REPOST: Outdoors: Program helps urban youth through outdoor education

Seeking to direct the youth to a successful path, Bryce Allison and Tony Van Vugt of HikingUpward.com partnered to manage a program promoting “transformational experiences for urban youth through outdoor education.” TimesDispatch.com relates how they started their campaign.  

Bryce Allison is a project manager for a telecommunications company in Richmond, but if his vocation doesn’t distinguish him, his avocation does. Allison is one of two partners — Tony Van Vugt is the other — responsible for HikingUpward.com, the go-to resource for hikers in the Mid-Atlantic.

Allison and Van Vugt run the site for free, but, Allison said, it’s become so popular that “we get a lot of offers from people wanting to donate money to help us.” For years, he wanted to channel that money and the passion of fellow hikers toward a good cause. Then, three years ago, it occurred to Allison: Why not create that channel myself?

His inspiration was a local nonprofit called Blue Sky Fund. Its mission is “to provide transformational experiences for urban youth through outdoor education.”

Five or six years ago, Allison saw Blue Sky Fund executive director Lawson Wijesooriya on a local news broadcast. Something about her Church Hill-based organization struck a chord.

Image Source: www.blueskyfund.com

“I was just kind of drawn to them getting kids out there that wouldn’t normally get the chance,” he said. “(With) my kids, because of my love for the outdoors, it’s been easy for them to tag along with me. A lot of inner city kids don’t have that opportunity.”

Those are the opportunities Blue Sky attempts to provide in many forms, Wijesooriya said. What started as a way to offer scholarships to urban kids to go to summer camps has blossomed into a variety of after-school programs, class field trips, leadership programs, summer recreation activities and more.

Image Source: www.naturediscoverycenter.org

This year, Blue Sky Fund will reach more than 1,200 kids, primarily in Richmond’s East End, where they see need as being the greatest. But to do so, like any nonprofit, they need to raise money. That’s where Allison came in.

Three years ago, he contacted Wijesooriya about doing a hike to raise money for her group. He proposed a 40-mile, three-state hike along the Appalachian Trail — from Pennsylvania through Maryland and then West Virginia.

“We loved the idea,” Wijesooriya said. “It really fit the core of who are and how we could get our kids involved in a fund-raising event.”

The timing wasn’t great for that hike, but Allison stuck with it, and he and Wijesooriya worked out the details on what has become the Blue Sky Fund’s Hike for Kids.

On Oct. 19, anyone who wants to participate will have the option of doing a 28-mile, 18-mile or 7-mile hike on the AT between the Tye River Gap and the Rockfish Gap. The 28-milers will start at 5 in the morning and join the 18-milers at Reed’s Gap. The 7-milers, including a number of Richmond kids who have participated in Blue Sky Programs, will meet the first two groups at Humpback Rocks, and everyone will finish the hike together. Devil’s Backbone Brewpub in Roseland, at the base of Wintergreen, will play host to an after-party for everyone involved.

Image Source: www.theedgesusu.co.uk

Hikers are asked to donate a minimum of $100 to register and then, the Blue Sky Fund website says, “we request that you aim to raise more money through attracting sponsors and supporters to cheer you on toward your personal goal.”

This is no easy section of the AT, but that’s the point, Wijesooriya said, when it comes to the kids her organization mentors.

“What we’ve seen in some of our kids, not all, but some, is that when you give them kind of a safe playground to have these manufactured challenges in the outdoors, they can apply those successes (to their lives). They think ‘Well, I didn’t think I could do that, but if I can, maybe I can survive a night when the lights go out or there’s no food on the table or I have to babysit my younger sibling,’ whatever their real-life challenges are. We give them not only a break from (real life), but they’re then also able to apply themselves to something that’s challenging in a different way.”

Aspen Education Group, member of the CRC Health Group, develops and provides struggling youth with educational programs to help them cope with their situation and achieve educational success. Visit this website to know more about its programs.

REPOST: Local teen attends space camp

In order to promote science, technology, engineering, and math, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville gave teens a shot at hands-on aerospace experience.  The Salisbury Post gives us the point of view of Stephan Mosher, one of the program participants.

A local student got to attend Space Camp this summer at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., home of NASA’s official Visitor Information Center for Marshall Space Flight Center.

Stephan Mosher, 14, the son of Jimm and Patrice Mosher, is a freshman at Jesse C. Carson High School in China Grove. He attended Southeast Middle School last year.

The week-long educational program promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students and adults with hands-on activities and missions based on team work, leadership and decision-making.

Stephan was part of the Space Academy Program, which is specifically designed for trainees who have a particular interest in science and aerospace. He spent the week training with a team that flew a simulated Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Image Source: www.spweb.sx2.atl.publicus.com

Once aboard the ISS, the crew participated in experiments and successfully completed an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or space walk. Stephan and crew returned to earth in time to hear retired Space Shuttle astronaut Col. Bob Springer speak at their graduation.

Space Camp crew trainers who lead each 16-member team must have at least a year of college, and 67 percent of the 2011 staff are college graduates.

Space Camp operates year-round in Huntsville, Alabama, and uses astronaut training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in quarters designed to resemble the ISS and train in simulators like those used by NASA.

More than 600,000 trainees have graduated from Space Camp since its opening in Huntsville in 1982, including STS-131 astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger. Last year, children and teachers from all 50 states and 58 international locations attended Space Camp.

Founded on quality, integrity and dependability combined with the desire to help behaviorally challenged youth achieve personal and educational growth, Aspen Education Group has been providing programs that aid teens in combating behavioral issues.  Visit the group's official website for more details on its therapeutic programs.

REPOST: Dyslexia is Britain's secret weapon in the spy war: Top codebreakers can crack complex problems because they suffer from the condition

Dyslexia is classified as a learning disability.  Children diagnosed with this are often placed in special classes and met with a lower expectation to succeed.  A Daily Mail article shows this 'disability' may be an asset to the government after all.

Image Source: Daily Mail UK

Many of Britain’s top code-breakers and analysts are able to crack complex problems because they suffer from dyslexia, GCHQ has revealed.

A spokesman for the Government’s top-secret electronic eavesdropping station in Cheltenham said last night that some of their most talented code-breakers have difficulty in learning to read or interpreting words.

But this can actually help them crack codes, as they ‘see’ things those without the disorder do not.

GCHQ’s army of code-breakers and code-setters play a critical role in the battle to protect Britain from cyber attacks by other states and  criminals, including terrorists.

GCHQ recently found itself at the centre of allegations by US whistleblower Edward Snowden that it had access to the online data of British citizens via US spy agencies.

Last week MPs on the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee praised steps taken by spy chiefs to harness the skills of dyslexic code-breakers.

The threat to the UK from cyber attacks, according to the report, is at its ‘highest level ever’ and is ‘disturbing’ in its scale  and complexity.

The MPs said the Cheltenham-based agency had set up a Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Support Group, which provides ‘mentoring and practical support to individuals’.

A GCHQ spokesman said some of their most talented code-breakers were affected: ‘They are very creative but may need support, including adjustments in the workplace, such as IT tools and computer software, or [reductions] in their working hours.’

In a speech last year, Sir Iain Lobban, the director of GCHQ, said: ‘Part of my job is to attract the very best people and harness their talents, and not allow preconceptions and stereotypes to stifle innovation and agility.’

Adrian Culley, a cyber expert and former Scotland Yard computer crime detective, said: ‘Dyslexic people have the ability of seeing codes with patterns, repetitions and omissions.

'Dyslexia may in other circumstances be regarded as negative – but most people only get to see the full jigsaw picture when it’s nearly finished while dyslexic cryptographists can see what the jigsaw puzzle looks like with just two pieces.’

Some of the world’s greatest thinkers suffered from dyslexia, including Albert Einstein.

The effects of a learning disability ripple beyond school and homework.  Aspen Education Group provides a host of educational and therapeutic programs to help youth and teens cope with ADHD and similar problems. Read more about their services on this website.

The unique characteristics of wilderness therapy

Image Source: home.earthlink.net

The primary aim of wilderness therapy is to resolve the academic, behavioral, and emotional issues of students in a nurturing and emphatic manner. Schools offering this therapeutic intervention do not force change among their students, but instead allow the environment to initiate student response. If the students aren’t ready yet, the staff members and facilitators move back from their positions of authority, allowing natural effects to influence students until they are ready to commit to experiential learning.


The unique intervention re-educates the youth and diverts its inclination to lifestyles of excesses, which are at the root of their issues. It particularly targets youth who have gone off-track due to the absence of distractions and familiar culture. The conditions in the wilderness allow students to sift through what’s significant and insignificant in their lives and encourage them to use their primitive skills to interact with their new environment. Aspen Education Group describes the wilderness therapy experience as “a ‘rite of passage,’ a transformational process that is difficult to find in our fast-paced, modern society.”

Image Source: examiner.com

 
Change begins with reflection. According to this study, the wilderness therapy process is comprised of the following:

1.) the cleansing phase which occurs early in the intervention

2.) a personal and social responsibility phase

3.) a transition and aftercare phase.

Image Source: positivenews.org.uk

 
A well-trained staff inclusive of therapists, teachers, and leaders nurture intra- and inter-personal and academic skills to help students improve their concepts of self. They may engage in periodic contact with the parents to ensure that families understand their role in their teenagers’ problematic behaviors and that they maintain their homes as conducive aftercare environments.


The wilderness therapy programs of Aspen Education Group are proven catalysts for change among struggling teens. Visit this website to get free advice on various treatment programs available for your teen.

REPOST: Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Hardiness Helps People Turn Stressful Circumstances into Opportunities

As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  This proverb has its merits, says the American Psychological Association.


Research shows hardiness is the key to the resiliency for not only surviving, but also thriving, under stress. Hardiness enhances performance, leadership, conduct, stamina, mood and both physical and mental health.

Findings

Why do some people suffer physical and mental breakdowns when faced with overwhelming stress while others seem to thrive? A landmark 12-year longitudinal study by psychologist Salvatore R. Maddi, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Chicago involving one of the biggest deregulation and divestiture cases in American history provides some answers.

In 1981 Illinois Bell Telephone (IBT) downsized from 26,000 employees to just over half that many in one year. The remaining employees faced changing job descriptions, company goals and supervisors. One manager reported having 10 different supervisors in one year. Dr. Maddi and his research team were already studying more than 400 supervisors, managers and executives at IBT before the downsizing occurred and they were able to continue following the original study group on a yearly basis until 1987. Results shows that about two-thirds of the employees in the study suffered significant performance, leadership and health declines as the result of the extreme stress from the deregulation and divestiture, including heart attacks, strokes, obesity, depression, substance abuse and poor performance reviews. However, the other one-third actually thrived during the upheaval despite experiencing the same amount of disruption and stressful events as their co-workers. These employees maintained their health, happiness and performance and felt renewed enthusiasm.

What made the two groups so different? Dr. Maddi found that those who thrived maintained three key beliefs that helped them turn adversity into an advantage: commitment, control and challenge attitudes. The Commitment attitude led them to strive to be involved in ongoing events, rather than feeling isolated. The Control attitude led them to struggle and try to influence outcomes, rather than lapse into passivity and powerlessness. The Challenge attitude led them to view stress changes, whether positive or negative, as opportunities for new learning.

There is no more extreme example of workplace stress than the battlefield. Research by psychologist Paul T. Bartone, Ph.D., of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point found that hardiness protected Army reserve personnel mobilized for the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990's. In this study, the higher the hardiness level, the greater the ability of soldiers to experience life- and combat-related stress without apparent negative health consequences, such as post traumatic stress disorder or depression. So, hardiness at least partially explains why some soldiers remain healthy under war related stress.

Significance

Results from the IBT study and other research shows that hardiness enhances performance, leadership, conduct, stamina, mood and both physical and mental health by giving people the courage and capability to turn adversity to advantage.

Practical Application

Dr. Maddi and his team used what they learned in the IBT case to develop a training program to help stressed-out employees, including those still at IBT. Those that took part in the training program reduced their anxiety, depression and other signs of strain, while increasing their job satisfaction and morale. These changes persisted after the training course was over. The training program, offered through the Hardiness Institute, is now widely used by organizations to improve worker performance and health. The company also offers an assessment test that is currently used in screening applicants for jobs (such as the U.S. Navy Seals) and placing employees in the right positions. In addition, the institute offers a training program for students that motivates them to do well, and to stay in and graduate from school.

Hardiness and resiliency research is also being used by the American Psychological Association (APA) to help children, teenagers and adults to adapt well to adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats and other significant sources of stress. In the fall of 2003, the APA launched "Resilience for Kids & Teens," a school-based campaign which focuses on teaching the skills of resilience for problems ranging from adapting to a new classroom to bullying by classmates or even abuse at home. The campaign included the distribution of a special issue of Time for Kids Magazine to more than two million fourth- through sixth-graders and their teachers to help children learn the skills of resilience, using "kid-friendly" language.

The APA has also partnered with the Discovery Health Channel for a national, multi-media campaign designed to help Americans work through personal tragedies by learning strategies for resilience. The partnership was forged in the wake of the September 11th 2001 tragedy.

Aspen Education Group, a part of the CRC Health Group, is committed to providing troubled teenagers with effective residential therapy and education. Visit this website for more information.

When all they can say is "no": What parents must expect from oppositional defiance

It is completely normal for young people to disobey their parents every so often. Children and adolescents are naturally inquisitive and would often come at an age where they would question the existence of and test the limits to parental authority. Younger children (and adolescents entering puberty) in particular often pass a phase where they would be defiant for no reason at all. Parental authority must be firm but fair in these cases, and children must be taught that rules exist for a reason and must be followed.

Image Source: Onlineparentingcoach.com

There are cases, however, when children or adolescents become too defiant in comparison with their peers, which may be a symptom of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). This is a condition wherein a young person undergoes a pattern of hostile, defiant, and uncooperative behavior that impedes daily function and jeopardizes his or her social, family, and academic life.

Image Source: Eduguide.org

Children and teenagers with symptoms of ODD (which include excessive arguing with adults, frequent temper tantrums, active defiance, deliberate attempts to annoy people, and mean and hateful communication toward others) are somewhat difficult to single out from their peers at first. Parents can take the opportunity to have their children psychiatrically tested for ODD.

More details on ODD can be accessed here, here, and here.

Parents of children with ODD can rest easy knowing that psychiatric treatment for their children is readily available.

Image Source: Sounddiscipline.wordpress.com

Aspen Education Group provides a host of residential treatment and wilderness therapy programs to help problematic teenagers, particularly those with disorders or prone to self-inflicted abuse. Visit this website for more information on its programs.

Open communication lines with teens: Not as hard as it looks

Image source: megmeekermd.com

The stereotypical parent-to-teenager conversation often begins with a concerned parent asking about a child’s day with a child responding in a condescending shrug or a flat “everything’s fine.” Many parents would have experienced such a conversation at one point in their lives and often find themselves asking why establishing open lines of communication with a teenaged child is so difficult.

Being open and receptive to teenagers is an important aspect of the parent–child relationship during the years of adolescence, where a teenager would often be confronted with many events in life that merit the advice of a parent who is willing to listen. These years are an important aspect of a child’s development and serve as a crucial point where the trait of making informed decisions ought to be developed. Finally, teenagers experiencing a rough patch in school just need to remember that someone cares for them.


Image source: specialedpost.com

And it is this desire to know that they have someone to turn to that would make opening communication lines between parents and teens not as arduous as what most people believe. To accomplish this, parents must make teenagers feel that they are interested in their kids’ day-to-day lives and present a warm and inviting atmosphere whenever appropriate.

Moreover, when rapport is established, parents should strive to instill confidence in their teenagers without being too unrealistic.


Image source: nih.gov

Aspen Education Group, a CRC company, promotes academic and personal growth for troubled young people. Visit this website for more information on its programs.