We have all felt, at least once, the feeling of things escaping our control.
Stress comes to our bodies; our biological alarms are triggered.
In some ways, anxiety and fear can become our closest and most loyal partners.
It seems that anything that we didn’t expect must be completely wrong.
At Youth Frontiers, we define courage by breaking it down to its Latin root: cor. Cor means heart. But what do our hearts have to do with courage?
At Youth Frontiers, it’s our mission to positively impact school communities through our retreats. One of the more wonderful parts of our job is that the same students we reach often impact us in turn. For our staff, these students and their stories are unforgettable. In this series, we remember them.
This year, on The Character Movement, we are trying something new. We’ll be delving into one of our retreat values each month, examining it on our blog and in our Character Challenges. This month’s theme is community.
Building community is one of the top three reasons why educators bring Youth Frontiers in to work with their students. In fact, 83 percent of educators reported that is why they partner with us.
Is it surprising in today’s divided world that educators need support in building respectful, civil communities? And not only do they need support in building community among their students, but more and more superintendents and district leaders need support in fostering trusting communities for their staffs.READ MORE
Haley Elementary is a big school. Serving more than 1,000 kids, it boasts one of the largest student bodies in the Chandler Unified School District. Though it’s grown greatly throughout its eleven years, the school prides itself on maintaining the culture of connectedness it pursued in its humble beginnings.
“Many of us teachers have kids or grandkids here. It’s just like a big family,” said Randi Bell, a fourth-grade teacher and grandmother of a fourth grader at Haley. “It’s really important to us to be mindful of each other — no matter how big our school gets, to keep that small-town feel.”READ MORE
Youth Frontiers recently partnered with Haley Elementary School in Arizona to facilitate a Kindness Retreat. One parent who volunteered as a small-group leader had this to say about her experience:
I went into the retreat thinking of all the things for work that I could be doing while instead I was volunteering at this event. But now I am so happy that I went.
As a parent, I naturally watched my own child at first, but soon I began to watch other kids too. One little boy in particular caught my eye. He was uninterested in the retreat, not smiling, not participating and definitely opposed to participating. As the day unfolded, I continued to watch him and how he transformed. It was almost like a burden had been lifted from him. He started smiling and participating. He even shared at the end of the day during the reflection time. I do not remember what he shared, but I remember the look on his face. It showed that he felt like he was a part of his class. It was so touching to see.READ MORE