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[published in the Snoqualmie Valley Record, Nov. 28, 2002] An 'Echo' of creativity By Ben Cape (425-888-2311 or ben.cape@valleyrecord.com) Echo Glen Children's Center just outside of Snoqualmie feels a lot like a school. It has a modest but well kept rural campus, and a walk down its halls will send you past children working at computers or studying in the library. It looks like a school until you notice some of the children walk around in orange jump suits, and that their every move is monitored by closed-circuit television cameras. It all comes together when you realize Echo Glen Children's Center is run by the state Department of Social and Health Services' Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration. The children there, ages 10 to 18, are serving out sentences for crimes that range from car theft to murder. All time there is sanctioned by the state. It is not a vacation or camp. If a child leaves the campus, they are arrested and brought back. It can all make for a tense atmosphere, but Echo Glen is pretty serene as far as correctional facilities go. The center is proud to have a low profile in the community because it means there have been few problems with the children. Save for a small sign that points to its location at the end of Southeast 99th Street, it is easy to miss. There is a gate that lets visitors onto its campus, but there are no fences, except for the one around the maximum-security dorm. "We like to say that relatioships are the fences here," said Associate Superintendent Patti Berntsen. Berntsen said a lot of those relationships have been forged with the help of the arts, which were established with the help of Peg Phillips. Phillips was a Washington-born actress best known from the Northwest flavored television series "Northern Exposure," where she played store owner Ruth Ann. Prior to her stint on "Northern Exposure," Phillips started a drama program at Echo Glen called Theater Inside.... ... One of the most populars event was a Blues in the Schools music jam that brought in a trio of professional blues musicians from Seattle. The musicians gave the students a background about blues music and taught them how to play songs. It was a long, arduous process of learning and playing the same songs over and over again, but the performance the children put on is still marveled at by the school's administrators. The children said they would do it again in a second and they fondly reminisce about the time they accomplished something, with other children at Echo Glen, that they could show off. "Whenever I would talk about something, my parents would always say, 'What do you know about that?'" said a boy who learned how to play guitar. "I wanted to show them I could do something." Outside of the basic art classes offered at Echo Glen, there is no budget for a creative outlet for the children. All of the extra-curricular activities were brought in with the help of grants. Those programs have become so popular, though, that some of those who put them on have sought out their own funding so they could come back. "They realize these kids are amazing," Berntsen said. "Phillips always said these are just ordinary kids with extraordinary circumstances."... |