The Apple Dumpling Gang
Service has become a watch-word around Provo Canyon School since the School began emphasizing service as one of its core values. Service began with a focus on teammates helping teammates, but it has quickly expanded far beyond the confines of Provo Canyon School.
In order to promote this value of service at Provo Canyon School, staff began to hold major service projects that were designed to help the School. The first major school service projects initiated at Provo Canyon School was in the fall of 2004, just after the School introduced its Standards of Excellence program.
The grounds surrounding the girls’ campus at Orem, Utah had approximately twenty apple trees that produced excellent apples of two or three varieties. By late September or early October, the apples were ready for picking. The trees had been sprayed in the spring, yielding apples that were mostly free from worms and other insects. However, they had not been thinned properly, and the trees were loaded with all different sizes of apples. In the past, staff had been allowed to pick the apples, but most of them simply fell to the ground and rotted.
The staff at Provo Canyon School decided to have a school-wide service project that October to pick the apples. This project was to include as many boys and girls on each team as possible. Even those that were struggling in their treatment programs needed to have this experience, as long as they would pose no danger to self or others. All the Provo Canyon teams with their staff gathered to discuss the project and who on their teams should be allowed to participate. The boys and girls on the team were to select the youth based on the criteria that those who were eligible were not security risks and would not be troublesome. This was a remarkable shift from prior policy, which banned any youth from participating who was not at a certain status in the program.
Provo Canyon School Staff were not very comfortable at first with this new policy for fear that the youth would abuse the privilege and cause problems. However, they pressed forward and met with the youth and the team members were selected. Their own peers disallowed some youth because the youth didn’t trust them, and they did not want this opportunity at gaining trust and improving the program to be ruined. One boy approached one of his staff and admitted, “I’m not sure that I even trust myself.”
Each team was assigned 1 or 2 trees to pick, sort, and package the apples. Rosters of teams were prepared and approved. Coaches and therapists assigned to each team prepared their youth by talking about the service project and why it was important. The day of the apple picking arrived, and the boys were bussed up to the Provo Canyon School Orem campus. Soon, teams of boys and girls, accompanied by their team coaches and therapists were busy attacking their trees. Other staff at Provo Canyon School helped in supporting the process. The physical plant provided ladders, the administrative assistant to the Provo Canyon School Chief Executive Officer provided the boxes and sacks for the apples, and the kitchen provided hot chocolate.
At one point during the activity, some of the girls offered some apples to some people passing by Provo Canyon School in a car, but they declined. The girls made the comment among themselves that they didn’t blame the people for not taking apples from a bunch of “troubled teens.” A staff member who heard the comment replied, “You’re not troubled teens, you’re just teens with troubles.” That subtle difference helped the girls see themselves in a more positive light, and they agreed: “Yeah, we’re not so different than others.”
By the end of the day, the boys and girls and staff had picked all of the trees clean, and had sorted, boxed, and sacked thousands of pounds of apples. The youth of Provo Canyon School were energized by the activity, and on their own, decided to give many of the apples to the local Food Bank for the needy. The girls made up hand-made greeting cards for the smaller sacks of apples, and teams of youth distributed many of the bags to neighbors around the two campuses.
Happily, people in the community responded favorably to the youth of Provo Canyon School. Written letters and notes were sent to both campuses by neighbors and the Food Bank, thanking the youth for their thoughtful service. The good feeling caught fire on both the boys’ and girls’ campuses, and teams began to seek for more opportunities to serve others.
Since that day back in the fall of 2004, teams of youth from Provo Canyon School have participated in many service activities that have included home makeovers, work for the homeless, visits and service to the aged in care homes, and Native American Christmas projects, and many more. Service has a spirit all its own, and the youth of Provo Canyon School feel that spirit each and every time they serve one another or someone else. The accolades and expressions of appreciation are important, but the greatest prize is the good feelings that warm each soul when they know that they have done something good to make someone else’s life a little better. It always feels better to give than to receive or to take. The youth of Provo Canyon School remember with each service activity that they really aren’t troubled or delinquent youth, but youth with some troubles, and that they can make a difference for good in this world. And that’s what it is all about.
Personal Values Development Paper
My personal values were formed as a young child from a variety of sources. These sources include teachings from my ancestors to present day experiences. “Ethics is a moral perspective that asks you to judge your conduct in terms of what’s right and wrong, what’s decent, what’s good, what’s honest, what’s honorable (Trevino and Nelson, 2004). I will discuss what influenced the origination of my values, how the values evolved throughout my life, learning experiences I had that influenced changes in my value development, and finally, what people, institutions and experiences helped shape my values. I will also discuss what criteria and decision-making goes into revising my values, and I will discuss the impact these values may have on my performance at work. (Great introduction)…
Strict teachings
“The reason to be ethical is simply because it’s the right thing to do” (Trevino, 2004). I was fortunate to have grandparents who were members of the Salvation Army. Their teachings helped me learn how to make “right” decisions. This was not just a religion, but also a military-type organization with officers and strict rules of conduct. My grandparents met as members of the Salvation Army and married while members. They were given disciplinary action because they did now know each other long enough before marrying. Although this may sound very strict, the values they lived by and taught my father, who in turn taught my siblings and I, have changed my focus and behavior throughout my life.
The Salvation Army was very much against alcohol consumption. My grandmother, at the young age of 18, used to play the guitar and sing in the bars where men spent too much time drinking in order to encourage the men to stop their drinking and go home to their families. My grandmother spoke of many times in which the men had tears in their eyes as they thought about their wives and children, and returned home after hearing her songs. The periodwas close to prohibition times. The Salvation Army’s purpose was to “save” souls through showing them a better way to live, and many other means, but to discourage alcohol consumption was a major goal. (It sure seems like the Salvation Army is gone awqay from that core purpose…from my experience)
My father never drank alcohol, and alcohol of any type was notallowed in our home. We were taught the harmful effects of alcohol, discussed statistics of drunken driving accidents and the terrible loss of life of many innocent people, and told of the human loss of potential due to alcohol abuse. We were told that if we never had one drink, we never had the possibility to become drunk or to become an alcoholic. This teaching also flowed into substance abuse and proper nutrition.
Although these teachings were stricter than the teachings in most of my friend’s homes, I was proud of our strong standards and dedicated to them. I saw first-hand problems of alcohol use as I grew up, which validated my beliefs and teachings. My best friend in junior high schoolhad an alcoholic mother. My friend explained to me that whenever her mother did not want to socialize or do anything that was hard for her, she would drink. She would then say she was too tired for the event. This was very disturbing to me to see this myself, and to watch the effect this had on my friend and her entire family.
Alcohol was not the only focus of our teachings. We were taught the importance of honesty, integrity, and self-discipline. We were proud of our heritage and wanted to honor our family name. We also wanted to the approval of our extended family members who had the same values. Our lessons in honesty caused us to think and analyze what is the best course to take when faced with an ethical dilemma. For instance, if we found something that was not ours, we were taught to leave it where we found it, as the true owner may come along looking for it. There were no “finders keepers, losers’ weepers” in our family. We were also able to exercise many critical thinking skills. We did not talk much or gossip about people but we spoke of ideas, what- if scenarios and philosophies. We were taught that all people had good in them, and no race, religion or ethnic group was superior to another.
Learning Experiences
In high school, this same friend and I went through a stage for about two weeks of going to the park during school and drinking wine she had stolen from her mother’s supply. We also tried smoking with a couple of friends. It seemed exciting at the time but it finally made us feel scared because of our vulnerability to older boys who wanted to “party” with us. I was very fortunate that although I felt guilty, I could not drink very much. An alcoholic beverage as well as anything carbonated makes my eyes water and my nose sting. I did not like the taste of it at all. To this day, I cannot even drink 7-up. I also could never inhale cigarette smoke, either. It made me cough and choke and I hated it. This experiment only resulted in feelings of guilt and remorse. I wish I had followed my father’s advice to never even try such substances. Looking back, I realize this experiment was an effort to find an escape during a difficult time in my life when my parents were divorcing and my only brother was a foot soldier in Viet Nam. On the other hand it was good for me to learn that these values were not just taught to me, but became incorporated into my life, not just because of my mistakes, but because I learned from my mistakes.
Evolution of values
As I have grown older, I consider myself very fortunate to have had specific teachings by my parents. My life would have been very different if my teenage experiment of trying alcohol and smoking had been pleasant for me. I know of many homes and relationships destroyed by alcohol or drug abuse. When I have related my teachings to others, they have expressed how they wished their parents had given them such a background.
Revising Values
I have made other mistakes in my life, which I felt guilty about. I knew my parents were not perfect but I held them and our other relatives in high regard. As time went on and my parents divorced, I saw, my parents alter some of their own value systems. This was painful to me. It caused me to reflect on my own life, and I determined to make choices that would not confuse or hurt my own children some day. My father never did drink or abuse substances but he did succumb to some areas that were against his teachings. It hurt to see these changes but I continued to look at him with admiration, appreciation, and respect. He was still a wonderful father, teacher, and person.
Revising my values can be difficult. When I see something for the first time from another perspective, my first reaction is surprise. This process is easier because I like input. I enjoy self-evaluation. I am not afraid to examine my own perspectives and re-evaluate them. When I do feel that my original thinking was flawed it is not an immediate change, but takes some contemplation.
Impact of my Values on my Work
My work ethic is strong, and my desire to be honest and forthright has not changed. These feelings cause me to have high expectations of those who I supervise. It bothers me to see nurses who take long breaks, work slowly or sloppily, or use inappropriate language. It is also hard for me to teach nurses to control their anger or to speak appropriately to each other. I agree with our reading material that employers have a responsibility to help teach employees to behave appropriately and use good judgment in the workplace (Trevino and Nelson, 2004). I do not mean to sound like I think I am perfect and have pure integrity. However, I have maintained that noble desire and goal throughout my life, and that desire has helped me make better choices than I might have. My goal is to teach the nurses to uphold the code of ethics and use good judgment in all that they do for the sake of our patients. I believe this is a worthy goal.
Conclusion
All people are raised differently, and have wonderful qualities and talents, which can make the world a better place. I am grateful that the values I was taught, whether right or wrong, silly or unimportant to someone else, were part of my upbringing. My life would have been very different, and possibly, very unhappy had I made long lasting choices against my original value teachings. Although I find myself altering my opinions and values in small ways, I believe the large, broad values I was taught have been a wonderful benefit to myself, my husband and all my children. I have learned to question some of my stereotypes and emotional biases recently while studying nursing ethics. This has been a healthy and eye-opening exercise for me. I plan to continue to question previous ways of thinking. However, my basic value system is well-ingrained and I hope will serve me as well in the future as it has in the past, in my work and in my personal life.
Visit to Hill Air Force Base Museum
Trips, excursions and visits are arranged in batches at Provo Canyon School. The student strength for a visit is usually kept low for the need of supervision. So was the case when two supervisors escorted eight students to the Hill Air Force Base Museum, located at Utah.
Driving to the museum
The museum is a 30-minute drive from the Provo Campus and the boys were driven to the place, just after noon. The person, who would be the museum tour guide for the children- a retired from service airplane pilot, welcomed the arrivals.
Stories and video games
As the students were taken along the museum exhibits and demonstrations, the tour guide told some interesting stories of World War II. As the guide took them through the exhibited airplanes, the stories kept flowing from the tour guide, whose interest and enthusiasm for his job kept the boys fascinated.
The section that made the trip more memorable to the kids was the interactive multimedia section. The students were able to play pilot video games. They also were part of a flight simulator, which helped the students understand the physics behind a plane taking off, staying in the air and about the landing mechanism.
After viewing the planes displayed within the museum, the students went on to view the planes that were being exhibited outside the museum building. Phil Cox and John Voight were the supervisors for the trip.
On the trip back to campus
On the return trip to the campus, Phil and John interacted with the boys. They tried to get the children to compare flying airplanes to the children's individual success. The question posed to the children was how does a pilot reach the intended destination. After a few tries, the boys answered that without a plan of where the pilot was supposed to go, it was impossible for him to reach any destination that he intended.
The connection
From this connection, the boys were made to realize that they too required a plan in their own lives to succeed and be able to reach a particular goal. This could mean either achieving a desired goal at Provo Canyon School or anything that have intended to achieve in life. Having a more understanding and peaceful relationship with their parents was also addressed as one of the plans.
The students were then asked to mention what would be their flight plan before flying an airplane.
The trip concludes
Having made the connection with the trip and the importance of knowing where they were going in life, the boys arrived excitedly at the Provo campus. The boys were thankful for the trip and expressed that it was great fun to pay a visit to the museum.
Looking Over Provo Canyon School: Former CEO Kreg Gillman talks about his experience
• The Provo Canyon School former CEO Kreg Gillman is presiding over both the school campuses at Orem and Provo. The Orem campus is for girls, while the Provo campus is for boys. The campuses were so made that separate programs could be followed for the two genders. There are certain classes that are still jointly held for boys and girls to help in socializing.
• Before being the Provo Canyon School CEO in the first month of 2004, Kreg came to the school as a therapist in 1993 and then in 1996, moved on to become the Director of Admissions.
• In 1998, he left Provo for Aspen Achievement Academy and Aspen Ranch to be the Director of Admissions, there too.
• After three months at the same post in Aspen, Kreg became the Aspen Ranch Executive Director. Till 2001, Kreg retained this position. In the same year he was moved to SunHawk Academy, Utah as an Executive Director. He retained this position till 2004. It was then that he returned to Provo Canyon School in the same year.
• Kreg spend his childhood at Provo Canyon and is happy to return. When Kreg visited the school for the first time in 1990, he was amazed by the facilities provided by the school and the scenic beauty that surrounded it. The swimming pool, the experienced therapists and the staff had impressed Kreg ever since.
• Kreg has a psychology PhD. Before obtaining the degree, he worked as a therapist for war veterans of Vietnam. It was here that Kreg gained valuable experience that helped him while handling children at Provo Canyon School.
• In the kind of residential treatment that Provo Canyon School provides, the students are told that their improvement is dependent on themselves. The treatment plan is built on this foundation.
• Kreg thinks that being separated from the family helps relations as the students realize what they were missing. This adds to the healing process. Kreg finds the residence facilities cum treatment very comfortable to his work.
• Kreg has a belief that the residential treatment does wonders for therapists and the staff who handle the students.
• Kreg finds inspiration in the letters of previous Provo Canyon School students who write letters about their present life. This helps him realize how life has changed for good for students, all living lives of their now.
• Many students struggle through the program, and Kreg considers the struggle to be the important part. It is the struggle that causes change to occur in the students.
• Jeremy Cottle is presently the CEO of Provo Canyon School.
Provo Canyon School
Provo Canyon School and National Association Members Expand Focus to Public Policy and Advocacy for Children and Families. PDF File
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