Innovative Youth Program Emphasizes Honor, Integrity, Accountability
By Hugh C. McBride
Honor. Integrity. Accountability. Success.
At some schools and youth programs, terms like these are little more than vague concepts. In other places, they're nothing but words on a vocabulary quiz.
Not at Turn About Ranch.
At Turn About Ranch -- a residential youth program that is located on a historic working cattle ranch in Escalante, Utah -- honor, integrity, accountability and success are guiding principles for staff members and very real objectives for students.
These values are at the core of the program's guiding philosophy, they are central components of daily life on the ranch, and they play a primary role in the long-term successes that students are able to achieve after they complete their enrollment and return home.
If you are the parent of a defiant, disrespectful teen, you know the damage that can be done when honor ceases to be a concern, when integrity becomes an afterthought.
If you'd like a look at what life could be like with a child who doesn't only understand these concepts, but embraces them, take a few moments to learn about Turn About Ranch.
An Emphasis on Accountability
From the moment they arrive at Turn About Ranch, students learn that accountability is the foundation upon which their future successes will be built.
"We hold our students accountable for everything they do," said Luke Hatch, the ranch's executive director. "This program is based on making real changes -- and as we always tell them, if you can own it, you can change it."
In addition to emphasizing the importance of being accountable for present and future decisions, staff members at Turn About Ranch also encourage the students to take responsibility for the attitudes and actions that led to problems in the past.
"If students say that the only reason they're here is because their parents are mean, they're not making any real progress," Mr. Hatch said. "The students need to own up to their mistakes before they can start making the changes they need to make."
The Value of Hard Work
Making real, lasting changes to one's attitudes, beliefs and behaviors isn't easy. But at Turn About Ranch, hard work isn't limited to classrooms and therapy sessions.
In addition to benefitting from the ranch's respected academic and therapeutic programs, students at Turn About Ranch also fulfill many of the responsibilities that are required to keep a working cattle ranch up and running.
From repairing fences to hauling hay to feeding livestock, students work with staff members to complete the myriad duties that essential to successful ranch operations. And though the students may not initially appreciate the value of the jobs they are doing, ranch staff members make it clear that the work is both necessary and beneficial -- to the ranch as well as to the students.
"Our students aren't on a chain gang, and they're not just doing busy work," Mr. Hatch said. "They're doing necessary tasks that need to be done. They're making valuable contributions and becoming part of what makes the ranch work."
A Cooperative Effort
Emphasizing this philosophy of the value of work, Mr. Hatch said, is the fact that the staff supervisors are not merely passive observers of the students' work -- they are working side-by-side with the teens who are enrolled in the program.
"Our staff members don't sit and watch students work," Mr. Hatch said. "They work right alongside them, and the students can see the sincerity in what they [staff members] say and do. Our students don't work for our staff members -- they work with our staff members."
With staff members and veteran students serving as role models to new arrivals, an appreciation for the value of work is a constant component of the Turn About Ranch experience. And though the students may not see the connection at first, the work they do on the ranch can have direct impact on the successes they are seeking in the academic and therapeutic parts of their lives.
"Working on the ranch gives students a sense of worth and empowerment," Mr. Hatch said. "There's value in being tired at the end of the day, and feeling proud of what you've accomplished."
From Struggling to Self-Sufficient
This sense of work-related pride is central to Turn About Ranch's effort to help students transform themselves from struggling and dependent to self-reliant and self-sufficient.
With individual, group and family therapy sessions, the staff's master's level (and above) therapists help students define the obstacles that are preventing them from achieving their true potential, then work with students and their families to develop the skills and strategies that will enable them to overcome these obstacles.
As students develop the ability to exercise greater control over their attitudes and emotions, they find that they are able to achieve on the individual level while also making positive contributions to the greater group.
And as they demonstrate that they have begun to internalize the concepts of honor, integrity and accountability, they are given greater responsibilities on the ranch, they serve as mentors to other students, and they assume more formal leadership positions within the program.
When students graduate from Turn About Ranch, the challenges that they will face -- difficult academic subjects, family crises, the inevitable interpersonal conflicts -- will still be there, but because they have embraced the program's core values, the students will be much better prepared to deal with these issues in healthy ways.
"We emphasize empowerment, coping skills, and improved interactions," Mr. Hatch said. "We want our students to be able to return home and become more productive members of their families -- and we want them to be able to live lives of integrity, honor and accomplishment."