Springfield Mo Re-Dux
Published February 7, 2007
Gang expert invited back for encore
Steve Nawojczyk will speak at middle, high schools.
John Taylor
News-Leader
A November visit by an expert on gangs and youth violence was so well received by Springfield schools that Community Partnership of the Ozarks is bringing him back.
Beginning today, Steve Nawojczyk, a former Pulaski County, Ark., coroner who was featured in the HBO special "Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock," will speak to students at the middle and high schools he missed on his visit last year, said Melissa Haddow, executive director of Community Partnership.
Reed Middle School was among Nawojczyk's stops in November. Les Ford, Reed principal, said the presentation was an eye-opening experience for the students.
"There was maybe some shocked silence for part of it," he said. "They were realizing ... how awful it would be if it came to their neighborhood."
Local law enforcement made stemming gang activity a priority last summer. Springfield Police Chief Lynn Rowe asked for the public's help in fighting gangs, noting a double-digit increase in violent crimes for the first six months of 2005.
In addition, a grand jury impaneled in July to address gang-related crime in the county issued 36 gang-related indictments before its term ended in December.
At the time law enforcement was asking for the public's help, Community Partnership's gang task force was trying to get information out about gangs by putting together a PowerPoint presentation on gangs and youth violence.
Community Partnership also sponsored Nawojczyk's previous visit, which included a community forum on gangs that drew nearly 500 people to the University Plaza Convention Center.
The cost to bring Nawojczyk back will be $4,500 to $5,000 — a $3,500 fee plus travel expenses, Haddow said.
In addition to speaking to students, Nawojczyk will offer training to school counselors and speak to staff of youth services providers such as the YMCA, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Haddow said.
Haddow described that presentation as "Gangs 101."
"(Those organizations) are already actively engaged in prevention and doing the right things for our kids," she said.
Such groups offer caring adults, who Haddow said are important for youths.
It's also important for a child to feel like part of a family, and if a child does not receive discipline and rules from his or her biological or adoptive family, he or she can find that in a gang.
"A gang is a family. It's just a negative family," she said.
Training for counselors will be provided because students have approached school officials, said that they had a friend who was either in or on the fringe of a gang and wanted to know how that friend could get out.
Dealing with that issue is not part of a counselor's college curriculum, Haddow noted.
During Nawojczyk's previous visit, he showed students pictures and videos demonstrating the effects of gang violence, including the image of a 10-year-old boy who had a chunk of a stray bullet removed from his arm.
He said it is up to communities to balance law enforcement's efforts by giving youths recognition, discipline, love and respect. He also warned that gang activity cuts across every socioeconomic barrier.
It will be "pretty much the same message" this visit, Nawojczyk said. "I'll just be going to different schools."
He said it was promising to see a community coalesce to fight gangs, since that does not happen in every city.
"The community has to come together to deal with the issue. ... Everybody's got a role to play," said Nawojczyk.
November's community forum also included a panel presentation of law enforcement officials and other community leaders.
David Hockensmith, executive director of the Council of Churches of the Ozarks, was among the 475 people who attended the forum.
He said he was so captivated by the presentation that he decided it would be in the interest of the Council of Churches to work with Community Partnership.
"We're losing potentially good kids to a negative environment ... and that's bad for the community," Hockensmith said.
The faith community is a significant part of community life and has an obligation to provide meaningful relationships for children, he said.
Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Darrell Moore said the grand jury's presence, police response and community involvement helped stop the escalation of gang activity, but there is still a gang presence in Springfield.
He said what bothered him last year was gang members were trying to get into schools to recruit members.
Moore said that activity has been stopped for now, but the community needs to remain alert.
"We have gangs," Moore said. "They will always be a part of our lives."
Haddow said the worst offenders were probably no longer in the city. However, "if we do not stay on top of this ... the problem will come back," she said.
Ford has seen evidence that there is still a gang presence in Springfield. New gang-related graffiti was spotted in the Reed Middle School neighborhood just last weekend.
Gang expert invited back for encore
Steve Nawojczyk will speak at middle, high schools.
John Taylor
News-Leader
A November visit by an expert on gangs and youth violence was so well received by Springfield schools that Community Partnership of the Ozarks is bringing him back.
Beginning today, Steve Nawojczyk, a former Pulaski County, Ark., coroner who was featured in the HBO special "Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock," will speak to students at the middle and high schools he missed on his visit last year, said Melissa Haddow, executive director of Community Partnership.
Reed Middle School was among Nawojczyk's stops in November. Les Ford, Reed principal, said the presentation was an eye-opening experience for the students.
"There was maybe some shocked silence for part of it," he said. "They were realizing ... how awful it would be if it came to their neighborhood."
Local law enforcement made stemming gang activity a priority last summer. Springfield Police Chief Lynn Rowe asked for the public's help in fighting gangs, noting a double-digit increase in violent crimes for the first six months of 2005.
In addition, a grand jury impaneled in July to address gang-related crime in the county issued 36 gang-related indictments before its term ended in December.
At the time law enforcement was asking for the public's help, Community Partnership's gang task force was trying to get information out about gangs by putting together a PowerPoint presentation on gangs and youth violence.
Community Partnership also sponsored Nawojczyk's previous visit, which included a community forum on gangs that drew nearly 500 people to the University Plaza Convention Center.
The cost to bring Nawojczyk back will be $4,500 to $5,000 — a $3,500 fee plus travel expenses, Haddow said.
In addition to speaking to students, Nawojczyk will offer training to school counselors and speak to staff of youth services providers such as the YMCA, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Haddow said.
Haddow described that presentation as "Gangs 101."
"(Those organizations) are already actively engaged in prevention and doing the right things for our kids," she said.
Such groups offer caring adults, who Haddow said are important for youths.
It's also important for a child to feel like part of a family, and if a child does not receive discipline and rules from his or her biological or adoptive family, he or she can find that in a gang.
"A gang is a family. It's just a negative family," she said.
Training for counselors will be provided because students have approached school officials, said that they had a friend who was either in or on the fringe of a gang and wanted to know how that friend could get out.
Dealing with that issue is not part of a counselor's college curriculum, Haddow noted.
During Nawojczyk's previous visit, he showed students pictures and videos demonstrating the effects of gang violence, including the image of a 10-year-old boy who had a chunk of a stray bullet removed from his arm.
He said it is up to communities to balance law enforcement's efforts by giving youths recognition, discipline, love and respect. He also warned that gang activity cuts across every socioeconomic barrier.
It will be "pretty much the same message" this visit, Nawojczyk said. "I'll just be going to different schools."
He said it was promising to see a community coalesce to fight gangs, since that does not happen in every city.
"The community has to come together to deal with the issue. ... Everybody's got a role to play," said Nawojczyk.
November's community forum also included a panel presentation of law enforcement officials and other community leaders.
David Hockensmith, executive director of the Council of Churches of the Ozarks, was among the 475 people who attended the forum.
He said he was so captivated by the presentation that he decided it would be in the interest of the Council of Churches to work with Community Partnership.
"We're losing potentially good kids to a negative environment ... and that's bad for the community," Hockensmith said.
The faith community is a significant part of community life and has an obligation to provide meaningful relationships for children, he said.
Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Darrell Moore said the grand jury's presence, police response and community involvement helped stop the escalation of gang activity, but there is still a gang presence in Springfield.
He said what bothered him last year was gang members were trying to get into schools to recruit members.
Moore said that activity has been stopped for now, but the community needs to remain alert.
"We have gangs," Moore said. "They will always be a part of our lives."
Haddow said the worst offenders were probably no longer in the city. However, "if we do not stay on top of this ... the problem will come back," she said.
Ford has seen evidence that there is still a gang presence in Springfield. New gang-related graffiti was spotted in the Reed Middle School neighborhood just last weekend.
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