Trust and Respect - The Value of RedCliff Ascent

By Stephen C. Schultz

The fire has almost died. The embers are glowing a light orange with grey ashes sneaking up around them. Some of the other students are getting ready to slip into their wiggy’s. He could sit here all night, just looking at the stars. They don’t look this bright at home. Everything seems clearer out here. He looks across the fire where Scott is sitting. Scott, or Medicine Bull as he is known, gives him a head nod and asks how he is doing on his fires. He remembers the first time he busted a fire with only his bow and drill set. Scott showed him the way. Scott never makes him talk. Through his example he simply encourages him to try.

RedCliff students learn firsthand the power of teamwork and the importance of individual contribution. They also learn they can count on their counselors. Staff members eat, dress, hike and otherwise live in the back country no differently than the students they lead. The result is the development, over time, of mutual trust and respect.

This is the point where students start to open up, explore solutions and gain insight concerning some of the problems and issues that lead to their enrollment in RedCliff. Many students come to RedCliff having been involved in destructive behavior that won’t serve them well as adults. Many times relationships with family members have been compromised and there is stressful communication taking place in the home. These teens generally come to RedCliff with a negative sense of self and leave with a sense of pride in what they have accomplished. Most leave as very different teenagers.

If you think this unique treatment option seems interesting to you, here are a few links that may be helpful in learning more.

RedCliff Ascent - Did You Know?

An Open Letter to Parents Researching RedCliff Ascent

Philosophy and Treatment of RedCliff Ascent

There is hope for treatment resistant teens!

Comments

Lessons I learned from a childhood experience with bullying

By Stephen C. Schultz The dew around the window was starting to bead up. In a classic case of chaos theory, the little beads of water gave way to gravity and randomly bounced and bumped their way to the window sill like a steal marble in a pinball game. There was a small pool of water in the cracked and peeling beige paint. I sat facing the window, staring at the small engraved stone nestled in the flower beds. There weren’t many flowers at this time of year. Mostly rhododendrons and Oregon grapes reaching skyward from the damp bark mulch that covered the planter area. The month of January in Eugene Oregon was filled with days and days of mist and fog. In fact, pretty much from October through June was filled with fog, rain, mist, showers, freezing rain and occasionally snow. The local weathermen didn’t bother with predictions about the chance of precipitation; they took pride in developing new adjectives to describe the type of precipitation and how much you can expect.

"Sugar and Spice" - A Child's Kindness

By Stephen C. Schultz I recall a childhood rhyme that went something like this; “…sugar and spice and everything nice…that’s what little girls are made of!” As the father of three daughters and one son, there is no doubt about the truthfulness of that saying. I was in San Diego a couple of weeks ago with my family. We were down at Seaport Village right on the bay having lunch. It was a beautiful day, sun shining, light breeze and we were eating on an outside deck. We were engaged in a conversation about what we wanted to do later that day when I noticed my youngest daughter, a fifth grader, was focused on something else. So, I turned to see what she was gazing at. She was following the movements of a transient man who had walked up onto the deck and was systematically searching the garbage cans for food. He was looking in each receptacle and reaching in to move the contents around. At one can, his hand came out with a partially eaten sandwich of some kind. He reached back

Perfectly Wicked - A new take on an old fairy tale!

Guest Blogger Amanda Schultz Age 15 There she was…hair as black as night, lips as red as blood, skin as white as snow. Standing by the window, washing dishes, whistling while she worked. Snow White. I shudder with disgust every time I hear her name. What kind of a name is that anyway? “Snow White”. Gahhh, it’s a name that practically begs to be made fun of. Yet, there she goes, frolicking around like she owns the Enchanted Forest. No. I’m the Queen. I’m in charge. My magic mirror was mistaken. I’m the Fairest of them all, not that sorry excuse for a princess. One bite from my poison apple and that air-head will be so ugly not even her mother could love her. And I will be the Fairest once again! I suppose that I should rewind a little bit. It wasn’t always a competition between Snow White and me. In fact, back in the day, we had a nice little system going on. I would rule the kingdom and practice my magic, while Snow did the dishes and tended the garden. She stayed out of my w

The Interpreted Rock

Search This Blog