Getting on the right path

BOISE - Through his teens, Ben Amaya used alcohol and drugs to soothe the hurt and anger he felt about his father.

That led to juvenile incarceration after he crashed a car while driving drunk. At his lowest point, Amaya said, he felt he'd lost his dignity and self-respect.

Then his mother helped him connect with Leadership 1st's LEAPS center in Nampa's Karcher Mall. The center has a coffee bar, classroom with computers, meeting room and office space.

Amaya, who lives in Nampa, said Leadership 1st's Options program, a critical thinking and character development program for young people, and the mentorship of co-owners Derrick Boles and Hakim Hazim changed his life. He said he's matured and is free from the insecurities he once hid.

"I'd still be doing the things I was doing before" if it weren't for them, he said. "I wouldn't have as much hope."

Boles, 37, is a former basketball player at Idaho State University who played professionally in Japan, Taiwan and Australia before returning to Idaho. He said God prompted him to create the Leadership 1st business in 2006 to develop curriculums, leadership training and workshops for teens, adults and businesses based on traditional virtues.

He soon recruited Hazim, an educator, correctional specialist and security consultant who lives in Kuna, to help develop curriculum.

Leadership 1st programs and workshops are drawing praise from local officials. Canyon County's juvenile probation program paid $10,000 for Leadership 1st to set up the Options program for chronic offenders and an additional $950 for each group of 10 teens who go through the program.

Offenders under age 18 who are on probation can be ordered to counseling, anger management, cognitive self-change and other treatments based on evaluations. The juvenile system sends teens to its own programs and to dozens of others offered in the community.

Elda Catalano, chief juvenile probation officer in Canyon County, said the Options program is promising because a greater percentage of teens become engaged in the Options program and change their lives than return to their old ways after the course ends.

The first class of 10 began the 12-week program earlier this year, with 100 percent graduating and 70 percent of those continuing to stay out of trouble a better-than-average result, Catalano said. A second group is now working through the program.

If the department had the money, Catalano said, she would recommend that all teenagers on probation go through it. About 480 children in Canyon County are on active probation now, she said.

Teens work online through video sessions and lessons that include reflecting on their actions, choosing positive ways to get what they want, handling challenges with a constructive attitude and finding healthy relationships. They write about the choices they've made to discover what's driving them inside, and they talk with Hazim.

"They themselves are identifying the situation they're in," instead of a counselor or adult telling them what to do, Catalano said.

Hazim, who created Options, said he understands teens' issues because several members of his family were involved in gangs. He worked with troubled youths as a high school teacher in California and says he has become an expert in the criminal mindset.

"Hakim is making the difference because of his expertise," Catalano said. Reaching adults and students

The state Department of Education's Idaho Safe and Drug Free Schools commissioned Boles last year to train administrators, counselors, teachers and coaches how to create a school culture that disdains alcohol and drug use by athletes.

Leadership 1st offers a comprehensive approach that ties school policies to player contracts, consistent enforcement, parent involvement, and recognition that the reason for having sports teams in schools is to build the character of students, not to win trophies, said Matt McCarter, coordinator for Idaho Safe and Drug Free Schools.

Meridian paid Leadership 1st last year to help train about 40 Police Athletic League football coaches to lead discussions with players about the risks of drugs and alcohol and how those substances can hurt athletic performance. The program won the Northwest Alcohol Conference's Award for the Most Innovative Program.

"The findings have shown that the kids really have learned a lot, and the curriculum is helping them make positive life choices," said Elisha Figueroa, community services coordinator at the Meridian Police Department.

Boles and Hazim are two of Leadership 1st's four co-owners.

Boles grew up in a single-parent family in a rough Detroit neighborhood. In sixth grade he was mentored by Mike Garland, now Michigan State University's assistant men's basketball coach, who took Boles to basketball practice and tutoring for school.

"No one really saw any potential in me," Boles said. "Through all of that, a person invested in me. This guy changed my life."

Boles, who teaches organizational leadership at the University of Phoenix, said he was asked in the 1990s by the government in Australia, where he played basketball, to develop a program to train the indigenous community in business and leadership skills. "It was powerful," he said.

He returned to Idaho after 9/11 and worked as a basketball coach for Treasure Valley Community College and the Idaho Stampede basketball team, and as a financial services sales executive.

Hazim, 44, grew up in the Kansas City area. His father and two uncles were involved in gangs.

"I know what they've been taught," he said.

Through Options, Amaya said he learned how to think first when he's in confrontational situations, and to walk away when he must to halt the escalation of tension.

"You always have options even if you're in a conflict with someone," he said. "You can be the bigger person."

He said he took a hard look at the thoughts and beliefs that were driving his actions, accepted responsibility for them and realized he could do better. "Now I feel like I'm strong," he said. "I have trust, respect and dignity. I wouldn't have that if I wasn't a part of this. I have the ability to help people now, to be a leader."