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(ARA) - Harnesses tightened. Safety helmets secured. Let the challenge begin! At first glance, it looks pretty simple. You and your kids are standing inside a building lined with rock climbing walls. Above your head you see cables, ropes, platforms and poles, weaving a maze of exciting yet unpredictable trials. You think to yourself, “This looks pretty tough, but I think we’re up to the challenge. Okay kids, let’s get started!”
But at Montcalm Schools, a family adventure education experience is anything but average. You know your family will likely face some challenges. But what you don’t realize is that your family is about to have an experience that could change your lives.
Like many of the kids who attend, Matt Farley came to Montcalm Schools with some significant relationship and behavioral issues in his life. Diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, and struggling with emotional obstacles, Matt attended a number of other schools before Montcalm Schools. “My brother had a hard time before he came here,” says his sister, Kelley. “He was afraid to try new things and his self esteem was low, so he had a hard time with a lot of things, including school. Now he’s on the honor roll and he is doing so well.”
“That is exactly what we see time and time again with our kids,” says Norm Ostrum, an admissions director for Montcalm Schools. “They find success here because we use a true strength-based approach. We have a 95 percent success rate because our students leave here with a full toolbox of coping skills that they didn’t have before they came here. They’re able to talk about their problems, whereas before, they would act out because they knew no other way to express their frustrations.”
To look at Matt today, it’s clear he has left his self-esteem challenges behind. He’s teaching his family how to complete a ropes course safely. A member of the adventure education club at Montcalm Schools, he’s the expert, and his family will learn from him how to strap on their harnesses, secure their helmets and transfer lines that will keep them safe. You can see his confidence leap forward.
The challenge presented to the family: Complete a series of adventure activities high above the ground. Between each activity answer a question about yourself and your family. When you’ve reached for six of the questions, and your answers, you’ve completed the course, and you and your family can descend.
In no time at all, Matt, his mother Nancy, and his twin sisters Kelley and Laura, are working their way through the obstacle course, each in their own way, but all working together. Kelley struggles at first to trust the ropes. Laura, who displays a fearless ‘Wonder Woman’ ease, shouts out, “You want to do this, Kelley. I know you do.” In time, Kelley completes several challenges and beams a smile of pure elation. On the other side of the gym, Nancy, Matt’s mom, looks over at her son, who is crossing a particularly difficult obstacle. Their eyes meet and she mouths, “Matt, I’m so proud of you.” He smiles back at her. They start to reconnect.
As they work their way through the course, Matt and his family experience a number of emotions. There are moments of frustration, but they coach one another through their anxieties. There are moments of fear, but once the risk is taken, the reward of self-accomplishment emerges. “I love this feeling. When you complete a task that you didn’t think you can do, it feels really good,” Matt says. “When you just trust, it’s a whole lot easier, and, it feels awesome.”
Once the family completes the challenges set out for them, they descend from the ropes course, take off their gear, and sit down. But there’s still one more challenge ahead.
“I want you to think about your experience, what you achieved as a family and what your answers were to the questions asked,” says one of the adventure education treatment staff. “What did this experience mean for you?”
“I learned that to develop trust in others, you have to take a risk,” Matt said.
“In order to cross that tiny bridge in the air, I had to step out of my comfort zone,” Kelley said. “There’s this invisible zone of what we feel safe doing, and I had to step out of it. It was really, really hard, but I am glad that I did.”
“I had to trust my family and myself,” adds Nancy. “I was so paralyzed up there that I had to say, ‘Nancy, you can do this. Just talk yourself through it. I learned from this that I need to have a can-do attitude and overcome the fear of failure that sometimes takes over.”
Before long the afternoon is winding down, and the activity has come to an end, so the family sets out for a weekend of fun together. They’ve started this time together with an exercise in family, teamwork and trust. And like Matt, his sisters and his mom have started tapping into their strengths and their talents; learning that their potential is endless, not just as individuals, but as a family.
Montcalm Schools are not-for-profit, private-referral treatment programs built on the proven tenets of Starr Commonwealth, one of the oldest, most respected child organizations in the country. For more information, visit their Web site at www.montcalmschool.org or call (866) 244-4321 for Montcalm School for Boys or (866) 289-9201 for Montcalm School for Girls.
Courtesy of ARA Content
