by Matthew Hendry, LSAC
Discovery Academy therapy groups range in experience as much as they do in context, from traditional process groups to experientially driven groups. Each therapy group allows more opportunities for self-awareness and insight into personal experiences.
Equine Therapy remains a staple at Discovery Academy. Students learn self-awareness and understanding through their interactions with the horses. Actually riding the horses is not initially part of equine therapy. In the beginning, students participate in a series of activities meant to raise awareness of their communication and relationship skills, as well as bring up any personal issues they are working on. We encourage parents to talk to their student about these experiences. It helps solidify the lessons in the child’s mind. As students progress in the equine learning experience they have opportunities to develop riding skills.
The ropes course is an experientially driven group that takes advantage of using high and low ropes activities to help students learn about themselves. The course is situated on the Discovery Ranch campus near the equine area. Jackie Rock and myself are certified instructors that have been specially trained to facilitate these groups. During the warm weather we run two groups per week on our outdoor wall at Discovery Ranch. Once the weather turns colder, we use the Ranch’s indoor climbing wall.
The low ropes course offers activities that help stimulate self-awareness through communication and interactions between the students participating. Low ropes activities are mainly close to the ground and require the group to work as a team for a task to be completed. The difficulty ranges from the group walking over a log (no two people can cross the same way), to helping one another climb a fifteen-foot wall.
The high ropes course activities tend to be the students favorite. Students climb and repel off the walls and beams of the course. One student typically climbs at a time. This is a wonderful opportunity to process all the components of a successful climb, including the people above and below the climber who provide a safety support group.
As with equine, the ropes course ends with a process group. The group helps students draw parallels between the experience they just had and their relationships with their families, their peers, the staff at DA, and finally, their relationship with themselves.
Other therapeutic groups currently provided at DA include several chemical dependency groups. These range from a relapse prevention group, which relies heavily on experiential activities to teach about addictive characteristics and situations that lead to relapse, to groups which provide a foundation in the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. There is also an anger management group that allows students to learn and develop new coping skills. Our adoption group focuses on issues common with the students who are adopted. A recent addition to the therapeutic groups is a grief and loss group where students are educated and allowed to examine their personal loss and begin, or continue, the grieving process.
These groups, coupled with the student’s individual sessions and caseload group, provide the environment and the opportunity for growth and healing. Using experiential therapy helps to decrease therapeutic reluctance commonly often found in adolescents. It provides teens with a chance to have fun and learn at the same time.
Discovery Academy mentors interact with your student every day. Besides monitoring daily activities, mentors are mirrors to successful young adult living.
Rosalyn Omer, Teacher
“I can’t imagine teaching in a traditional school,” Rosalyn Omer says. “Classes are so small I really have a chance to develop a relationship with my students.”
Omer, a certified educator, teaches Discovery Academy students English and History. A graduate of Brigham Young University – Idaho, Omer holds a Bachelor of Art degree in English Education.
“I work in close communication with my students therapists and parents and the DA staff that works with them during the day,” she says. “I find I care about these kids so much more because I see the whole picture. It encourages me to be a better teacher because I care about how they’re progressing academically.”
A native of Salt Lake City, Omer says her classes generally have fewer than 12 students each. That gives her plenty of opportunity to work one on one with them. Besides traditional book work, students learn through experiential activities designed to enhance their academic experience.
“Every Friday we have an experiential learning activity. We’ve had speakers, gone on field trips, and worked on service projects with groups like Habitat for Humanity.” Omer adds, “Working with these students is incredibly rewarding.”
When she’s not in the classroom Rosalyn is generally at the gym. She enjoys working out, writing fiction, and classical music.
Michael Mangan, Mentor
“Irish Mike,” as he’s called, says he always wanted to share his life with young people. A native of Ireland’s Aran Islands, Mike earned a Bachelor’s Degree in psychiatric nursing from his homeland. He immigrated to the United States to escape religious persecution and has been living in Utah for the past five years.
“I’ve dreamed of coming to America ever since I was a child,” he says with a rich Irish accent. Mike says he also dreamed of being a father figure. “I have 11 sisters and 9 brothers so I’ve got a lot of experience behind me,” he says with a laugh.
Mike’s job at Discovery Academy includes mentoring and monitoring the male students. He says he heard about the school’s excellent reputation and wanted to become a part of it.
“I hate negativity,” Mike adds. “I have a saying. ‘Never give up tomorrow what you can do today.’ You can do anything in life if you determine it. It doesn’t matter what your situation is.”
Mike should know. As a cancer survivor, he determined not to let his illness prevent him from reaching his goals. He’s currently attending Utah Valley State College where he plans to earn a teaching degree. “I’m a fighter,” he says with conviction. “I don’t give up easily.”
Welcome to “In the Loop”, – the quarterly newsletter for Discovery Academy. We’re pleased to offer news and information to enhance your family’s DA experience. In the coming months you’ll see updates on programs, information about our staff, relationship helps and parenting tips from respected authors and speakers. We welcome your contributions as well. Please give us your feedback at editor@discoveryacademy.com
“I love to be able to see kids who say they can’t dance and then watch them learn and change.” “Irish Mike” is making Celtic music and dance come alive for students at Discovery Academy.
It started with the Celtic Club. The group came under the wing of “Irish Mike,” a native of Ireland and DA mentor who was more than happy to share his culture and his love of dance. “It’s an education through music and dance,” he says. In addition to learning Celtic dances, students are learning about themselves. Teens who had never done more than tap their toes are taking center stage under Irish Mike’s direction.
17 students are participating in an international dance festival held at Utah Valley State College this month. Is the Irishman worried about how his students will represent his homeland when the lights come up? “Not a bit,” he says. “I’m proud of these students and the opportunity they have to represent my country. I know they can do it.”
The students will perform two dance numbers, and one student will sing the Irish ballad, “Danny Boy.” Irish Mike made the costumes, choreographed the dances, and taught the teens each step. “I take my culture seriously. This has really opened their eyes.”
Irish Mike says parents have had their eyes opened as well. When the group performed at DA’s recent Parent Seminar, many parents told Mike this was the first time they’d ever seen their child perform. “Everybody’s got gifts and talents,” Mike says. “It’s good to be able to bring that out in them. They’re like an extended family to me.”
“My country means a lot to me. To see the students perform, and be able to bring them off campus, it makes them think about what they can do with their lives,” Mike says. “It’s good for the students to be able to share that.”
by Linda Kavelin-Popov
One summer morning, I was speaking at a family retreat center in rural Alberta, when suddenly the excited call rang out, “Moose! Moose!” The adults rushed out of the building to find their children pouring out of their classrooms, racing ahead toward a meadow where a moose and her calf were grazing.
Mother animals in the wild can be dangerously fierce when their young are threatened, and I could feel the alarm in the voices of parents as they yelled, “Don’t run!” The children seemed to hear only the word, “run” as they flew toward the field.
Knowing that children focus better on what we DO want them to do instead of what we don’t want them to do, I looked for a natural boundary, and called out, “Stop at the mowed line and hit the ground!” The children obeyed instantly, skidding to a stop and going down on their stomachs at the mowed edge before the tall grasses of the meadow – a safe distance from Mama Moose and her baby.
As I caught up to them, I acknowledged their respect for the moose and their cooperation in staying safe. The adults joined the children on the ground, and we were all mesmerized as the moose and her calf danced on their hind legs to nibble the succulent leaves of a tall willow, and nuzzled each other. A potential disaster became a sacred memory.
How do we set boundaries with our children and youth that inspire cooperation rather than merely require compliance, that build character instead of resistance? Three simple practices create lasting, healthy boundaries that work:
1. The KISS principle: Keep it Sweet and Simple
Keep boundaries very simple, positive, and moderate. Have only three or four for your household or organization. Focus on what you DO want, not what you don’t want. For example, one boundary of an outdoor adventure program is: “We use respectful language at all times.” “No curse words” fails to express the true intent of the boundary found in the virtue of respect. Use memorable phrases such as “This house is a Peace Zone. We don’t put each other down. We lift each other up.” Include youth in deciding “how we want to treat each other in our home/group/school.” Create no more than three or four boundaries and use virtues words in each one. They are the meaning at the heart of any rule.
2. Be Assertive and Trustworthy. Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say.
Don’t make it a boundary unless you intend to enforce it every single time. Once the boundaries are agreed on, stand absolutely firm. Children learn that you can be trusted when you are an assertive leader. Any kid worth his or her salt will test a boundary to see if you mean it. Too many of us want our children’s approval and we beg, nag, plead, or use guilt and threats, or let things slide when we feel helpless. All that does is to give kids a sense that they have too much power over us, which isn’t healthy or helpful. When discipline is fair, constant and reliable, it empowers children to develop self-discipline.
3. Offer Restorative Justice
Have immediate educative – not punitive – consequences when boundaries are violated, with a way to make amends. A good example is the adventure program with the boundary of respectful language. Youth on a three-month outdoor experience were nearing the end of a long trek in the rain carrying heavy back packs. At one point, one of the kids lost it, threw down his pack and started cursing, “I hate this f---ing program!” Immediately, the counselors called out “Circle up!” and instructed him and the group to come up with 20 ways he could have expressed what he was feeling while still using respectful language. A groan went up from the group, all of whom were exhausted. They began. “I hate this program!” “I’m sick and tired of this hike.” “I can’t stand this much longer.” “I’m really tired and hungry. I wish we could stop.” “I need some mercy!,” until they reached twenty. The counselors then shocked them all by taking three steps forward, saying, “Okay. Here’s the campsite where we are stopping.” They cared enough and had the integrity and trustworthiness to enforce the boundary every single time.
A word about personal boundaries: Be a good example of self-care by scheduling a massage, a daily walk, or time with a friend to restore and recharge. You’re worth it!
Linda Kavelin Popov is author of The Family Virtues Guide and The Virtues Project Educator’s Guide, co-founder of The Virtues Project ™ , and an international speaker on personal and global transformation. www.virtuesproject.com. See www.paceofgrace.net for a list of virtues definitions.
A lecture about the dangers of alcohol abuse, or holding a human liver pocked by sclerosis? Discovery Academy students had a powerful learning experience recently when Dr. Blair McGirk, a Pathologist at two local hospitals, visited the school for a “hands on” physiology lecture.
LaMarr Nielsen, Head Master at Discovery Academy, arranged for Dr. McGirk’s visit. “The goal is to try and expose students to something they would not normally get in the classroom,” Nielsen says.
Dr. McGirk brought several different organ specimens, including human lungs, gallbladders, a heart, a cancerous breast, and a placenta with the umbilical cord still attached.
Students wore rubber gloves and carefully passed the specimens around while the physician explained their function. Dr. McGirk answered the students’ questions in medical and lay terms.
About a quarter of the Discovery students chose not to participate in the lecture and lab. “The majority of the students were right with him for an hour – slightly more,” Nielsen says. “Many of the mentors that help in our school have had physiology and anatomy classes so they were very sensitive to what our students were feeling.”
Three days later Nielsen was still getting comments from students about the experience and what they learned. “It was a great learning moment,” he says. “It was the opportunity of a lifetime. I don’t think many of these students will ever see that collection of organs that he brought.”
Nielsen says experiential academic learning is an important part of Discovery Academy. He arranged this particular lecture because one DA student was interested in taking an anatomy class through a local college. “We wanted her to have a chance to see what she would be getting into,” he explains.
Nielsen says he’s not sure whether this event will inspire any of the students to pursue medical careers. The goal is simply to expose them to various learning opportunities. “With experientials we try to come up with a variety of activities to try and help kids with different likes. They’ve studied science in Timpanogos Cave. We’ve taught them to tie flies. We’ve launched paper rockets. We’re always looking for different ways to learn.”
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