MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH

Like many rural teens, Brandi and Dynelle have a rigorous daily schedule. They're up by 5:30 a.m. to feed their animals. After breakfast, they help with the dishes and clean their rooms before heading off for school. When school's out, it's time for more chores-feeding animals, cleaning the barn and working on their 4-H projects. After dinner, there's dishes, homework and finally bedtime.

This routine is common for teens who come from agricultural families. But Dynelle and Brandi, and most of the other residents at the New Mexico Girls' Ranch southeast of Santa Fe, are city folk who've never been around animals. So the menagerie of chickens, rabbits, pigs, sheep, horses, goats and llamas is a little intimidating at first.

"I was really scared of the chickens when I first came here," Dynelle says. But now the 17-year-old is comfortable with all the animals and enjoys displaying them at various petting zoos hosted by the Girls' Ranch.

The ranch was created in 1982 as a division of the New Mexico Boys' Ranch, which was founded by the Albuquerque Kiwanis Club. The ranch is a charitable organization, funded solely by donations. It serves as a home for neglected, abused and troubled girls who come to the ranch voluntarily.

"Ours is really a three-fold program," says Karen Reyer, Girls' Ranch 4-H program leader. "We stress family, school and 4-H."

Some of the girls have difficulty adjusting when they arrive at the ranch, Reyer says. But the animals seem to help draw them out-especially the horses. "Girls always seem to fall in love with the first horse they ride," she explains. "At age 3, I think God speaks to young girls and says, 'Thou shalt love horses.' That gives us a great starting point."

Amid giggles and dust as the girls clean out the barn at the ranch, Dynelle tells her story.

"I came here two years ago as a high school drop-out and gang member." Her mood turns somber as she remembers. "I thought being in a gang would earn me respect. Instead, we intimidated others to make them afraid."

Today, this perky teen has earned the respect of her younger "sisters" at the ranch by becoming a leader. She helps with a local highway clean-up project and teaches other kids how to properly prepare and show lambs at the 4-H lamb school.

Dynelle recently was selected as a National 4-H Ambassador to promote 4-H as a unique opportunity for at-risk youth nationwide. She considers herself living proof of the benefits of 4-H. "I've learned that by setting goals, I can accomplish anything," she says.

Citizenship is a major 4-H project at the ranch. "It's important that our girls give back to the community," Reyer says.

Some of the girls' civic duties include working as volunteers at the Santa Fe Air Show and New Mexico State Fair, and serving as counselors at the annual 4-H Electric Camp where kids learn about electricity and natural resources.

In 1996, Brandi's citizenship earned her recognition as a community hero when she participated in the Olympic Torch Run. She was one of 10,000 Americans selected to carry the Olympic torch on its way to Atlanta.

"When I watched the Olympics on television, seeing the burning torch put a smile on my face because, along with others, I helped light that torch," says Brandi, age 18.

Brandi came to the ranch several years ago. "I had a difficult home life and was a little unreachable at first," she recalls. "But through 4-H, I learned that everyone is a winner, and I want to succeed for the people here who love me." She began college in Colorado this fall to pursue a career as a veterinary technician.

Brandi and Dynelle are just two of the many success stories of the Girls' Ranch and its 4-H program. "4-H allows children to succeed at a level they didn't know they could," Reyer says. "Sometimes those successes come in small increments like knowing the names of all the horses."

Some days just keeping up with the grueling schedule of school and ranch life proves these girls are a success.