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Frederick County principals and assistant principals filled Oakdale High School's auditorium last week to learn a lesson that had nothing to do with reading, writing or arithmetic.

It was closer to Gangs 101.

They watched YouTube videos of common gang hand signs. They studied PowerPoint presentations featuring gang tattoos and graffiti.

They even took notes on the common identifiers for major street gangs in Frederick County — the five-pointed star of the Dallas Cowboys and color red for the Bloods; the color blue and British Knight shoes (which stand for blood killers) for the Crips; and the Nike logo and the number 13 for MS-13.

The administrators focused on a subject that is becoming increasingly important in Frederick County — street gangs, their presence, behavior and influence on students.

"A lot of that stuff is right in front of you. It is on their notebooks, it is on their lockers," said Ron "Cook" Barrett, a gang prevention expert and the coordinator for the Department of Youth and Family Services in Albany, N.Y.

Barrett, who has worked with teen gang members and inner city youth for 18 years and oversees gang prevention programs in three counties in Upstate New York, spoke at a daylong gang prevention seminar for Frederick County Public School administrators on June 24.

The seminar was funded by a grant from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, and was a joint effort between the school system, the Frederick Police Department, the Frederick County Sheriff's office and state authorities to train school administrators to recognize the ever-changing indicators of gang activity, give them an overview of gang activity in the county, and show them ways to counteract the growing presence of gangs.

"Right now with gangs, Frederick is like a baby crawling," Barrett said. "You have to get it before it starts walking. Because once it gets going, it can spread like cancer."

Frederick County has about 30 active gangs, including small neighborhood gangs, as well as offshoots of major national gangs, such the Bloods and the Crips, according to Detective Robert T. Marker of the Frederick Police Department.

These gangs are typically involved with drugs, destruction of property, and in some cases assault and attempted murders. More violent gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha (or MS-13) are not dominant in the county, but their presence is growing, as members from other areas around Washington, D.C. move to Frederick, Marker said.

"[Gang activity] has increased in Frederick, but it has increased everywhere around the country," Marker said. Part of the reason, he said is the influence of TV shows, movies and music (such as gangster rap) which glamorize gang life and make it seem appealing for teenagers, Marker said.

Recently, gang members have also started using the Internet and sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube to post photos and videos, publicize their lifestyle, and reach out to the youngest and impressionable audience, Marker said. "It's not just about arresting gang members," Marker said. "We need to deglamorize it, in order to prevent it. … If it is in our community, it is in our schools."

A few years ago, the school system banned gang paraphernalia — such as colored bandanas, beads and other gang indicators on school grounds.

School administrators have also been good about recognizing gang graffiti, alerting the authorities, and removing it from school grounds before it becomes the cause of fights between rivaling gangs, Marker said.

But there are also steps that educators can take to counteract these factors and cut gang activity at the root, he said.

Reducing the number of out-of-school suspensions, directing families to community gang prevention programs, such as the Police Activity League and Boys and Girls Clubs, can help reduce teen gang involvement, he said. Teachers must work with parents and watch out for a combination of factors that could indicate potential gang involvement — a sudden drop in grades, an increase in disciplinary problems, uncharacteristic flow of cash, bruises from a gang initiation beating or gang graffiti doodles in a student notebook.

If they notice the signs, they should talk to the police or a school resource officer who can determine if a student is really a gang member or a "wannabe." "It is not a crime to be a gang member," Marker said. "[Parents and teachers] can just utilize the resources that are out there. … It can happen to anybody. It runs the socio-economic gamut."

Jan Witt, who is an assistant principal at Frederick High School, said the seminar was informative and helped him expand his knowledge on gangs that are active in Frederick County gave him an important update on the current practices, names and behaviors of gangs in the county. "We want to know what our students are doing," he said. "The more we know, the easier it is to help them. Our goal is to help them make the right choice."

E-mail Margarita Raycheva at mraycheva@gazette.net.