Spring Mountain Youth Camp gives young offenders chance for fresh start

Spring Mountain Youth Camp is about an hour outside of Las Vegas and more than 8,000 feet above sea level, but it isn't the sea or the city that the camp's residents are trying rise above — it's their past.

The facility houses males between ages 12 and 18 who have been adjudicated for delinquent acts by a juvenile court judge. The youths placed at the camp can participate in a variety of programs, such as for substance abuse, parenting and social skill development. They attend school, have daily chores and are taught independent living skills and provided counseling and other services as needed to create a better life.

The goal is for these youthful offenders to put their mistakes behind them and plan for a brighter future. For seven of the residents, Sept. 25 showed they were well on that path. At a ceremony attended by staff, volunteers, parents and the next class, all seven graduated and received certificates of completion and letters of recognition from a representative of Congresswoman Dina Titus.

The youths were participants in Hospitality International Training, a program that teaches them culinary skills and how to work in a large-scale kitchen. They learned not just how to work the job but how to apply for it and how to keep it, all from instructors with real-world experience, including Thomas Peacock.

"They learn the hard skills from the other instructors," Peacock said. "I teach them the soft skills, the HR (human resources) component."

Peacock was the vice president of human resources for the opening of Mandalay Bay and directed human resources for the opening of the Luxor. He also was the general manager of the Hacienda. That list is just the tip of the iceberg of his long career, but he said he's very happy to be bringing his considerable experience and knowledge to the youths of the camp.

"We start of with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and go from there," he said. "We explain that you can't discriminate; you can't make fun of your coworkers, and that there is a zero tolerance policy in this town for sexual harassment. We go through a lot of scenarios so they can fully understand what constitutes that."

Lonnie Wright and his wife, Sherrie, founded Hospitality International Training in 1998, formulating a hospitality and gaming curriculum, delivering training that helped launch some of the largest hotels in the world.

"Lonnie was one of my students when I taught psychology at Western High School," said Andrew Nixon, director of compliance and curriculum development for H.I.T. "We've remained in contact and have been for 40 years. He asked me if I could help out a couple of years ago, and I was happy to. Our philosophy is to reach out to someone who needs a hand up, not a hand out, and to give them viable skills and prepare them for their next life."

The program has a campus at 950 E. Sahara Ave.

"We don't only work with incarcerated youth, but that's certainly a good-sized component of our program," Nixon said.

At the large, industrial kitchen at Spring Mountain Youth Camp, the trainees learn how to keep a kitchen efficient, productive, and above all, clean. They also learned to work together as a unit to follow instructions and to take control of situations when need be.

"He's been away from us for eight months, the last six of them here," said a father of one of the youths who finished the program, who must remain anonymous for legal purposes. "He's been doing really well."

The youth's mother added that they were excited about the program and that he was fortunate to be in it.

"I chose to be in this program to help me get a job and stay on the straight and narrow," the youth added.

At the ceremony, Wright spoke, praising all the people who helped guide the program participants, and he also praised the work the participants had done to better themselves.

"We need to respect that they made a couple of mistakes, and we're here to help them in any way we can," Wright said. "The past is the past, and it's time for these kids to put this behind them and move forward."

For more information about the Spring Mountain Youth Camp, visit clarkcountynv.gov or call 702-455-5196.

— To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor, email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.