan Croupe, both 15, cleared weeds and planted seeds in the plot that literally is in the school's backyard.

"It's a great way for us to contribute to the schools in our community," Kilborn said. "I live very close to Oak Grove and it's also a way for the kids to work on community projects."

The garden now features a variety of vegetables and herbs. Most of the squash, watermelons, cantaloupes, corn, beans, and lettuce will be sold to help raise money or will be added to the menu in Oak Grove's dining room.

And that's where Serena Fuentes, 13, and Anyssa Ayala, 14, both of Murrieta, came in. Best friends since kindergarten, the girls learned that they not only have to pick watermelons, they also have to prepare them for the table.

"My grandmother never lets me use a knife in the kitchen," said Fuentes, who sliced the juicy, ripe melon under the watchful eye of Oak Grove board member Bernie Bramante. "Now I know how to do it without cutting myself."

The melon she neatly sliced was last seen on a metal tray headed to the dining room. And that's one more thing they all learned from the weekend of gardening ---- the best part of it all is the consumption.

See Ponte Winery News story (Oak Grove Facility Make Over) on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LjBjWjsMvo

Oak Grove is honored to have received the 2009 Non-Profit of the Year Award from the Murrieta Chamber of Commerce

TEMECULA: Auditions set for second annual Temecula Gospelfest

Two-day musical fundraiser slated for Sept. 25 and 26
By The Californian | Thursday, June 4, 2009 8:26 PM PDT ∞

The Beracah Faith Ministries International Choir sings "Glory to God" during its performance at the Temecula Gospel Music and Arts Festival. (The Californian file photo)
TEMECULA ---- The Temecula Gospelfest is only three months away, and those interested in belting out a few tunes to praise Jesus and help local students are asked to audition for the annual fundraiser.

The event benefits the Murrieta-based Oak Grove Center for Education, Treatment & the Arts, which helps students with psychological, social, behavioral, medical and neurological issues.

Now in its second year, the Gospelfest is described by organizers as "a dynamic weekend of Christian contemporary and gospel performances." It is scheduled for Sept. 25 and 26 at the Old Town Community Theater in Temecula.

Auditions to perform in the event are slated for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 20 at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater. Producers will hand-pick performers, including Christian musical acts of all sizes and genres, praise and worship teams, small groups, and soloists, organizers said.

Last year's event drew singers and groups from across Southern California, said Tammy Wilson, chief executive officer of Oak Grove. She said anyone interested in trying out should give it a shot, because even if they are not selected to perform as a solo act, producers also are looking for singers for the show's Temecula Mass Choir and Gospel Youth Choir, ensemble groups that help make the show spectacular, Wilson said.

"We sold out several of the shows last year, and people who came loved it," Wilson said. "We are hoping to have an even broader audience this year. We are super excited."

Anyone interested in auditioning should register at gospelfest09.org. Audition appointment times will be given to applicants who turn in their registration form before June 15, while walk-in and late entries will be accepted and seen after all scheduled auditions on a first-come, first-served basis, according to organizers.¦nbsp;

Wilson said the event supports a good cause and added that she hopes many people participate in some way.

"It's raising funds for the at-risk and special needs youth of Oak Grove and their arts program," she said. "The arts help them heal and recover from their past traumas and abuse, it's a wonderful outlet."

For more information, call 951-677-5599.

The Robotics Team places 2nd in Competition. Please click on the link below to read the newspaper article.

www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/05/11/news/community/z32ec362a312d02d8882575ac00158b5b.txt

Oak Grove in the News

5-15-09 NEWS STORY "A Look Inside Treatment"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pgC8AwU634

Former astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton spoke to an enthusiastic audience Thursday at the Oak Grove Institute.
Staff Photo
______________________
MURRIETA ---- Students at Oak Grove Institute will get an out-of-this-world experience now that it is a NASA Explorer School.
The special education school officially kicked off the program Thursday with a visit from former astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton and other representatives of the National Aeronautics and Space Association.

Oak Grove is one of 50 NASA Explorer Schools selected in 2005. The program is designed to help educators and students from diverse communities across the nation join NASA's mission of discovery through educational activities and special learning opportunities designed to promote science, math and technology.

Oak Grove, which teaches about 150 students with a broad range of special needs, is the first special education school ever accepted into the program.

The idea to apply from the program came from Veronica Langworthy, who teaches math and science at the school.

"We don't have a lot of equipment," she said. "I wanted to look for something more engaging for the kids."

The process included filling out an online application and sharing demographic information about the school. Langworthy also had to find four other teachers and the school's administration willing to give commitments to the three-year program.

The school was accepted in the spring, and the teachers and Director of Education Michael Brown spent time at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base over the summer.

The program will provide continuing education for the educators as well as grant money.

Speakers Thursday encouraged the students to reach for their dream, whether or not that is to work for NASA. They were told to study hard and read a lot. They were also told the importance of math and science studies.

"Think about what you want to be," Robert Meyer Jr., an aerospace engineer, told the gathering. "Come up with a dream and think about it."

Fullerton, now a research pilot at Dryden, shared stories about his two flights on the space shuttle. Fullerton logged more than 380 hours in space flight as an astronaut from September 1969 until November 1986. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1982.

He spoke about flying in outer space and what's it like to be in zero gravity, showing a video from his travels.

"The key for anything, for any career, starts right now by reading," he told those gathered. "That's how you learn ... by actively reading and exercising your mind."

Meyers, the associate director for programs at Dryden, hopes the program encourages the students.

"It's a well established fact that fewer students are into math and science every year," he said. "NASA's mission is to inspire the next generation to go into math and science careers."

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