SEELEY LAKE - In Missoula County, feelings of hopelessness, drug use and suicide rates continue to rise among its middle and high school students. So how can this wave of alarming trends be reversed? Brightways Learning, a Missoula-based educational nonprofit organization, and Seeley Lake Elementary School District (SLE) announced that they will be hosting two youth development events in June that will make a positive difference in the lives of Montana youth, families, schools and communities.
Kaleidoscope Academy, a two-day youth development training event for adults who care about and support youth, will be held June 13-14 at the Missoula Children’s Theatre. Participants will learn about the power of the full-spectrum approach to Integrative Youth Development™, based on the world’s best social-emotional research and will practice measurable methods of connecting with youth to help them build resilience and avoid risk-taking behaviors. They will learn to recognize, appreciate and amplify what is right and strong about a youth’s individual ecology, thereby assuring the youth’s chance to succeed and flourish.
“Montanans used to assume that their teens would ‘make it’ through adolescence into adulthood without too much hurt or harm,” says Derek Peterson, Academy facilitator and international child/youth advocate. “Sure, some kids failed but they were ‘other people’s children.’ Our world has changed. Teens are more disconnected from adults and their community than ever before. Fortunately, we have the solution to help improve their lives and make the world a better place.”
Then on June 15-18, students from Seeley Lake and other rural schools nearby will gather at SLE to participate in Phlight Club, an intensive and interactive three-day youth leadership and empowerment experience, funded in part by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Students will learn lifelong resilience-building strategies and how to identify and measure their webs of support – comprised of caring adults. They will practice working together to solve problems using their heads, hands and hearts while keeping each other safe, focused, respected and involved.
“We are very excited to host Phlight Club for our area students,” said Chris Stout, Superintendent of SLE. “Research shows that the tighter the web teens have, the more likely they will succeed in school, help others and avoid alcohol and drugs. Phlight Club will concentrate on building and sustaining a web for all participating students, both inside and outside of the classroom. We know this approach makes sense and works and that the skills the students will learn will help them even after they leave our school - supporting them through high school and beyond.”
Adults interested in attending the Kaleidoscope Academy can learn more and register at StudentSupportCard.com. Teens, students and young adults are also welcome to attend. OPI Renewal Units are available for educators and Montana Department of Labor and Industry credits are available for professional counselors and social workers.
The Phlight Club event is targeting the rural communities of Seeley Lake, Swan Valley, Potomac, Clinton and Lolo. Students in sixth-eighth grade, school staff and other adults from those communities are invited to participate.
Registration ends June 3. Contact SLE 677-2265 for more information or to sign up.
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