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KATHERINE HERZOG: Foley, Minnesota is a small farming town just east of St. Cloud. It's a town proud of its high school teams. Class 3A football champions, for instance. Foley takes pride in its youth. On the outskirts of the town sits Foley High School, a large modern building with an enrollment of 650 students. Many drive long distances to attend school. School and law enforcement officials agree, Foley High School does not have a gang problem.

But like many rural schools in Minnesota, it has had its share of students involved in gang activity. Foley High School principal, Alan Niemann, says kids looking for the excitement of gangs in Foley have had little luck, and eventually end up elsewhere.

ALAN NIEMANN: In my three years here, I've had exactly one case of where we had some-- what you could call significant gang-related graffiti. And we were able to go to that student right away. And I knew-- I mean, he stood out like a sore thumb. I mean, we have all these students who would be the only student who would do something like this.

KATHERINE HERZOG: Niemann says teachers at Foley have trained to identify possible gang-related graffiti and clothing styles that can show gang affiliation. He says the school has been proactive dealing with gangs by focusing on discipline. But he admits Foley is not isolated from the issue of gangs.

ALAN NIEMANN: There's always going to be that 1% or 2% or 3% who just don't get along with anybody. And so they'll do any kind of behaviors that will get them attention. And so if they see maybe on TV or something where gangs have a certain symbol, then just for attention, they'll write that symbol on something. And now everybody thinks they're a gang member. And that's not the case.

KATHERINE HERZOG: Niemann says Foley doesn't have gangs, but there are kids in town who've traveled to St. Cloud for gang activities. Cheryl Peters is a health consultant at St. Cloud Hospital and the Foley school district. She's seen kids in Foley flash hand signals or wear their colors or hat tip to the side to show gang affiliation.

CHERYL PETERS: Most of these kids, I believe, are like what we call "new into the gang." So they've gotten through the initiation phase. And that's pretty much where they've been at. They haven't been involved in any drive-bys or they haven't been involved in any kind of violent activities. It's more of a status thing to say that they belong to the gang. And they do it for protection is what they say. What they need protection for, I have no idea.

KATHERINE HERZOG: Peters says many kids join gangs for status to create a support group that sometimes takes the place of family.

CHERYL PETERS: In their minds, they believe that that's where they get their empowerment. It's from the gang. And if they don't have the gang around them, they don't believe that they're worth anything.

KATHERINE HERZOG: Peters agrees that Foley High School has been proactive dealing with kids who have gang connections. And she says the state gang strike task force has become an effective tool, working to educate people about the effect gangs can have on young people, whether they live in a city or on a farm.

CHERYL PETERS: I think if a rural area kid gets hooked up in a gang, they're pretty much going to be just the same as a kid that's from the city because the gang has their rules, their empowerment, their "you to do this, you need to be part of this." They prey on kids that are more known to be loners. I just think that once they're in the gang, it doesn't matter where they're from. They're going to have to do whatever the gang does.

KATHERINE HERZOG: In the hallways, students at Foley High shuffle to seventh hour class. For seniors Ritchie, Jason, and Jeff, it's study hall. The three teenagers are good students involved with after-school clubs and sports. Typically, they head to St. Cloud on the weekends to hang out or shop at the mall. They say they've heard about the Crips and the Bloods. And they've heard students talking about gangs in the hallways.

SPEAKER 1: About that cruising thing? Some guys I talked to are from Foley. They were cruising around on division. And some guys got mad at him or something and started chasing him. And I don't know how the story went. But somehow, they got away. But I guess they had weapons.

KATHERINE HERZOG: The three students laugh and say they think that's stupid. Like any small town high school, they know everyone. And most students look down on kids and gangs. They say people in Foley want to live in a nice town.

SPEAKER 2: I mean, we want to thank that Foley doesn't have these problems. That's what I think. But small towns, I don't think, are absent from these problems, you know.

SPEAKER 3: I think we have them. But it's not as big of a scale.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. It's not publicized.

SPEAKER 3: If it's just something big, then maybe it goes in the Benton County News or St. Cloud Times or whatever. And that's about the end of it.

SPEAKER 2: And there's kids in gangs here, whether it's a big time gang like-- people-- what they think of when they hear the word gang or just a little group of people. But there's people in them.

KATHERINE HERZOG: The three students agree that kids from Foley probably join gangs because there's nothing else to do. Foley offers little in the way of teenage fun. No movie theater, shopping mall, or even teen center. For kids who do venture into St. Cloud, the environment may be changing. It seems St. Cloud police and gang strike force officials are cracking down on loitering and strictly enforcing curfew. In Collegeville, I'm Katherine Herzog. Minnesota Public Radio.