Life is full of land-mines — drug and alcohol abuse, out-of-control anger, poor choices, trouble that comes looking for someone to play.

Grass Valley Police Department's Summer Youth Academy is giving 68 area youths the skills to avoid the land-mines that certainly will dot their paths, and the department and community partners plan to expand the program to about 200 participants next year.

On Thursday, 13 sixth-graders proudly received certificates for completing their portion of the academy; seventh- and eighth-graders will go through the academy next week, and children in third through fifth grades already have graduated.

The academy uses the GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) curriculum, mixing in outdoors activities and visits to sites such as Hospitality House, Aikido Ka and 49er Family Fun Park, Police Chief John Foster and Officer Zack Laferriere explained.

Grass Valley mother Suzi Jewett was so excited about the participation of her daughter, Sydnee, 10, that she and her husband want to get involved next summer.

“It's such a positive influence,” Jewett said. “They deal with bullying, anger, with a real positive attitude toward all of it. (My daughter's) favorite part was feeding the homeless.”

The academy offered four two-week sessions this summer, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. four days a week. During the school year, Laferriere brings the GREAT program into the classroom.

Laferriere focused on fun activities — egg-on-a-spoon relays, hula-hoop contests, go-carts, a visit to a local arcade, blind walks, making silly faces for the camera — to teach communication, setting goals, saying no, empathy, making decisions, managing anger and solving conflict.

“Our mission is to teach them life skills so they can make good decisions and not make decisions that could cripple them,” the energetic young officer said. And he told his charges as they graduated, “You have what it takes.”

One of the side benefits of the program is the officers become familiar faces to the youths.

The summer academy was funded through the Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative, a federal grant to create safe school environments, promote healthy childhood development and prevent youth violence. The initiative allocated about $1.4 million per year for four years to the Nevada County Superintendent of Schools Office; the GREAT program is just one of the initiatives being funded.

“We're the first grant recipient to incorporate the GREAT Academy component,” Foster said. “The people who funded it are looking at this as a national model. It's pretty cool.”

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4229. To contact Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.