A canceled flight, a chance meeting and a sudden idea were all it took to launch a new program in October on all four North Dakota reservations to help prevent delinquent behavior among American Indian youth.

Rene Green, projects coordinator for the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, was waiting on a canceled flight about one year ago when Patrick Byers, a performing arts musician at LaGuardia School of Performing Arts in New York City, sat down next to her. In the subsequent conversation, Byers mentioned that he had to cancel a multicultural performance between his students and Vietnamese students because parents wouldn't allow their children to fly out of the country due to the recent terrorist attacks.

"I said 'you know what? Look west,'" Green said. "Look right here in our back yard."

Green told Byers about her plans to begin programs on Indian reservations to help battle the increase in American Indian criminal offenders. With her connections on the reservations and his directing abilities, a multicultural performance called "Share the Fame" began.

Share the Fame is a community outreach program held on the Spirit Lake, Fort Berthold, Turtle Mountain and Standing Rock Sioux reservations. Byers and U.S. Probation and Pretrial officers traveled to high schools at each reservation Oct. 8-12 to educate the kids on the alternatives to drugs and alcohol and to hold auditions. The end results, a joint musical and artistic performance between reservation students and the LaGuardia School class of 2004, was tentatively scheduled for next year in New York City and North Dakota.

The tryouts were a chance for North Dakota reservation students to showcase their artistic talents including dancing, drumming and singing. Among the numerous eighth to 12th grade students chosen for the future performance were Standing Rock High School seniors Lydia Dwarf and Memoree LeCompte. Dwarf was selected for her ability to play multiple instruments and compose her own music and LeCompte was picked for her vocal talent.

"I think it's all around good," Dwarf said. "It shows kids that their musical abilities can take them somewhere."

The selected students are practicing and collecting ideas for how to best combine their culture with that of the students living in New York City. Byers, along with a few LaGuardia students, will come to North Dakota for a visit in April so the performers can "get a vibe from each other and interact to try to get something going," LeCompte said.

"They have different cultures there that we don't have here," LeCompte said. "I plan to attend a music college so this is good experience for me."

U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services began implementing preventative programs due to the increase in convicted American Indian offenders under federal supervision and the lack of community-based programs on the reservations. The number of Indian offenders rose 35 percent from 1996 to 2002 and 45 North Dakota Indian juveniles are currently under federal supervision. Youth Off Drugs and Alcohol, designed to provide a series of yearlong programs to give Indian students alternatives to drugs and alcohol, is being integrated into "Share the Fame".

"I think it helps for us to be involved in the community because when it comes to juveniles everything's confidential, and people don't know why we're here sometimes," said U.S. Probation and Pretrial Officer Jessica Johnson, who primarily works on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. "This opens the door in a positive way to start doing some educational stuff with the kids on the reservation to keep them from committing crimes."

Probation and pretrial services officers used the tryouts as a chance to speak with the tribal community and school groups about their system. Officers will continue visiting tribal schools throughout the year to seek students' input for future preventative programs and educate them on what happens if they commit a crime.

"The kids have hundreds of ideas," Johnson said. "They know what they need and can help us develop ways to get their peers' attention."

Green said North Dakota reservation schools were her first choice for Share The Fame. The day her flight was canceled, she had just reviewed case files for North Dakota juveniles and already had implemented several special projects on other reservations across the country.

"This was a big splash to preventing delinquent behavior," Green said.

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)