Willowcreek Gets New Family Teachers

Alpine is sad to say goodbye to some very talented and exceptional

Family Teachers. Mike and Monique Otufangavalu left Alpine this

past month to pursue new and exciting positions with our parent

company Utah Youth Village. Mike will be a part of the incredibly

successful Families First program, bringing support and skills to needy

children and families. Monique will be teaching at Youth Village

Academy, the Village’s alternative school for junior and high school

students.

Over the course of their career at Alpine they have made a

tremendous impact on hundreds of lives. They are known for their

nurturing environment and clear boundaries with youth. They have been a staple on the Alpine campus and will be

truly missed. We wish them luck on their new adventure!

Replacing the O’s was no small task, and we are very excited to

re-introduce Rob and Kelly Mulari to Alpine. Rob and Kelly

became Family Teachers several years ago for Alpine, where

they developed a solid and successful program in their home.

After several years of great service they moved into other

positions with Utah Youth Village supervising group homes and

foster homes. After being away for a year they realized they

couldn’t get Alpine out of their system and decided to come

back. They have spent their lives working with children and

youth and come with a wealth of expertise and insight.

Rob has a background in counseling and youth ministries, while

Kelly has a Masters in Elementary Education. They are joined by

their two children Vyvyan (13) and Quinton (7). We are happy to benefit from their return and hope you all have a

chance to meet them next time you are on campus.

Parent Newsletter

September 2013

Increasing Your Child’s Insight Colleen Croff, LCSW, Therapist

I think one of the most important things a person can have in their life is

insight…insight about themselves, others and the world around them. A

definition from the bing dictionary is as follows:

� perceptiveness: the ability to see clearly and intuitively into the

nature of a

complex person, situation, or subject

� clear perception: a clear perception of something

� self-awareness: the ability of somebody to understand and find

solutions to his or her personal problems

If you don’t have clarity you cannot

make the best decisions possible

for yourself. Lack of awareness and

insight is like driving with a dirty

windshield…how can you tell

where you are going and what the

best route is? How can you drive in

a safe way? You can’t. You guess

and try to wing it and therefore

deprive yourself of safety, ease,

comfort, direction, awareness, skill

acquisition, and the ability to be

present.

Often it is not that we are not insightful or can’t develop these skills to have

this in our lives…often it is that we are scared to be insightful. Being insightful

means being more aware, vulnerable, accountable, and connected with

others. It means facing things that are difficult in ourselves and other people,

as well as facing things we may have tried to lock away for a long time. Doing

this though doesn’t allow us to live our lives fully and have choice. We

imprison ourselves when we block ourselves from awareness.

So the first step is

recognizing that we are

limiting our potential to be

better than we are today.

That doesn’t mean we are

bad or inadequate…it just

means we can always be

better and more in tune to

ourselves and the world.

When we have awareness

we can recognize the true

issue and problem solve

effectively on how to help

ourselves and others. One

question to help develop

awareness is: what do I love

about this problem. We

Welcome New Students Welcome New Students Welcome New Students Welcome New Students

and Families!and Families!and Families!and Families!

Oak Ridge: Kristen Kristen Kristen Kristen and her parents Larry and Dana from Oklahoma TheaTheaTheaThea and her parents Nicholas and Christiana from Dubai

Cottonwood Grove:

NataliaNataliaNataliaNatalia and her parents Steven and Tatiana from California.

Focus OnFocus OnFocus OnFocus On………… Teaching Self RelianceTeaching Self RelianceTeaching Self RelianceTeaching Self Reliance

Parents often experience guilt and conflict

when their child, of any age, is

experiencing a problem. Large and small

problems create the need to rescue and

save the child from discomfort, frustration,

or disappointment. When parents learn to

teach their children problem solving skills,

safe risk-taking, and dealing with failure

their children are better prepared to

respond to life’s inevitable ups and downs

and to maintain a healthy outlook.

You can teach your child to problem solve

by giving them information about their

options, discussing potential consequences

in a nonjudgmental way, letting them

make the ultimate decision, and allowing

them to fully experience the consequences

both positive and negative.

Risk-taking inherently means discomfort,

anxiety, pain, embarrassment, or failure.

These feelings are a reality and it is best

that children experience them in a safe

learning environment under your care,

than being ill prepared for the outside

world. For example: allowing your

daughter to try out for a musical, when you

know the chances are unlikely for her to be

successful. Continue to encourage her

and teach her how to grow, bounce back,

and be confident in trying again.

Young women in particular struggle with

the need for acceptance and connection,

so dealing with failure is particularly hard

on them. It is important that they feel

unconditional love at home, regardless of

their failures. Help your daughter

distinguish between feelings and facts.

Normalize failure by sharing your own

experiences or those of others. Celebrate

the “baby steps” that they are making

toward being successful. Always be the

cheerleader, even if you aren’t very

enthusiastic about the venture.

Self reliance is always a work in progress,

don’t give up.

wouldn’t do/have something if we didn’t get something out of it. Some other questions to help develop insight include:

why am I getting so reactive/defensive about this right now…what does this mean about me, what am I feeling and why, Is

there a pattern here and if so what is the cycle/pattern and what is the purpose of this pattern.

The heart of it all is asking “why” and being open to the answer. It usually comes down to beliefs about ourselves and

our abilities, as well as patterns we have learned that aren’t beneficial for us that we are not even aware we are

engaging in until we are willing to explore.

Breaking Ground

Last month Alpine Academy broke ground on an exciting new campus

development. In order to expand our incredibly successful ASPIRE

program we have closed the Mountain Birch Cottage and will expand

the structure into two new groups homes on campus. This new

development comes with mixed feelings as we also say goodbye to

Janette Thompson, the Family Teacher in Mountain Birch. Janette

started with Utah Youth Village ten years ago as the Director of

Training and Evaluations. But her desire and exceptional talent with

youth drew her to the position of Family Teacher at Alpine where she

has been for the last six years.

In addition to being a Family Teacher, Janette also instructed students in our Futures class.

This class focused upon college and career planning and also prepared Janette for her new

adventure as a high school counselor. She completed her Masters education earlier this year

as was hired on at a local high school this summer. In her new job Janette will continue to have

a positive influence on youth and remain on staff as a fill in employee.

New Family Teachers will be hired for the Mountain Birch home after construction of the new

home is complete. One half of the new building will be the new Mountain Birch Home with the

same structure and function as the other homes on campus. The other half will be the home of

a ten bed ASPIRE program. Currently the ASPIRE program can only hold 5 girls. By expanding

the program to ten beds, Alpine will be able to serve more students in this program. The

construction is expected to be complete in the spring of 2014.

Upcoming Calendar Events:Upcoming Calendar Events:Upcoming Calendar Events:Upcoming Calendar Events: Sept. 2Sept. 2Sept. 2Sept. 2ndndndnd----3333rdrdrdrd –––– No SchoolNo SchoolNo SchoolNo School

Sept. 13Sept. 13Sept. 13Sept. 13thththth----15151515thththth –––– Parent Visit WeekendParent Visit WeekendParent Visit WeekendParent Visit Weekend

Oct. 4Oct. 4Oct. 4Oct. 4thththth----6666thththth –––– Parent Workshop WeekendParent Workshop WeekendParent Workshop WeekendParent Workshop Weekend

Oct. 18Oct. 18Oct. 18Oct. 18thththth –––– Quarter 1 endsQuarter 1 endsQuarter 1 endsQuarter 1 ends

Oct. 21Oct. 21Oct. 21Oct. 21stststst----25252525thththth –––– No SchoolNo SchoolNo SchoolNo School

Oct. 21Oct. 21Oct. 21Oct. 21stststst----25252525thththth –––– Washington D.C. TripWashington D.C. TripWashington D.C. TripWashington D.C. Trip

Oct. 28Oct. 28Oct. 28Oct. 28thththth –––– Quarter 2 bQuarter 2 bQuarter 2 bQuarter 2 beginseginseginsegins

*check our online calendar at alpineacademy.orgalpineacademy.orgalpineacademy.orgalpineacademy.org for a more detailed list of campus events

...From the Art Studio With over six months of activity under our belts, the new art studio in the Fitness and Arts building has been host to a wealth of creativity. We are continually amazed by the creativity and talent of our students. Ms. Laurie is very proud of the work put out by both her beginning and advanced art classes, and has the students work on display everywhere on campus. Below is a sampling of what they’ve been working on.

Alpine Academy Alpine Academy Alpine Academy Alpine Academy ~~~~ 1280 Whispering Horse Dr. Erda, Utah 84074 ~ 8001280 Whispering Horse Dr. Erda, Utah 84074 ~ 8001280 Whispering Horse Dr. Erda, Utah 84074 ~ 8001280 Whispering Horse Dr. Erda, Utah 84074 ~ 800----244244244244----1113 office ~ 4351113 office ~ 4351113 office ~ 4351113 office ~ 435----843843843843----5416 fax ~ alpine@alpineacademy.org5416 fax ~ alpine@alpineacademy.org5416 fax ~ alpine@alpineacademy.org5416 fax ~ alpine@alpineacademy.org

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Parent Workshop Weekend PreviewParent Workshop Weekend PreviewParent Workshop Weekend PreviewParent Workshop Weekend Preview

If you haven’t already made plans it isn’t too late to attend the Parent Workshop Weekend for October. We highly recommend these workshops to all parents as it provides additional support to the treatment process. Here are some of the activities planned for that weekend:

Smart But Scattered-Helping Students Reach Academic Potential Being a Social Media Savvy Parent Parent Teacher Conferences Improving Relationships & Communication

For a detailed agenda and to RSVP go to our website calendar at alpineacademy.org and click on the event.