ACOMITA - With much of the news focused on Red Lake, Minnesota, and the shooting that happened there last week, our attention gets diverted from the good and positive news that happens on Native American reservations.

There are good things going on around the country and although there are some problems, there are people who care about the health and well being of children who come from Native communities.

For Robyn Kelley, the director of Boys and Girls Clubs of Acoma Pueblo, the work of building a successful program that caters to the children of the pueblo has been its own labor of love. "When I was hired, we were not open to the kids yet and we had no staff," said Kelley inside her office that is now bustling with activity.

Kelly and the Boys and Girls Clubs have been busy this past year with a full range of activities meant to keep children occupied and out of trouble. Kelley said the program is one out of 16 that has been awarded $20,000 for three years to initiate a mentoring initiative designed solely for Native Americans.

"We just had our Youth of the Year awards, "Kelley went on to say, "and Rick Schroeder was one of the celebrity judges." The Acoma Youth of the Year was awarded to Montana Augustine. Augustine, 15, has been asked to speak at the National Conference on Indian Education at Santa Ana's Tamaya Resort Hotel and Spa during the dinner banquet on April 6.

Kelley said the Office of Indian Education, a U.S. government entity, heard about Augustine and invited her to be a featured speaker. Augustine is going to speak to the conference attendees about the importance of Boys and Girls Clubs on the reservation and the importance of pueblo women attending college.

Kelley said the kids in the current Acoma program have access to the latest digital video and editing technology. "We've had the kids learning how to make movies. They had to write the screenplay, shoot the video and edit on the computer," Kelley said.

Kelley added the kids have also gained experience working with digital photography and the attendant editing software. The kids in the program will also be learning how to design a web page and then have it published on the Internet.

One great idea the staff of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Acoma Pueblo has come up with is combining cultural exchange with physical fitness. Kelley explained she and other staff members would be traveling with the kids to the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation in northern Montana in August.

A staff member thought about combining the trip to Montana with increasing youth awareness about exercise, eating right and diabetes prevention in an activity the kids could do before the trip. A map between Albuquerque and the reservation town of Wolf Point, Montana, was drawn up, and now the kids are engaged in a competition to see who can accumulate the mileage between the two geographical areas the fastest by running or walking in and around the Acomita area. "The kids get to mark off each mile they complete on their way between Albuquerque and Wolf Point," said Kelley.

Kelly also said the program has come a long way in five years. "The growth of the program has been amazing," she said. The program serves 863 youths from the Acomita and McCarty villages. Kelley added that it cost each child only five dollars to join and to have access to all the services offered by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Acoma Pueblo. In addition to video, photography and mentoring programs, daily services include arts and crafts, help with homework and basketball practice. Kelley has a full-time staff of 10 people and up to 15 volunteers. Kelley said one priority of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Acoma Pueblo is to save and enhance the lives of as many Native American youths as possible.

By Will Kie