Thirteen years, a cross-country move, and a new life later, James Alworth says he still cherishes his RedCliff journals, water bottle, and other memorabilia. They are dusty reminders of the summer he spent turning his life around in the southern Utah desert.
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The 27-year-old recently moved from North Carolina to Los Angeles, where he is studying graphic design.
Looking back, James recalls, “I had some anger issues at first. I wrote my mom some nasty letters. I was blaming her and putting on the guilt trip, saying things like, ‘How could you put me in a place like this? Don’t you love me?’ It took me a couple of days of hiking without talking to realize I had some major problems with trust and authority. I started to figure out I was there for a reason.”
James joined the RedCliff program just one year after its founding in 1993. His parents sent him because of his drug use.
He says hiking and journaling helped him realize his life was headed in the wrong direction. “That first epiphany I had was pretty powerful,” he remembers. “I cried for a couple hours that night. I didn’t ever realize how nasty I was to my parents, to my friends.”
That’s when James wrote a very different letter to his mother. “It was nine pages long,” he says. “I broke down and told her how I really felt and how sorry I was. I spilled out everything.”
As he looks back more than a dozen years, James says RedCliff became the turning point for his life. “I woke up at that point. I never had love or respect for myself before that.”
His wilderness experience had strengthened his body and cleared his mind. “It felt so good to be in shape, without cigarettes or drugs, without all the pressures,” he says. “I hated smoking but I did it anyway because everyone else was doing it. I didn’t have the courage to say no.”
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The old boy faded and a new, stronger James was born. James says even now it’s difficult for him to explain. “When I finished I had morals. I had something that I could look to. Answers for things that I didn’t have answers to before. Strength to say no to things. I felt more alive.”
James says he doubts he would have finished high school or college without his RedCliff experience. “I wouldn’t have been a happy person,” he says, “and that would have made me pretty ugly to everyone else.”
His RedCliff experience changed him in another way as well. “After all these years I still can’t eat oatmeal.”
RedCliff families will get more value for their tuition dollars thanks to new revisions in our educational curriculum.
Working in tandem with our sister program, Discovery Academy, faculty members analyzed field work and determined RedCliff students could earn three credit hours, or an entire semester’s worth of credit, with some minor revisions to our curriculum.
With these changes in place, RedCliff students will now earn one half credit in six different elective curriculums. Those electives are:
- Language Arts - .5 credits
- Physical Education - .5 credits
- Food/Nutrition - .5 credits
- Interpersonal Communication - .5 credits
- Outdoor Education - .5 credits
- Health & Fitness - .5 credits
RedCliff students are now enrolled in those electives through Discovery Academy. Upon completion of their wilderness experience, they receive an official transcript, issued by Discovery Academy, listing three credit hours, or one semester’s worth of academic work.
There are two major benefits to this system. First, it allows RedCliff students to receive legitimate academic credit for their field work. For students who may have been falling behind in school prior to their enrollment at RedCliff, this approach will prevent them from losing any further academic ground. Students who are current in their schoolwork will be able to hit the ground running when they return.
Second, having an official transcript will make it easier for families to transfer credits to other academic settings.
Stretching family resources farther with expanded academic credit is one more way RedCliff Ascent continues to offer therapeutic excellence at an exceptional value.
Blogging, facebook, and YouTube – they’re all ways of communicating for RedCliff parents, staffers and alums.
If you haven’t seen the posts, just search for RedCliff on facebook and YouTube. Our blog is part of the RedCliff website. Each site contains messages, photos and videos to keep the RedCliff family connected. Check them out!
For more than six years RedCliff has offered tuition discounts to families whose students stay more than 60 days. Today many other programs mimic that policy.
However, due to the effectiveness of RedCliff treatment only about 25% of our customers were able to take advantage of that price reduction.
Effective January 1, 2008, we have restructured our pricing so that virtually every family will see a tuition decrease while their student is at RedCliff.
Our published daily rate is as follows:
- Day 1-30 - $440.00
- Day 31-60 - $400.00
- Day 61 and after - $325.00
Money really does talk. We think giving some of it back to the families we serve is the best way to tell them we are sensitive to their financial concerns. Our hope is that RedCliff Ascent will continue to be recognized as the leader in not only treatment quality, but over-all value.
Part of what makes the RedCliff experience so exceptional are the men and women who work with our students. This month we are pleased to introduce you to two members of our field staff.
Nathan Boyett
Field Staff
Sitting in his office grading papers Nathan Boyett realized this was not the job he’d dreamed of. A teaching assistant working on his Master’s Degree in applied environmental sociology, Nathan packed everything he owned in a small moving van and headed west.
He’d discovered RedCliff Ascent on the Internet and in so doing, discovered a passion for working with troubled adolescents.
The New Orleans native admits there was a long and awkward pause after he told his family he was coming to Utah to work in the wilderness. But his mother and grandmother both felt better about his choice after they followed Nathan’s advice and studied the RedCliff web site.
Nathan’s been at RedCliff for over a year now and says he loves the job – except the part about getting up in the morning. “I’m not really a morning person and it’s cold outside,” he admits. “It’s definitely a lot easier in the summer.”
One of his favorite RedCliff memories is when he received his earth name – Red Stone Waters. “Red is because I am active and full of energy,” he explains. “The stone is because I am dependable and the water is because people are naturally drawn to me.”
He says the naming ceremony is a very special experience. “You learn what other people think of you, what it is they see in you – both the good and the bad, the strengths and weaknesses, and how to improve on things.”
His favorite part of the job is working grad camps. He says being able to see the change in the students is amazing. “When they first get here they hate their lives and their parents. Then being able to see them later on when they finally accept that they have issues and they start working on them – to see them reunited with their families is a really good thing.”
Nathan says often parents have also realized they have areas they need to work on. Graduating students have learned their parents sent them to RedCliff out of love.
“It’s very rewarding to see that reunion and to see that people do change,” he says. “Hopefully, we’re giving somebody a second start at life and some tools to take with them.”
Nathan says even when he’s not working he’s still outdoors. He enjoys rock climbing, canyoneering, and ice climbing.
Janessa Pierce
Field Staff
When Janessa Pierce was studying at Bradley University she thought she wanted a career in advertising and marketing. That was before she went on a Habitat for Humanity spring break trip. “I met some AmeriCorps volunteers and that got me interested in that program,” she remembers. “Once I’d worked with AmeriCorps I just felt drawn away from my original path.”
She graduated from Bradley but never looked back at the advertising career. Janessa had heard about wilderness therapy and was intrigued. She found RedCliff on the Internet and decided that would be her next adventure.
The first night of the week long training camp she nearly changed her mind. “I got up the next morning and just shook my head and said to myself, ‘I ought to go home!’” she recalls with a laugh. But everyday got easier and better and by the end of the week she knew she wanted to be hired.
“I love working outdoors with the kids and having a structured curriculum but still having the freedom to lead the group,” she says.
Staff are required to complete all the phase work and pass off the same hard skills as RedCliff students. Janessa says it gives them a better perspective on how the students feel.
She says she loves seeing the contrast as students enter the program and are certain they will never be able to master the skills. “They genuinely believe there’s no way they can do it.”
Janessa says that student becomes a whole new person just a few weeks later when they’ve mastered what formerly appeared impossible. “It’s very rewarding to be a part of personal change. It’s kind of hard to find opportunities like that.”
“It’s a lot easier to just step in and do something for them,” Janessa says. “It takes a lot of patience to let them go through their struggles on there own. But when they do succeed they own that success. As a guide, we understand students have to overcome challenges on their own.”
When she’s not working Janessa is busy training for a half marathon and a triathlon. She also enjoys snowboarding. And she still loves being with her family on their dairy farm in Illinois.
She’s thinking about returning to college for a teaching degree or perhaps starting her own business. But for now Janessa says, “One thing at a time.”
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