The full-spectrum philosophy taught at Phlight Club is intended to shift thoughts from black and white and good to bad, to looking at seven factors, represented by the colors of the rainbow, that build a web of support connecting youth and adults.
Phlight Club facilitator Derek Peterson explaining that effective communication is back and forth. He used the example of rock climbing. "Belay On" is said by the youth asking their adult anchor before they take a risk. When they hear "On Belay" it means that the anchor is ready to support them. "Climbing" tells the trusted adult that they are moving forward with the activity. "Climb On" reassures the youth that the adult knows they are taking a risk and they are ready to catch them in the web should they fall. Relating to everyday life, Peterson talked about taking the risk of driving. If youth just tell the adults in their life that they are driving the strings (insurance, working vehicle, drivers education) may not be in place to catch them if they fail. Communicating with them before actually driving ensures the web of support is in place.
Seeley Lake resident Suzie Teafoe leads her partner during an exercise in communication used to exemplify Caring for the Carers during the last day. First the adults were led by the students, followed by the adult anchors leading the students. Adults expressed that had they done this activity the first day they would not have trusted the youth to keep them safe. The youth and adults learned different ways to effectively communicate to get from start to finish.
SEELEY LAKE - Students, teachers and community members from Lolo, Potomac, Seeley Lake and the Swan Valley gathered at Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) school for Phlight Club June 15-17. Phlight Club used the seven colors of the rainbow to offer a full spectrum approach to help junior high youth and adults build webs of support by strengthening relationships, building trust and learning how to better communicate.
SLE's Behavior Support Coordinator Angela Harris worked with SLE Superintendent Chris Stout to bring Phlight Club to the area. The 21st Century Grant, Healthy Relationships and The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation funded Phlight Club.
"I really wanted to help the community connect with our youth," said Harris. "It's the community resiliency model. Go beyond the school and involve other adults that the kids are connected with."
Brightways Learning, a non-profit out of Missoula, Mont., International Child/Youth Advocate Associate Derek Peterson led 47 youth and adults through three days of activities, exercises and training to help them see, measure and grow their web of support. He has been working with youth for more than 30 years.
Peterson explained that teens and the world are often seen as black and white, good and bad.
"A lot of times in our culture, when a kid is having trouble, we blame the kid instead of the world around the kid," said Peterson. "What we are doing is teaching the kids and the adults to expect a web of support in their lives."
The philosophy of Phlight Club is that there are seven factors, represented by colors of the rainbow, that allow students to feel safe and successful. Not one factor is more important that another.
The Rule of 5 (red) includes five caring adults called anchors in youths' lives. The anchors create a foundation of support and encouragement and throws strings that are Tangible (orange), measurable things such as food, home, nutrition, and Intangible Strings (yellow) that are not measurable such as compassion, courage, character and integrity. This creates a web of support for youth.
Green represents growing the balloon. The balloon is a youth's unique personality, abilities and talents. The balloon grows and bounces on top of the web of support created by the anchors.
Blue represents Scissor Cuts in the web. These are things that the youth and the adults do that interfere with their connections. This cuts at the web and can leave holes in the web, allowing the balloon to fall through.
Indigo represents Caring for the Carers and the need for youth to take care of and support their anchors. The final color Violet addresses social norms that are formed by accepting attitudes and behaviors of members of the community. These can either destroy or thicken someone's web of support.
"Seeley Lake is really lucky because they have some really connected adults," said Amy McDonald, Brightways Student Support Supervisor. "These adults are strength-based positive influences in these students' lives and work in teams."
SLE Outside Manager and participant in Phlight Club Chris Mauldin thinks that Plight Club created a language for understanding how youth connect to their peers and adults.
Mauldin sees a lot of individualism. He feels Phlight Club has shown participants that strength comes from those in the web of support. "You can do things by yourself but you will only be as big as yourself. Getting the strength from your connections helps you grow even further," said Mauldin quoting what Peterson said the first day.
Freshman Addie Anderson from the Swan Valley learned that relying on the strength of others will help her be stronger and get more accomplished than she could have on her own.
Eighth-grader Jordan Johnson learned how to trust people and there are people out there that she can trust. This includes developing relationships with adults and finding friends that are true, life-long friends.
Eighth-grader Emily Howard struggled with trusting her peers and the adults in the beginning. "I learned that even if I don't trust them, that doesn't mean that they don't trust me and that they aren't willing to make an effort so we can become closer."
Eighth-grader Taylor Dillree learned that the stronger her web of support, the more risks she can take but she needs to spend the time building a strong web to be able to take those risks.
Recent Seeley-Swan High School graduate Tanner Beall chose to be an adult leader because he is going into psychology and he enjoys helping out. While he had a basic understanding of the concepts prior to working with the youth, he found it interesting how the foundation in the anchors and structure of the web creates resiliency.
"I thought it was really inspiring to know that everyone needs that web, no matter who you are, an adult or not," said Beall. "Your friends can't be in your web unless they are an adult because they don't have that experience and initial ability to actually help."
"Getting connected and learning to communicate with each other, supporting each other and encouraging each other and not just looking at everything that is bad but calling out everything that is good, that's how we change the world," said adult volunteer Rachel Homen. "If we want to connect [adults] have to bother to ask how can I be better for you? And when you ask that question you have to be willing to do what [youth] ask, within reason."
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