QUEST: TROUBLED KIDS GROW THROUGH WAGON TRAIN

FRUITLAND -- Three wagon trains manned by troubled youths from the East Coast are traveling through Southeast Missouri as part of a journey through the eastern United States.

The wagon trains are part of VisionQuest, a private corporation founded in 1973 to help young people.

The first and smallest of the three wagon trains stopped Monday at North Elementary School in Fruitland. Students had a chance to see the six wagons drawn by mules, and riders on horseback.

VisionQuest staff member Dan Gravis, who is foreman of the teepee camp, said the concept of a quest or right of passage comes from the Crow Indians.

"When you take a kid, run him through the program, teach him to harness a team of mules and ride a horse, they learn they can do a lot of productive things in a group or in a family," said Gravis. "They get a different outlook or perspective.

"You can tell a kid he's a good kid until you're blue in the face, but until he does something to prove to himself that he's a good kid, it doesn't mean much," Gravis said. "That good feeling has to come from within or it fades very quickly."

Gravis is with Diamond Trail, the smallest of the three wagon trains, with four covered wagons, two open wagons, 33 mules and horses, 40 youths and 16 supervisors.

Most of the youths are from Philadelphia, VisionQuest's corporate home; others are from Pittsburgh and New Jersey. They range from 14 to 18 years of age.

Most come to the program through juvenile courts. Basically, the young people are sentenced to VisionQuest, Gravis said. The counties that send the youths pay for their participation.

Gravis said incarceration costs about $144 per day; the VisionQuest program costs $96 per day.

"VisionQuest is another placement option," he said. "What we have are minor, one-time offenders drugs, abuse. We don't handle armed robbers and murders. We are not equipped to handle that.

"We have a pretty high rate of success, but then we get to choose them," Gravis said.

"Their days are pretty busy. They get up, clean up, eat, take down the camp, hitch up the animals," he said.

A 15-mile trek takes about five hours. Once at the new camp, they take care of the animals, eat and attend school. They sleep in teepees.

"We are a licensed private school," Gravis said. "This way they don't miss out on their education."

Gravis taught sixth-grade English and was a school principal before joining VisionQuest eight months ago. "I got sick of the garbage," he said of his former job.

The wagon trains are headed back to Florida, but won't arrive until December. The wagon train moves an average of 15 to 24 miles each day.

The wagon trains are based in Florida, where they spend the winter. During the rest of the year the three wagon trains travel throughout the eastern United States from Maine to Florida and as far west as Missouri.

The three trains are traveling the same route, one day behind each other. Two teepees of girls are in the third wagon train.

While the wagon trains keep moving, the young people come and go. When they have served the required amount of time, they may leave.

Prior to being selected for the wagon train, the young people attend Impact Camp for bootcamp-style training, Gravis said.

In addition, VisionQuest staff has a chance to get to know the youths and determine if they are ready for a quest. At Impact Camp, they chose what quest they would like to take.

Besides the wagon train, VisionQuest offers ocean voyages, bicycle treks, wilderness camping and other challenges.

At the end of the quest, young people either enter a residential program of VisionQuest or go directly to their homes. "We have our own set of parole officers, HomeQuest, who check up on them and make sure whatever direction they have selected returning to school, getting a job is being followed," Gravis said.

A rain shower Monday morning held up the start of the wagon train, but Gravis said the wet weather was nothing compared to what they have experienced.

"We've been through two tornadoes and mud camps in Alabama," he said. "We sat and watched the wagons sink. We had to hire bulldozers to come and get us out."

Gravis said the VisionQuest wagon trains will be in the area for the next several days.