Sunday, May 21, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Probation officer Ed Cheltenham had worked with this troubled teenager for months at the Spring Mountain Youth Camp, sensing the child was reformed and ready to become a productive member of the community.
The facility, at Angels Peak in Mount Charleston, is an alternative to prison, housing teens who have been assigned by a Clark County Juvenile Court judge to rehabilitate after committing delinquent acts.
When it was time for the child to be released from the camp, he had nowhere to go. The boy’s single parent was battling addiction and also incarcerated, Cheltenham said.
That’s when Cheltenham approached his wife, Sonya, with an idea: Let’s become foster parents to the teen.
They went on to foster almost a dozen children from the camp over three decades, knowing the risk of the child relapsing would be enhanced without a stable home environment, which they could provide. The child thrived at their home and went on to run track in college, Cheltenham said.
“I love working with kids and making a difference in their lives,” he said. “They need someone to help them, and it became my calling.”
Cheltenham made his mark in many ways at the camp, where he coached Spring Mountain, which competes against Class 1A schools in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, to 13 state championships in track and field, a tremendous feat when considering teens are usually assigned to the camp for six months and have little experience in the sport.
He’ll be honored Monday at the Sun Standout Awards as the recipient of the Hank Greenspun Lifetime Achievement Award, which was named for the founder of the Sun and is the top award of the program. The awards show honors the best games, moments, teams and players of the past year of high school sports.
“He is one of the best men I have ever met in my life,” said Mike Whelihan, who worked nearly two decades with Cheltenham. “He is probably the best probation officer I have met in my life. Just a solid human being. I wish I could clone him.”
‘He’s a coach in life’
The 100 boys living at the camp have committed serious crimes such as car theft, home invasion or gang activity. They go through social-skill development and substance-abuse programs, attending classes and counseling sessions and residing in barracks at the camp.
Sports is an important part of the rehabilitation process because it brings a sense of normalcy, discipline, teamwork and a glimpse of life off the mountain, Cheltenham said.
The teens rarely have experience in track, meaning the first attempts at throwing the shot put or clearing the bar on the pole vault are awkward — and that’s a nice way to describe it, Cheltenham said.
Cheltenham became a master at explaining the basics to beginners. He was patient, yet demanding. He wanted to see improvement — both athletically and socially. If there was a track meet being contested, he had the expectation of a high finish.
“I’m the type of guy who wants to win,” he said. “I’m in it to win it, not just for the fun of competing.”
Probation officers like Cheltenham work 24-hour shifts at the camp, meaning work took him away from home for three days at a time. It gave him a chance to develop a bond with athletes, many of whom were being coached for the first time in their lives.
Cheltenham was more than a coach, educator or probation officer. For many of the teens, he was the first positive male role model in their lives, Whelihan said. The average age of teens in the program is 15 1/2, according to the county.
“The kids can see that he honestly cares about them,” Whelihan said. “It’s the way he communicates with them. They respond well to him and want to do well for him. He’s very consistent in his messaging. We call him ‘coach’ for a reason, and that’s because he’s a coach in life.”
Cheltenham, 74, retired from full-time work in 2015 after 36 years at the youth camp. He returned in a part-time capacity to continue coaching and later branched out as an assistant coach for two seasons at Bishop Gorman and now at Indian Springs High School.
As long as there is a meet on the schedule, Cheltenham’s retirement plans include finding an athlete with which to work.
Cheltenham has 17 state championships to his credit, also winning a pair of titles assisting at Gorman and two with Spring Mountain’s basketball team.
The first Spring Mountain basketball crown carried much significance — it was his last day as a full-time employee at the camp.
“We weren’t that competitive in basketball, and then Ed takes over and wins the whole thing,” Whelihan said. “You can’t write a script better than that.”
A family decision
Cheltenham was playing in an adult basketball tournament in Southern California when his team faced a team of officers from the youth camp. The 6-foot-7 Cheltenham, who played in college at Cal State Fullerton, put up 32 points.
“After the game they said, ‘We need a guy like you,’” Cheltenham said.
While they were half-joking, the Cheltenhams were serious about relocating to get closer to family in Las Vegas. Both Ed and Sonya Cheltenham went to work for Clark County, with Sonya spending decades serving the community as a social worker.
They met in college while studying social work and have been married for 49 years. Together, they’ve had a positive effect on the lives of countless local families.
“He has a love for the kids,” Sonya Cheltenham said. “He’s always thinking about what’s next for them.”
What’s next for a few children was going to live with the Cheltenhams, who also have three biological children. When Ed approached Sonya to explore becoming foster parents, he stressed that it had to be a family decision.
The initial child they fostered was scheduled to leave the camp for foster care in Utah. Ed Cheltenham thought his home would be a better fit. He was right — the child earned a college scholarship, he said.
“He has such a big heart for the kids. It wasn’t a hard decision for me to make,” Sonya Cheltenham said.
Some of the children Ed Cheltenham worked with at the camp eventually turned their lives around and became productive members of society. Over the years, some tracked him down to express their gratitude.
Those calls are extremely meaningful, he said.
Cheltenham is an intimidating presence because of his height. He’s soft-spoken and direct with his words, but “he cares and the kids can see it,” Whelihan said.
“He’s just an honest, caring human being. We can learn a lot through that.”
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