Cedar Ridge Academy

New Baby LLama

2012-03-06T19:15:00.002-07:00

Nike was born on a monday, at 2:33 P.M. Katelyn, Deborah, and Darline ran outside, expecting to find a llama on the loose again, but instead they found a chocolate colored baby llama with a white Nike symbol on it's right cheek, wobbling around on it's new legs. They day was cold, so the baby llama had to be saved fast or else it would die from the freezing wind. We spent the next couple of hours stacking hay bails to fight the wind and trying to dry the baby llama off withouth getting spit on. After a stressful night of trying to save a life, the baby is successfully sheltered from the cold, and ready to start its life in the new world.

-Katelyn

Fire Family

2012-02-02T18:04:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,
We celebrated our student's wilderness skills with a Fire Family.
Each of the students had a chance to show their "busting" skills and teach others who had never learned.
It was a lot of fun!
We finished it off with smores of course!
Thank you to Freyja Miller, one of our great therapists, for facilitating this activity and for taking the pictures.

Girly night at Cedar Ridge

2012-01-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

For several years now there has been a tradition of "Girly Night" at the girls home. I was able to be there tonight while they were participating.

How much fun!!

They really enjoy this opportunity to bond and grow in areas they're uncomfortable in. They get divided into pairs and one does the hair and makeup of the other and then they switch.

It brought up a lot of insecurity that one would mess up the others, or that the other wouldn't like it. Some girls who were not used to doing "girly" things had nervousness about being immersed in something like this. :)

Overall it was a great time with some immense bonding. I have more pictures than these below but wanted to get these out.

Enjoy!

Community project at the Ute Tribe Head Start

2011-12-20T16:00:00.001-07:00

This group was very involved and received several positive comments and support from the Ute Tribe leaders.

Chalk Therapy

2011-12-20T15:19:00.001-07:00

These are some pictures that took too long to get posted on the blog. The girls really enjoyed being creative with it and expressing their gratitude. They have done so well this year with having an attitude of gratitude!

Hope you enjoy.

Three Brain-based Teaching Strategies to Build Executive Function in Students

2011-12-05T13:28:00.001-07:00

Hello parents and Alumna,
This is an article that Christine sent me to help me explain some of our perspective and aim when teaching students at Cedar Ridge Academy.
Hope it helps.
Thanks for all you do,
Sean

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-based-teaching-strategies-judy-willis

How to Love Your Kids Without Losing Your Mind | iMOM

2011-11-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

I found this article through Twitter and thought our Blog Followers would like it. There is some great information and perspective.

Hope you like it.

How to Love Your Kids Without Losing Your Mind | iMOM

Most of our students are getting back today from their Thanksgiving Holiday and we hope everyone had a good time here. The transition back typically takes a little bit of time for everyone to settle back into the routine.

Thank you again to all of our families for all you do in this process of loving and supporting this next generation of leaders.

We appreciate our opportunity to be part of their lives.

Sean and the Cedar Ridge Academy Team

2011-11-16T11:25:00.015-07:00

This week in Why Try group,
the students learned about "seeing over the wall."
The students created motivational posters to help remind them about what is keeping them from seeing over their cuurent issues and staying stuck.
The students all put their own twist on the activity and here are some of the results.

You can see the differet issues that are keeping the students stuck being represented as bricks in the wall, and keeping them from looking past the wall toward their hopes and aspirations.

Most of the students put a ladder or stairway that represents the steps they will have to take to make it over the wall.

One of the things I found interesting was the presence of a 'short-cut' in some of their drawings.

The existance of a 'short-cut' was very telling; it cropped-up exclusively in the drawings done my students who tend to look for an exeption to the 'hard-way' or try to find an easy out (rather than take the steps). More than likely, they've been able to manipulate their way out of responsibilities consistantly in the past.
Another example that shows that the student is unwilling to 'take the steps' is in the images with a connon.

These students were unable to elaborate on what their cannons symbolized, and tended to believe that one great effort or behavior would see them past all their problems and on to their goals.

Both symbols will give us a lot to talk about in our next meeting.

Overall, I think the kids did a great job.

Not everyone accepted the concepts being taught, but most were willing to explore them.

Eyes of the Child

2011-09-21T09:07:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone!

I am working on a school project that I have been working on for a while. I have made a blog that explains it all! http://eyesofthechild.blogspot.com/ So take a look at it when you have some time. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at eyesofthechild@gmail.com and feel free to give the web site to your friends or other family members.

--Lauren A.

Small Group Goodness

2011-08-29T16:15:00.005-06:00

Here are some of the things students have been doing in "School Engagement" group, during our 'small group' counseling block.

If you have ever participated/assisted in the Why Try program, these activities will look familiar. The Why Try program is an empirically based system that is currently in use across the country. The program has been proven to alter student perceptions about school and improve academic performance.
Cedar Ridge Guidance Counseling Department has implemented the Why Try program in order to compliment the core Cedar Ridge therapeutic principles within the context of school performance.

Here is an example of the "Reality Ride" activity. Students spend time trying to figure out how they cycle through negetive behaviors and consequences.

THis student got creative and made the ride a board game; each role of the die taking down a different path. If any one out ther works for Milton Bradley, take notice.

Students then learned about 'Lables' and how to remove them. Here, the students thought hard and came up with their own lables.

I was really impressed with the students' engagement in the process. Hopefully, they will begin to think of themselves in terms of these new lables.

Senna!

2011-08-17T14:41:00.002-06:00

I loved the trip so much it was very fun! I had a fun time being the director for my company but at times it was also stressful. I would have to say the best part of the trip was the bonfire. I liked being able to chill with everyone in a less structured environment. I LOVED THE TRIP!

Alex K

2011-08-17T12:05:00.000-06:00

Todd

2011-08-17T12:02:00.001-06:00

James

2011-08-17T12:00:00.002-06:00

This "blog" entry is an attempt to explore one of the many exciting experiences I had on the trip. This blog is another of many firsts, such as cooking and most noteably live theater (I liked The Glass Managerie). The most exciting of new experiences was probably the hiking though. My dear friend Todd and I ran up a mountain side and found a beautiful look out point. I can't describe the rush I felt when I was up in the woods, feeling free, and in touch with nature.

Katharine

2011-08-17T11:57:00.001-06:00

Filming was the best part. I learned how to not shake the camera for 2.5 seconds but all in all I did an okay job :) .

After a long hike we stopped and took pictures by the aspen trees.

It was nice to have time to stop and smell the roses.

Our last night at the cabin we had a campfire with s'mores. I learned how to roast a marshmallow!

And shared a tree stump with Morgan.

Brandon

2011-08-17T11:55:00.002-06:00

Alex D.

2011-08-17T11:52:00.001-06:00

Ryan the Awesome!!!

2011-08-15T15:01:00.000-06:00

How's my Richard III face?

"Hmmm... this domino looks funny..."

Insanity? Not on my watch King Lear! Feel the sting of my blade!!!

What a great trip! I am so happy that I chose to take the Shakespeare class! The plays were very uniquely done and thoroughly fun. I even enjoyed watching the Richard III preformance, which is usually a very dull and tedious play. out of all of the plays, I enjoyed Noises Off! the most. It is a farce about an acting company performing a show called Nothing On. It was absolutely hysterical! People were rolling in the isles! I hope our final project has the same results. We made a parody of a newscast, basing everything on Shakespeare's plays that we studied. I think it is hilarious, but I have more background in the subjects. Today we took a hike around Cedar Breaks National Forest. Talk about beauty! I was astounded by the cliffs and forest stuff there! I've missed nature so much! Warmest Regards!

--Ryan

The Life of Marilyn

2011-08-15T14:30:00.000-06:00

Having Christine as an english teacher is the Best.

I have had such a wonderful time with her on the Shakespeare Trip.

This is my personal group for the Shakespeare trip, and it was awesome to spend time with each and every one of them.

Kimberly, it was fun to hang out with her out side of Cedar Ridge Academy. On this

trip seeing the teachers having different personality was so much fun.

The Adventures of Alex K

2011-08-15T13:46:00.000-06:00

My exciting part of the project was editing the movie we made.

This here is my company where we assisted eachother in making the film I often recorded. Morgan is seen being in her natural bossy form. Just Kidding

I don't even know what to say but it is SICK!

Overall this has been a fun experience where I am able to explore my acting and movie editing skills. This has been a very unique and cool experience. Productiveness and fun co exist in our cabin.

My favorite things have been our ability to cook real food and watch the plays. Noises off was by far my favorite. Noises Off was about a play in a play and the actors acted silly and melo dramatic it was the funniest most entertaining play. I have been able to connect with the whole group with fun things. My beard is sick.

All my best-Alexander Greek last name

More Festival Pics

2011-08-15T09:27:00.000-06:00

Our Shakespeare Festival Trip is a Marathon!

2011-08-13T11:10:00.004-06:00

Friday's Agenda

2011-08-11T11:42:00.000-06:00

Today we see The Glass Menagerie and Romeo and Juliet. The students are pretty excited about the Adam's Theater, which is built in the style of the original Globe. I'll get a picture on here today.
Christine

The Shakespeare Group is off!

2011-08-11T11:36:00.000-06:00

Breakfast this morning.

Our Cabin

Theatre and The Bard

2011-08-01T12:23:00.002-06:00

The greatest of theater exercises (sometimes) start with a single handshake...

The passion of Katie's improv

It's almost here! We are mere weeks away from going on the Shakespeare Festival trip and you could cut the excitement in the air with a knife. We have been watching movie versions of the plays we've read, and I personally can't wait to see the live versions of the plays! So far, the movies that we've seen are great! Especially A Midsummer Night's Dream! That was AWESOME!

In addition to the Shakespeare class, we have been spending two hours every Friday with Katie Lear (great-great-great-granddaughter of the famous Shakespearean King Lear. LOL jk) learning the nuts and bolts of improv. It. Is. AWESOME! Somehow we do nothing but play games and dink around and we get better at acting! For example we played a game called "Entrances and Exits" where all you need to do is keep your partner out of your invisible room. Without physical contact. Can somebody say bizzare? I have NO idea how it improves my theater skills, but it obviously works! Anyways, Shakespeare is awesome and theater class is double awesome! I'm so glad I signed up for this! I'm signing off, and until next time, LOVE YOUR ENGLISH!!!!

--Ryan :-)

What's New in Shakespeare

2011-08-01T12:23:00.000-06:00

Hi All,

Well, I'll start out by saying that Shakespeare has been going amazingly good. My favorite part so far is learning more about William Shakspeare and the plays he has written. This class always keeps us always so busy. In the beginning of the class we had our biggest project which was to write about one of the plays. And for most of us it was very stressful. But in the end it was all worth it. What I'm looking forward to is the big trip which is on Aug. 10-16. I'm also really excited to see all the plays in real life instead of just watching the movies.

Marilyn

Research Projects for Shakespeare

2011-06-16T14:54:00.003-06:00

The Shakespeare Class is working hard on their research projects. Here, students are working in their companies on the plays' allusions, the Black Plague, the War of the Roses, and Shakespearean Theater.

Reconnecting with Melissa G

2011-04-15T10:06:00.005-06:00

Dear alumni, alumni family, current student or family, or just the general passerby who finds themselves in front of this screen,

The following is a letter I received from a Cedar Ridge Academy Alumni who left over 10 years ago. It's such a pleasure of mine to get notes like this, as well as the cards, graduation and marriage announcements that show up in our mail box. The work that students do at Cedar Ridge can be difficult, overwhelming, and almost seem impossible--but when students do the work and apply what they learn as they move forward in their life, they most surely have the best of chances to succeed. I want to thank all of our current and past students/families for sharing their time and their life with us during their stay at Cedar Ridge Academy. We hope the best for you as you take on the world. Whether you consider yourself a success story or not, we would love to hear from you. sean@cedaridge.net

We want to thank Melissa for taking the time to share her thoughts in this letter she sent us and for making the trip to Mesa, AZ to connect with our karate team trip. The group really enjoyed meeting you and learning from your story.

Thank you,

Sean

Sean,

Whatever directions my mind wandered in tonight that brought me back to Cedar Ridge really made me miss those good old days. I wanted to let everyone that was there when I was there (not too many of you I don't think anymore) know how I'm doing and how I think about all of you and my experiences there all the time, 12 years later. Of all of the kids that have come and gone there I'm not sure if you remember me, but I remember you started there not too long before I left.

It's funny how you look back and realize all of the things that were really important growing up, all of the petty things that I hung onto. The highest level I ever made it to at Cedar Ridge was 700. It seemed that every time I started going good I sabotaged myself somehow. Rob wanted to see me get to 900, and I wanted to get there, but I turned 18 and the levels could no longer apply to me. When I left there I was so far from ready to tackle life according to the things I had been taught. But I was so much more prepared than I had been upon arriving there a year earlier. The things I learned at Cedar Ridge I always thought were pretty neat and had ultimately saved me from dying of a drug overdose, but it wasn't until my divorce some 8 years later that I really grasped what I was taught.

When I came to Cedar Ridge I felt anger and I felt happiness. There were no other emotions in my reality. Rob helped me search out the different emotions I really had and helped me to identify them and accept them. The rules of quiet and calm behavior that we lived by there always seemed a bit extreme to me until I realized that the only way to hear what I was thinking in the middle of life's insanity is to be quiet and listen. If I hadn't learned those very special skills I would surely have turned back to drugs while going through the toughest time in my life. It was a divorce and custody battle that lasted for 3 years and landed me and my kids in a women's shelter and in hiding for almost a year of that time.

So, while I can't say that I have always made the best decisions in my life (obviously my choice in a husband didn't rank up there), I have always been able to turn back to the lessons I learned there and move forward into more and more success. I would consider myself to have a successful life, especially when I consider the alternative if I had never gone to Cedar Ridge. I have done things backwards, it took me a while to really absorb everything Rob tried to teach me. But as I round my 31st birthday I feel so much smarter in so many ways. Emotionally maturing, as I know it is a life long lesson.

I had my children at a young age, my daughter coming when I was only 19. I came up there shortly after her birth and spoke to the group about what can happen when you make the choices I made, my beautiful baby girl in hand. I wasn't married, I was young and dumb still. After that I did marry and had my son a year and a half later. And I became a stay at home mom. Six years later, when I left my husband, I realized that if I wanted to support my kids without depending on his child support I had to do something with myself. So, at 26, I went back to school.

In February I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in accounting, I work for the University of Phoenix. I live in Phoenix, AZ with my kids and we have a full life. I am able to give them so much more than I ever dreamed possible with just one parent in the house. I will start my Masters program in the fall and will get my CPA license once that is complete. Most importantly, my kids know what sadness, hurt, excitement, passion, frustration, happiness and all the other emotions are, and they can articulate their emotions to me, because I was able to teach them that. I couldn't have done that without all of you.

I guess what I have to say is this. While I didn't realize things right out of the gates at the young age of 18, it was the instillation of the values and morals that Cedar Ridge helped me achieve that have made me into the person I am. They are the reason I have been able to weather so many storms successfully, and the reason that my almost 11 year old daughter can come to me when she's hurting and cry it out on my shoulder. Cedar Ridge is the reason my kids can't live with themselves for more than a day if they tell a lie, and the reason they are the kids they are. Sure, their mom had to raise them to be that way, but who helped me become that person? Cedar Ridge did. I know I make plenty of mistakes with them, and you'd better believe if they ever need it they will be a new generation of kids there! But the reason I would never hesitate to send my own children to Cedar Ridge is because I know what it stands for and I believe in what you do.

At any rate, I hope this email wasn't too long and drawn out, and I do hope you will forward it on to Rob. I love you all.

Melissa Gosper

Washington D.C. Trip Information

2011-04-13T16:46:00.002-06:00

Dear Parents, Kimberly Hawks, our history teacher, is planning a trip to Washington D.C. as part of a U.S. History or Social Studies elective semester class. Please stay posted here and on our Activities blog for details as the deadlines and class dates draw near.

Regaining Childhood: Parenting a "too fast, too soon" generation

2011-04-12T11:32:00.000-06:00

This is a great article that ties in well with our Overindulgence component of our family workshops. It shows many examples of our culture's support of overindulging our children and giving them too much, too soon.

I definitely recommend you follow Michele with whatever social network service you have. She has several informative articles and books about the developmental needs of children and great steps that parents, family members and educators can take to help raise our children with the best chance of success.

Regaining Childhood: Parenting a “too fast, too soon” generation

Have a great day and thank you,

Sean

Karate Camp and Shiai

2011-04-06T19:59:00.002-06:00

Check out our karate blog for lots of pics from our karate camp and shiai trip to Mesa, Arizona. www.cedarridgeacademykarate.blogspot.com

Reconnecting in Chicago

2011-03-16T17:57:00.005-06:00

Sean and I went on a trip to Chicago to meet with some consultants. The best part about the trip (was not the weather!) was meeting up with three of our alumni and connecting with them.

We met with Andys, a student (a man, now, but it's hard to think of these guys as all grown up) who left Cedar Ridge about five years ago. He went to school for music producing and has been a dj and music remixer for the past three years in Chicago. Andys went with us to hear Dan, an alumni who has been home in Illinois for ten! years, play with his band Juniper Mays at the La Salle Power Co. It was good! They consider their music to be 'blue grass rock.' You can check out more at http://www.junipermays.com/. I was surpised--I actually really like their music and have it on my iPod now.

We had breakfast with Vanessa, an alumni who has been home in Chicago for almost five years, starting out at the University of Chicago, then going into Yale's painting program, then starting her own business and going to pastry school. Her business is Sweet Vee's Laboratory, and 'experimental' baking and catering company. You can check that out at http://www.sweetveeslaboratory.com/. She was really centered and applied a lot of what she learned at Cedar Ridge to keep herself healthy and positive. I can tell you, I was not like this at 23 years old!

Seth's Reading Class project

2011-01-28T13:57:00.004-07:00

For Genre Reading Class, I made a board game for the book The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. It is about a group of kids who are trying to make it across a wasteland to a safe haven where they will receive a cure to a disease the entire world has.

I followed this plot for the basis of my board game. You started on one corner of the board and you had to make it to the other side through a maze of different areas. There were six different areas; Hideout Area, Tunnel Area, Wasteland Area, Underground Area, Shelter Area, and Mountain Area. Based on what type of area you landed on you drew a certain card. These cards could do many things, such as move you to a new spot on the board, give you some sort of special bonus, or make you move your opponent to a completely new area.

I presented this game to the rest of the genre reading class and we played it for an hour. It was a lot of fun to play together, and it was really cool to play a game I made from scratch.

Enjoy the video of us playing!

Seth

Jake’s graduation

2010-12-27T15:16:00.002-07:00

It was a small graduation since many students had already left for holiday passes but small can still be great. :)

We’re very happy for Jake to have made this great accomplishment. He worked hard—most of the time :) (Jake knows what we’re talking about).

Keep up the good work Jake and enjoy your time at home getting ready for college! Ah college…

Sean and the Cedar Ridge Academy family.

Kat’s graduation

2010-12-27T13:14:00.002-07:00

Great Job Kat.

I’m behind in getting this post up but we’re still very proud and excited for Kat. She worked very hard to graduate high school and the program on level 900. You rock Kat. You can tell from all the smiles, tears, and hugs that she made some fantastic relationships while she was here. One boy proposed to her—look below. For all legal purposes—it was not a real proposal :) just students having fun together.

Kat we love you and are proud of you. We hope you had a fantastic holiday with your family and that you are settling in well. Keep that good foot moving forward and keep in touch with us.

Sean and the Cedar Ridge Academy family.

Monday’s experiential

2010-12-20T16:50:00.002-07:00

For today’s experiential we played basketball.

Two rules.

1 – We had to pass to each person on our team before shooting the ball.

2 – We had to pass alternate passes to boys and girls.

It was the number 2 rule that required the most focus from each person.

It was tough at first but after a time out everyone did better and had more fun.

Relationship group

2010-12-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

This is the "Barrier Exercise" that Shane did with some other students.

Barrier Game-Relationship Group- Matt, Nick, Ryan, Seth

Today in relationships group we played the game called the barrier game. We would set up volleyball nets and put up a blanket so your partner couldn’t see to the other side. Then one partner would get a bin and set it somewhere. When the bin was set down your partner would get a ball and try to get it into the bin while getting directed where it was. The barrier was a blanket that you weren’t able to see through. If you look around the net or under it you were disqualified. So, how does this game relate to relationships? Here are some of the things we learned from the game.

Communication-

The barrier game did requires one important thing, communication. Because you are blind and you can’t see the basket that you need to shoot the ball in, your partner needs to communicate with you about where you need to shoot the ball, how hard, and what direction. The person who is telling where to shoot the ball perspective is very different than the person who is shooting the ball. Without taking their perspective, their communication will be off.

Trust- Another thing required by the Barrier Game was trust. You had to trust that your partner cared about helping you score and wasn’t trying to screw you over. Also, you had to trust in his perspective and directions. Both of our perspectives of the game were incomplete, and we had to take our partner’s word for what the missing half of the court looked like.

Trust and communication are two of the fundamental qualities of a relationship. In the barrier game, if we don’t trust what are partner is trying to tell us or say to us, then we won’t be able to progress in relationships. We have to be patient and trusting, as well as communicating appropriately. If we try and mess with our partner by giving them the wrong idea of where the basket is, our relationship will be progressively ruined. We must communicate and trust our partner, or else the foundation will collapse and we will be unable to construct a good relationship.

Relating it to my Life- I relate this to my life by listening and being receptive to what the other person has to say, as well as being receptive to their feedback. –Seth

This relates to my life by showing me that I need other people’s perspectives because majorities of the time I only have half of the picture. Also, I need to trust what people say more. –Ryan

This relates to my life because when I’m frustrated or angry I’m not able to see the whole picture and I don’t want to listen to what others have to say. -Matt

This relates to me because it will help built trust and not get frustrated when you fail at something and that you don’t give up. - Nick (The Beast)

The new llama shelter. A tribute to Josh

2010-12-13T18:39:00.002-07:00

Here are some updated pictures of the llama pen being built. Thank you Todd and company for keeping this project going on your extra hours. Josh started this vision before leaving and we’re almost done.

Keep up the good work.

Cedar Ridge Academy December Newsletter

2010-12-10T16:59:00.003-07:00

Hey! We have a new Spectrum out. Take a look at http://www.cedarridgeacademy.net/ on the Newsletter page. The pdf link to the December 2010 edition of our boarding school newsletter is at the top of that page.

Enjoy!
Christine

Trevor’s experiential. The maze!

2010-11-29T09:36:00.002-07:00

Trevor was in charge of the experiential today and he created a maze in the gym out of the mats and assorted “mines”. The group was challenged well and kept a great attitude. You can see from the pictures that this was not the most easy maze!

Technorati Tags: experiential,Cedar Ridge Academy,therapy,coed,fun,maze

Nicolette’s Graduation

2010-11-22T11:23:00.002-07:00

Nicolette graduated high school today!! Yeah! Thank you to all the family and friends who came to support her for this great event.

Good Job Nicolette!!

Monday’s Experiential

2010-11-22T11:14:00.002-07:00

Here are some pictures from today’s experiential. My camera died before I could get some more. It went well. Two of the female students facilitated it and they did great with the exercise.

Mike Caudle Art Show

2010-11-18T11:45:00.002-07:00

Art Show

Cedar Ridge Academy’s English and Art teacher, Michael Caudle, is showing watercolors at Roots Café in Roosevelt over the next month. Mr. Caudle has been displaying a few pictures there over the summer and fall, but was recently invited to fill the café with art works, around 25 in all. The opening will be held on Friday, November 19 from 7-9pm. The show will be up until Dec. 19.

All high levels who wish to attend the opening are invited. Garth, a student at the boarding school has generously offered his assistance to hang the show this evening. Garth’s interest goes a little beyond the altruistic; he is a potential exhibitor at the café.

The owners have expressed a desire to make the exhibiting of local artists a regular feature at the café. “You are the first, the test exhibit.” I was asked to suggest the next artist(s) to follow me and Jim Munford, co art teacher at Cedar Ridge Academy, has agreed to put some work in along with Cedar Ridge Academy student Nisty before the Christmas Holiday. Nisty’s work has been seen and approved.

The owner’s expressed the desire to always feature the work of local students along with adult artists. As Nisty did her art studies with Jim, it is a great fit.

Technorati Tags: Cedar Ridge Academy,therapy,art,Mike Caudle,boarding school,roots cafe

Fall Cleanup

2010-11-15T13:06:00.002-07:00

The girls put a lot of hard work into the garden this year as well the animals. These are various pictures from them as they worked with the animals and garden. They love to modify the pictures too.

Good job girls. And good job to all the staff that worked with them and taught them how to take care of all this.

Technorati Tags: Cedar Ridge Academy,Boarding School,girls home,therapy,animals,animals therapy,emotional growth

The Cedar Spectrum

2010-11-03T10:19:00.004-06:00

Hello Cedar Ridge Academy Fans,
We have resurrected The Cedar Spectrum, our Cedar Ridge Academy Boarding School newsletter. You can download a full PDF version from the boarding school site, http://www.cedarridgeacademy.net/. Let us know what you think in the comments!
Christine

Family Workshop Experiential

2010-10-29T11:41:00.002-06:00

We had a fantastic time with our families during this experiential. I wish I had more space to put all the pictures up. This mine field experiential does such a good job building communication and relationships. Our families did a great job!!

I appreciate

2010-09-22T14:34:00.006-06:00

I’m driven to share.

My “awareness” card this month is, “When I focus on positive energy, I am aware that I attract more of it.”

So….I just returned from lunch in town and as I was walking from my house to the main office I noticed some things.

The weather. It just cooled off as a storm of clouds has rolled in. A few sprinkles have managed to hit my arms and head. The breeze is great and I love the smell of rain.

As I continued to be in the moment with the weather I noticed one of our therapists walking down another road of ours past one of our ponds. He had a student with him and they were most likely having a therapy session. The canter of their pace showed they were in some deep conversation. I was deeply touched to see this therapist put his hand on the shoulder of the student reassuring the strength of their relationship and the confidence he had in the student.

I began to reflect on the serenity of the moment for them, and for myself seeing them in this moment. It was uplifting. I appreciate them.

I then noticed another therapist having a session with a student over by one of our animal pens. They were feeding the horse and llamas by one of our girl’s homes. Working with animals is such a positive tool in relationships. The body language resembled more of a difficult conversation than the other session. It looked as though the student was struggling to let go of something in his life. That can be so hard.

I appreciate the opportunity to be a part—even from a distance, of that moment. Watching others change helps me stay humble about the need for self-awareness and reflection of my life.

Last but not least, as I pressed on towards the main building I had to pause as our seven turkeys walked right in front of me. I’m still smiling. How can I not smile? Have you seen a group of turkeys taking a stroll lately? Perhaps I need to put a “Turkey Crossing” sign…

I appreciate those turkeys being a part of my life and for them feeling comfortable and secure on our campus. There is no other place or time I would rather be than right here and now.

Oh…there go the turkeys wandering past my office window. Yeah, I’m still smiling…

Thank you.

2010-09-08T11:30:00.003-06:00

When we listen with the intent to understand others, rather than with the intent to reply, we begin true communication and relationship building. Opportunities to then speak openly and to be understood come much more

naturally and easily.

~Stephen Covey

Fairytale

2010-09-03T16:10:00.004-06:00

Here is an illustrated fairytale by one of the English students. It's a good example of the fun the students have with 'publishing.
Christine

English 12 Fairytale

2010-09-03T16:06:00.003-06:00

Here is a story written by one of the twelfth graders as a fairytale. It's a good example of the 'publishing' stage of the writing process--turning the story into an illustrated book.

More from Camp Shakespeare

2010-08-15T13:25:00.005-06:00

More from Camp Shakespeare

2010-08-15T13:16:00.003-06:00

More from Camp Shakespeare

2010-08-15T13:16:00.002-06:00

Camp Shakespeare 2010

2010-08-08T13:49:00.005-06:00

We arrived safely home from this year's trip to Camp Shakespeare. Here are some highlight pics:

Camp Shakespeare 2010

2010-08-08T13:49:00.004-06:00

Fathers Day

2010-06-21T10:09:00.003-06:00

Hello all you Fathers, Grandfathers, etc. I'm a day late getting these posted but here are the wishes from some of our students here. Click on the play button of each video and get your Fathers Day wish.
Sean

Camp Shakespeare

2010-05-24T20:02:00.004-06:00

It is time to enroll in this year's Camp Shakespeare. Last year the students said they had an invaluable experience and would go again in a heartbeat. Each student can earn a semester credit of English, and juniors and seniors can earn three elective college credits through concurrent enrollment.

We need to know by this week if you would like to reserve one of only eight available spaces for your student. Please check it out at http://www.bard.org/ and RSVP at staff@cedaridge.net. You will also receive an email with more detail. The camp is August 1-6, 2010.

Vivat! Christine

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-09T18:58:00.004-06:00

Happy Mothers Day to all of you mom's out there. Here are some vidoes we want to dedicate to you! Have a great day!!! Heck, have a great week--you've earned it.
Sean

Experiential with Shane

2010-04-21T13:56:00.007-06:00

On Monday in Shane’s group we did an experiential where we had to build a structure out of marshmallows and dry spaghetti. The goal was to try and make the tallest standing structure that would stay up for 30 seconds with out any support. I learned that the buildings that weren’t built with a strong structure were the ones that didn’t stand. I related this to my program because if you don’t start with a good sturdy base when you get higher up in the levels you wont be as successful and most likely have to start over. I also related this to home because here at Cedar Ridge you’re building a strong foundation for when you go home. If you don’t make use of your time here at Cedar Ridge when you go home you will struggle because you never took the time here to prepare for home.

There was also a lot of teamwork involved in this activity. You had to be able to communicate effectively with your teammates and get your ideas across with out getting into arguments. Some people on our team tried to let the other people do the work while others tried to take a leadership role. I think the most effective team though was a team that people worked as partners and equally shared there ideas and every one listened to every one and didn’t think that their idea was the only way to succeed.

-G.C.

Marshmallow Conundrum

Ex·pe·ri·en·tial means pertaining to or derived from experience. Let’s just say that in this group we get a lot of experience in things we wouldn’t even imagine doing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come into this group finding out what we were doing and saying to myself “whoa this is out there,” then during it getting so mad that I can’t do it or laughing so hard I might just start to cry. This last time we did something that I couldn’t believe. We took Spaghetti noodles and marshmallows and had to build the TALLEST structure and the team that won would get to eat the marshmallows. I wanted to win badly, these were the big fat marshmallows that you’d make smore’s out of, and I mean I thought it was going to be easy. I get teamed up with G.C. and A.G., and we start to build. It falls over—trigger number one; we start again, get higher this time and bam it falls—trigger number two. We decide after that, that our structure isn’t working. So we start all over again, this time getting a lot higher. Then G.C. decides that we need to break the noodles in half and have the mini marshmallows hold and support, even though A.G. and I are unsure, we do it anyways. We get to the tallest we’ve gotten so far, yet we also have a time limit. We look over at the other group’s towers and realize that we have the SHORTEST out of them all, and we have ten minutes to get it like seven inches taller. We start to rush and half of it falls to the ground—trigger number three. A.G. decides that it would be a great idea to kick the rest of it down, making it so that we don’t even have a structure built—trigger number four. At this point I’m just shaking my head in anger and trying to come up with someway to at least have some sort of thing. So much for those marshmallows! I get down on the ground while trying to fix the mess of marshmallows and spaghetti. We get it up but it looks terrible. I then just decide to have fun and do what ever I need to do. Also to mention that when we were done building our towers and the time stops the structures have to stand for thirty seconds. The time is done and we are all waiting in anticipation of who is going to win. We started with I.M.’s group, theirs falls. Second is W.L.’s group, theirs falls. Third group is S.G.’s and it stays. So does ours. So all in all we didn’t lose but we certainly didn’t win. We sat in the circle and were able to bring the situation into our lives and know that we need a big foundation to create good structure and that sometimes things may get hard but you have to keep building higher and higher and to try new things.

A.B.

Cedar Ridge Academy Family Blog

2010-04-13T14:01:00.001-06:00

For those of you interested I would really l ike to add to our family blog. This blog was intended for parents who wanted to show pictures they have taken while on campus or off campus during workshops or passes. It is not required, but I like the idea of showing the good family times that come from spending time together.

It can create positivity for everyone involved.

Thanks in advance.

Las Vegas Ozawa Cup

2010-04-05T20:15:00.002-06:00

Christine has updated the Karate Blog with the results from the Las Vegas Ozawa Cup karate tournament. Everyone competed well and had a good time. They left last week on Thursday and returned today (Monday). Enjoy.

Sean

Testimonials

2010-02-15T13:32:00.002-07:00

I hope everyone's holiday is going well.
I recieved a link from Lon Woodbury's website, Struggling Teens, and he is asking for testimonials from current and alumni families from programs across the Nation.
He wants this to be a way for parents who are making decisions about their teen to have real testimonies from families about the school they are looking at. As many of you know, it can be difficult to navigate through all the programs to find one that fits your teen--and is good. This would be a great tool to help them.
Here is the link below. If you are comfortable putting your name out there, we think this can really help.
Thanks for taking the time to give your opinion. It matters.

Testimonials about private parent-choice resources are on the strugglingteens.com web site at http://bit.ly/bxCP0k
Letters To The Editor
This section is for parents and ex-students to describe their personal experience with a residential school or program as a help to parents new to considering a placement.
For a letter to be accepted, it must include the writer’s full real name, location and a way for direct contact, either a phone number or valid e- mail address, or both. It also must be about a specific program rather than a collection of programs.
We are open to publishing both positive and negative experiences, so long as the writer focuses on what they personally know (as opposed to global assumption), are a legal adult or vouched for by a parent or legal guardian, and are willing to be identified.
We will leave letters online until we receive a request from the writer to remove it.
All letters herein (marked or not) are Copyright © Woodbury Reports, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (They may not be reproduced without written approval of the publisher.)
We hope this feature will prove to be valuable for all. –Lon Woodbury, IECA, CEP.

2010-02-11T12:38:00.002-07:00

I was going through some of the various pictures we had laying inside the computer and thought that people should really see some of the awesome, funny, and just quirkey stuff that the students put together while they are here.

This is from the girls :).
A halloween picture from last year.

Black Belt cookie.

Just an awesome picture.

Twitter

2010-01-12T15:16:00.003-07:00

Hey everyone. In an attempt to keep people more informed about the daily interactions at Cedar Ridge I have made public a Twitter account that I had used to keep in touch with Alumni.
https://twitter.com/CRAcademy
I will "tweet" about simple things I see in the day with different students, staff, funny happenings, and also give updates on some of the sporting teams and events at CRA. I will also post links to articles that I or other staff feel would be useful in educating families about treatment trends, therapy books--useful tools in becoming more connected with your family.
Any public information about students here will be done without full names due to confidentiality. There are no pictures on Twitter either.
If you have any questions about this you can email me at sean@cedaridge.net.

Daniel's Graduation

2010-01-07T15:59:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone. Here are some pictures sent back to us from Daniel's parents from his graduation. Yeah!!!!! Good job Daniel. The last report I had was that he is still settling in and doing pretty well. Keep it up Daniel.

Check the Karate Bog

2009-10-23T20:42:00.012-06:00

Everyone make sure to check the karate blog. You will find the link on this page or go to www.cedarridgeacademykarate.blogspot.com. We have 13 students from our Cedar Ridge Academy dojo who are competing in Phoenix, Arizona and are having a blast just getting there. Most of the posts will be done by students so check in to see what they think about this annual trip.

Thank you and have a great day,

Sean

"Future so BRIGHT"

2009-09-24T12:22:00.007-06:00

I was going through a lot of the pictures the students have been taking and saw a trend with sunglasses. And you know we had to tag it with the 80's hit song, "My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades." So here you go with some "oh so bright futures", and attitudes. :)

These are from some fireworks the students went to.

South Carolina girl. You can't see, but she's very focused on an intense coed Monopoly game.

He's hiking to the petroglyphs.

Girls home fun

This is one of our staff who works in the girls home. Always ready to have fun.

Girls Softball is done for the season

2009-08-21T13:17:00.005-06:00

Sorry to Mary and all the other girls who will miss softball, but it's time to get prepared for volleyball. Here are a bunch of photos from different parts of the season. It was a lot of fun and we're looking forward to next season.

California Dancing Queen playing shortstop.

This girl swore she would never be able to do this. But alas, she was able :)

She didn't miss all of those balls. But some...

She figured she could not hit the ball either. But she did...

These two opted to play the shift on the left side of the infield. I'm pretty confident there was more talking than anything else.

All the really cool girls wear cool socks, and socks are critical game time wear. And school wear. And evening wear. And sleep wear....

DA Pitcher.

DA Batter.

I don't think she believed I really was going to take this picture, or post it. She maaaayyy be upset.

Franchise Player Extraooooordinnnnnnaaaaire.

She's playing catch with.......

.....this girl :)

Mentoring at its finest. I remember when this Mentor was being taught by her mentor. LIFE.

I had a lot of fun with the girls. With pre-season volleyball training coming into full swing, Christine will have her hands full. The girls will be practicing on Tuesday and Thursday from 2-3. This will count for their P.E. class on these days. We'll try to get some pictures of that in the next few weeks.

BTW- The boys will be hanging up their softball gloves and starting their pre-season basketball training in a couple weeks. Many of them are ready and excited to start the drills. We had a solid team last year and figure for a solid team this year.

Thanks for following along.

Sean

Lauren Graduates!!

2009-06-24T14:50:00.003-06:00

Well everyone, she did it. What an accomplishment too. Not only did Lauren graduate--she graduated a full year eary.

CONGRATULATIONS LAUREN!!! WE LOVE YOU AND ARE PROUD OF YOU.

GOOD LUCK AND GREAT JOB. REMEMBER YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH AND GOOD ENOUGH TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO.

Here is Pam reading out of the Dr. Seuss book "Oh the places you will go". It's a tradition to award this book to students as part of their graduation process. Pam picks a few specific pages she feels resemble the graduating student, and reads them at the graduation.

Words of advice from some of Lauren's closest friends; Demi and Mary.

What a group of girls.

Hugs are standard operating procedure.

One more hug for the road from Leslie. This is in the cafeteria after the graduation.

All the girls get to "help" eat Lauren's graduation cake.

Rain is the best sprinkler

2009-06-22T16:57:00.005-06:00

Hello to all our families. Thank you for your continued support of our blog. These are a few of the pictures of our campus after almost three weeks of rain. It is amazing how much rain we have had this year. It is blessing us with some great natural BEAUTY.

Beautiful Yellow

Some pictures of one of our ponds.

Desert Purple

Utah Open karate trip

2009-06-09T12:49:00.008-06:00

I thought this picture was another great one for summarizing the friendships the students form together.
This group of students went to Salt Lake City for the Utah Open karate tournament. Based on the picture I think we can all tell they had a good time. Except for maybe Davis because his head got cut off on this picture. Going to have to give some better lessons on photography to the general passerby...
Christine is supposed to be putting more pictures on the Karate blog from this tourney and from some of the last Kyu exams. It may take awhile. Until then though you can look at all of her student photos on chaggerty.zenfolio.com. She has been using it as a storage/photo album. You can download any picture from here. You can also order prints from it as well.

CRA is actually staying home this weekend from any trips. We've been doing a lot of traveling the last few weeks and the break will be nice. Next weekend is a Softball tourney in Moab, Utah and Christine is thinking about planning another karate trip to SLC for this weekend too.

Wait a minute, I forgot about the Trails Trip this weekend with Chad and Renae. Their going to the Moonshine Arch Trail that is north of Vernal, Utah. Here is a link to some pictures and info. http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal/recreation_/moon_shine_arch.html

Happy trails...

Thank you

2009-05-21T16:16:00.003-06:00

I wanted to take a minute and say thank you to everyone that has been following our blog. The students are having some good times knowing their parents are seeing what they have been doing.

We have been adding more blogs and more to each blog so make sure you check them all out when you get a chance. Bocce Ball Therapy and Llama Therapy?? If you don't know what that is then you better check the activities blog. Our therapists have been getting out of the office quite a bit with the beautiful weather we've been having.

FYI-The Karate blog will be updated shortly with information and pictures from the Utah Open Karate Tournament.

Thanks again and I will post more later,
Sean

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-10T17:26:00.006-06:00

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. What a day. What a calling in life. Mother's.

This is my mother. Nadine. Yes sir, she brought me into this world and she can take me out. Ten and a half pounds right off the bat with shoulders that were ready to play football. Thank you, Mother.

Through everything she has been there for me. Shielding, caring, disciplining, hugging, teaching, letting me get in trouble...and let's not forget --she always allowed me the "opportunity" to work it out. One time when I was about 7 or 8, I had the idea to supply some matches to my friends for who knows what. I'm sure it was a bad idea. I carefully snuck into the kitchen to reach for them. I made sure her back was to me while I attempted to grab the book. Without seeing me, or hearing me, she asked, "How's things going Sean...?" I was busted. I learned then that Mothers have special DNA that should not be dabbled with. She intervened and protected me from making a bad choice, and grounded me from my friends. I was mad at her. It wasn't fair. She was just picking on me and would never do this to my brothers, and on and on...Thank you Mother for loving me enough to act with integrity when I was unwilling to. Thank you, Mother.

As mothers have done their best to raise their children in an honest and loving way, we children make choices that go against the natural caring and safe environment that mothers provide. Many mothers are at their end as they look outside of the family for help with their wayward child. It's a hard time and one that mothers do not deserve, but this is their child and they know the good that is in them. So as a child comes to Cedar Ridge, mothers are at the end and recognize this to be the only way to gain control again and provide that safe environment that the mothers DNA knows to be needed. Thank you mothers.

But then the next step happens. Unfamiliar and new, the mother tries to find new ways to show love and affection. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes we children won't allow our mothers to give us that affection. I'm grateful for the patience of all the mothers, mine included, who have allowed us children to run our course, find ourselves, and then return that love back to them. Thank you mothers.

So, if willing, I would like to hear stories from our mothers, (or fathers who have had to play that role), about your road, the sometimes dark road where you knew you had to intervene, and the bright road that hopefully you are now currently on. Thank you mothers.

Oh, and let's remember,

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.

Welcome to Cedar Ridge Academy

2009-04-27T13:07:00.005-06:00

Man, it took forever to decide which picture to use as the first picture of our blog. We have 13 years worth to go through and so many different activities to show. How do you encapsulate the Cedar Ridge experience with just one picture? I chose this one for its serenity. This is from a trails trip in 2008 in a small pocket of the desert landscape that surrounds us. It is one of our girls being reflective about things.
Reflection. It is something that we all do. Students, parents, staff... I love it when I talk with students and they tell me about their latest revelation in life or therapy. They have so much spark in their eye and life in their voice as they tell their latest story to me. (One of the main reasons I enjoy this career is for these moments) And many times their stories stem from a quiet place and time, after struggling with a critical issue.
My plan for this blog is to bring these times to the attention of the reader--Current, past, and future parents/students as well as others that may pass by and find comfort in the reflective moment. I welcome thoughts and comments from anyone that would like to add.
It is by standing close and lifting together that we are able to be successful in life.
Sean