The Class of 2014 revisited! Last spring Youth Frontiers came to Cook County to conduct a “Wisdom Retreat.” The retreat offers a day of reflection for graduating seniors. But before they got to the quiet, thoughtful moments, there were wild and crazy activities. This rope game provided a lasting silly memory while getting the seniors to work together.
Can one day make a difference in someone’s life? Joe Cavanaugh, founder of Youth Frontiers, believes it can. So do Dick and Joyce McFarland, who have sponsored the Youth Frontiers program at School District 166 for three years. Superintendent Beth Schwarz and Principal Gwen Carman also believe the program makes a difference in the school’s culture. But most importantly, the students who take part in a Youth Frontiers retreat feel it makes a difference.
The goal of Youth Frontiers is to inspire good character in students by facilitating retreats on character values such as moral courage, kindness and respect. During the last school year, the nationally recognized nonprofit held 766 retreats for 118,000 students and educators.
Since its beginnings in 1987, Youth Frontiers has impacted more than 1.4 million students. A far cry from the seven workshops held in 1997 after Joe Cavanaugh was approached by a student who was being bullied and asked for help.
In the daylong retreat there are many quieter moments. The pace slows, the music is calmer and students are asked to take time to reflect on their lives together in school. In small groups or in pairs, students are led through exercises that give them the opportunity to mend or strengthen relationships and bring healthy closure to their high school years.
Youth Frontiers has some great brochures with photos of excited students taking part in workshops and testimonials from students and teachers. At a luncheon at Lutsen Resort in September, videos were shared of workshops in session and of discussions with students and teachers in the days, weeks and months that followed.
However, that doesn’t have the impact of seeing a workshop in progress, which this reporter had the opportunity to do last spring as the Class of 2014 was finishing its final year at Cook County High School.
Invited to take part in a “Wisdom Retreat,” seniors trickled into the varsity gym, unsure whether they wanted to be there. It didn’t take long for the energetic and engaging facilitators to get most of the students taking part. Loud music, entertaining stories and silly contests were intermixed with moments of quiet reflection, which ultimately got even the most stubborn non-participants off the bleachers. By the end of the retreat, the goal—to offer a reflective day for seniors to gain healthy closure on their high school years together, finishing the year with respect and care—was fulfilled.
It is something Youth Frontiers founder Cavanaugh—and the people who work with him—have seen time and time again. And it is something that ISD 166 would like to expand in the local school.
The luncheon at Lutsen Resort introduced a number of community leaders to Youth Frontiers and the goal to offer four retreats at ISD 166. First there is the “Kindness Retreat,” offered to children in grade 4 or 5. The elementary retreat gives students tools to develop empathy, promote kindness and prevent bullying.
It is hoped a second retreat could be offered in middle school for 7th or 8th-graders. The “Courage Retreat” is a day to inspire students to follow their hearts instead of the crowd; to use moral courage and to make responsible decisions despite their fears.
The school would also like to offer a “Respect Retreat” for 9th, 10th or 11th grades, offering a day for students to experience what school would be like if everyone is respected—and to challenge them to respect themselves and others.
Finally, ISD 166 and the McFarlands would like to see students finish their high school career with a Wisdom Retreat like the one offered the Class of 2014.
At the luncheon, Dick McFarland encouraged the school to find funding to continue the retreats. He and Joyce started coming to Cook County 40 years ago, to their cabin at Sugarbeach in Tofte. They love the area and just want to see the kids who live here have the same opportunities to participate in Youth Frontiers as students in metro areas.
“It’s a powerful, powerful, program,” Dick McFarland told the luncheon attendees.
Anyone who would like to learn more about Youth Frontiers, or would like to learn how to help bring the retreats to the local schools can learn more at www.youthfrontiers.org.
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