By Mary O’KEEFE

Some enterprising Crescenta Valley High School students have decided to take leadership into their own hands by founding Camp Firework for Rosemont Middle School students.

The mission of this new camp is to develop confident leaders with good citizenship and a strong commitment to service through hands-on activities.

The twist with this camp is who is leading the leaders. It is student- created and student-run, with mentor supervisors.

CVHS junior Nicole Kim said she and her fellow camp founders had attended leadership camps in the past. They learned from those camps but saw there could be improvements in reaching out to students.

“We wanted more activities and less lectures,” Kim said.

The organizers have planned physical activities like low and high ropes challenges and fun events including a talent show.

Kim said the organizers had meetings to discuss what they wanted in their new camp.

“We had a giant list of what we thought was important and then developed our mission,” she said. “We want to help [those who attend] to be a better leader, to enhance critical thinking skills and to boost confidence and social skills.”

The Rosemont seventh and eighth graders will be learning leadership from students closer to their age. There will be teacher mentors and CVHS seniors, who have also attended leadership camps in the past, as mentor assistants.

Today at 3 p.m. at Rosemont Middle School, students can learn more  about Camp Firework and receive introduction paperwork to take home to parents.

The camp is open to seventh and eighth grade Rosemont students. It is scheduled for Oct. 28 to Oct. 30 at Camp Thousand Pines in the San Bernardino Mountains. The cost for the camp is $145. For more information visit, www.campfirework.org

  Mary Okeefe