While a student in junior high school, Heather MacDonald signed up for Camp Big Beal in Santa Barbara during the summer of 1989. The camp had just been formed and it sounded pretty good to her.

And it was. The positive experience led Heather to return as a camp counselor. Over the last 15 years she has gone from camper to counselor to co-director of Camp Big Deal as it teaches Christian leadership skills to junior high students in the Santa Barbara Pastoral Region.

The inspiration of Dennis Santos, youth minister for the Santa Barbara Region and co-director of Camp Big Deal, the five-day experience for some 100 junior high students, 17 student counselors, and another 20 adult leaders is intense and very hands on. Each parish in the region is invited to send six students and all stay on site for the five days. This year the theme for the event was "Super Heroes: Walking with Jesus" and was held at St. Mary's Seminary in Santa Barbara from June 26-30.

Workshops on topics such as peer pressure, prayer, drugs and alcohol, dating and making friends are part of the daily schedule. Fun activities like "sled relay" and "hula hoop shuffle" are great team builders that complement lessons learned in liturgies, prayer services, guided meditations and reconciliation.

When trying to think of a name for the camp, Santos says that no name in particular surfaced. So the group planning the summer camp said to each other, "Well, it's no big deal." The name stuck.

"But," Santos adds, "we want the kids to know that, yeah, they are a big deal, and we are going to help them make a difference. We are going to bring out the leadership in them. They need to lead people to God."

Katie Ontjes, a senior this fall at San Marcos High School in San Marcos and a member of St. Raphael Church in Goleta, says she enjoys learning about her faith while making friends.

"It is a great experience and you truly become closer to God," says Ontjes. "Everyone is here for the same purpose --- wanting to grow in faith and become closer to God, meeting new people and having fun."

It's become a pretty 'Big Deal' after all