Helping Troubled Teens through an alternative to boot camp: MTC: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Christian Youth Ranch

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Camp for troubled teens


	Wilderness Program – Mount Carmel Youth Ranch Mt Carmel Youth Ranch Wilderness Program incorporates horses into behavior modification therapy. Wilderness Program at Mt Carmel Youth Ranch tucked in Cody, Wyoming. Camp for troubled teens at Mt Carmel Youth Ranch. Our Wilderness Program for troubled youth is a behavior modification program organized around Christian ideals. It is year-round, with a minimum stay of twenty-one days. Situated in the majestic Sunlight and Big Horn Basins of the Absaroka Range in the greater Yellowstone Park ecology system, this camp for troubled teens is broad-based, flexible, and incorporates a rich variety of activities, not just hiking and camping. It is an integral part of a working ranch encompassing 40,000 acres; all aspects of ranch life and mountain life are fully explored. Through our behavior modification program, troubled youth learn the lessons of cause and effect, the natural consequences for their actions, and a solid work ethic. Therefore, all activities, schooling, and counseling are geared to teach these experiential lessons. Backcountry expeditions and exploration, range management, mapping noxious plant locations, building and repairing fences, locating and developing springs, cowboy-ing, trapping, carpentry, horsemanship, and outfitting are some of the projects the troubled youth may encounter in our Wilderness Program. Other activities not directly related to the upkeep of the ranch may include individual study courses (worth 1⁄2 credit each) in our schools for troubled teens, furniture making, building primitive shelters, leather crafts, and astronomy. This work is real and the challenges it presents are real. In accomplishing it, at risk youth gain a sense of worth, confidence, and self-esteem. text text We believe our Wilderness Program is truly unique. Something inexplicable happens to the troubled teens that undergo our program. Not only are they affected by the beauty and serenity of the mountains, but their self-imposed barriers disappear. Healing is accelerated. Combining one's life with prayer and living closely with nature, the students' life is simplified, his senses slowed down, which provides room for contemplation and reflection. The at risk teens begin to understand how they are viewed by God in His creation. In the outdoors there are neither rewards nor punishments. There are only consequences, and the wilderness cannot be manipulated. text A transformation in the troubled teen occurs, with nothing to hide behind, the real person emerges. With God's help, we can build from that foundation. Instead of manipulating, the at risk youth learn to take responsibility for their actions, to set achievable goals, and to make good decisions. Young men learn to stay organized under adverse conditions, that they can live with a minimum of things, changing their mental credo from "I need everything" to "I don't need anything.” Furthermore, living closely with nature teaches detachment, survival instincts, to deal with fears, to trust in God, to use imagination, and make use of problem solving skills. Through the troubled teen camp, students bond with and learn to work with horses, border collies, cattle, and other companions in work. At risk teens learn that they are not helpless in the face of adversity, but have control over their actions and reactions. text text EXCELLENCE The Mt. Carmel Wilderness Program is not a typical “teen boot camp” or behavior modification program for troubled youth. It is our desire to instill excellence and to allow each young man to achieve his fullest potential. We are not merely "fixing" the student. Each child is unique and requires much individual thought, attention, and prayer. The staff considers it their privilege and calling to work with these at risk teens therefore, they are committed, controlled, and avidly interested in each student. INDEPENDENT STUDY Unlike troubled teen camps, our students partake in daily prayer and scripture readings, and are enrolled in an accredited Independent Study course (worth 1⁄2 credit) on character and values. Students have the option of taking these other independent study courses: study skills, leadership, creative writing, algebra, technical writing, and preparation for responsible adulthood through our schools for troubled teens. TRANSITION Students are continually being prepared for transition out of the Wilderness program through activities aimed at behavior modification. They are challenged daily to question their decision-making processes, to question their motives, their past mistakes, and to make vital connections concerning how lessons learned in wilderness today can be applied at home tomorrow. ALTERNATIVE TO MILITARY SCHOOL OR BOOT CAMP The Mount Carmel Wilderness Program is a viable alternative to military schools and teen boot camp; many graduates of the program have enlisted in the Armed Forces. Our Wilderness Program is designed to bring to surface the fundamental character of a young man. His life is simplified, stripped down to bare essentials. No personal possessions are permitted, food is plain, work is difficult and living conditions rugged. Like a teen boot camp, the day is well-ordered, begins very early, and is divided into school and work times. Morning and evening prayers are said. Young men are expected to be obedient, respectful, and attentive. Most activities are communal and are closely supervised. MEDICAL The expeditions and work can be strenuous and students will need to be in reasonable physical condition and able to carry a 40 lb backpack over a distance of 3-5 miles per day. Rest days will be included in the schedule should any students have trouble adjusting to altitude. The terrain will vary from 6000-10,500 ft. Students will need to bring extra warm clothing during the winter months. During the trip, our staff who are CPR/First Aid trained, will be in the field 24/7. The Powell, Wyoming Hospital is our sponsoring medical organization and they provide all emergency medical services for Mount Carmel Youth Ranch. Troubled youth enrolled at the Mt. Carmel Wilderness Program have experienced no injuries. Call our Business & Admissions Office with your program fee inquiries. text Do you know an at risk teen? Call Mount Carmel Youth Ranch for more information on our Wilderness Program and School for Troubled Teens, we can help. Business/ Admissions Office (307)-645-3322 or reach us by email at admissions@mtcarmelyouthranch.com. Get your Teenager the help he needs to overcome, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, anger management, depression and defiance issues. NOW! Frontier Program for Troubled Youth - Mount Carmel Youth Ranch Cowboy life style at Camp for Troubled Teens - Mt Carmel Youth Ranch. The Frontier Program is a therapeutic wilderness program organized around Christian ideals and an 1800’s frontier lifestyle. It is year-round, with a minimum stay of twenty-one days. Situated right next to the Rocky Mountains in the greater Yellowstone Park ecology system, the troubled teen camp has a rich variety of activities aimed at behavior modification. It is an integral part of a working ranch encompassing 40,000 acres; all aspects of ranch life and mountain life are fully explored. Wyoming is a vast land with breath-taking mountains, short growing season and long winter. Self-reliance and a strong spirit are needed here to survive. Living Quarters at School for Troubled Teens – Mt Carmel Youth Ranch. The area surrounding Mount Carmel is a region beyond a settled area and is largely undeveloped. Mt. Carmel Youth Ranch lies about 40 miles from Cody and Powell, Wyoming. The troubled teens that come here soon learn that the land is rough-hewn, populated by rattlers and sagebrush, punctuated by irrigated areas where cattle roam and alfalfa or corn grows. Procrastination punctuated by hurried efforts doesn’t work on a ranch. The troubled teen camp teaches them that animals have to be cared for daily. Other things are done in season, according to their natural cycles. Natural consequences follow violations, in spite of good intentions. Gardens not watered die. Animals not cared for get sick. Farmers and ranchers alike are subject to natural laws and governing principles. The law of the ranch endures over time. You must prepare, breed cattle, take care, water, feed and do so every day if you expect to reap. The troubled youth develop in character through the conditions met in our Frontier Program. So much of ranching is outside the rancher’s control, subject to natural cycles, acts of God, divine intervention, which teaches the rancher to do the very best he can. We understand that natural cycles continue, regardless of inconvenience. We learn the wisdom of submitting to life’s natural flow and to God, instead of trying to manipulate and change. Every violation will bring a consequence in the short, medium and long term. Only that which is true remains. At risk teens farm corn at Mt Carmel Youth Ranch. On the ranch, the at risk teens learn animal husbandry (the practice of breeding and raising livestock) from daily practice, as part of the frontier chores including gathering eggs and feeding chickens, pigs and calves. Other seasonal chores consist of irrigating hay and grain fields during the summer, and feeding cattle during the winter (they are on pasture from spring to fall). Ranch work follows three overlapping paths: (1) routine chores that make the ranch yield the food, clothing and shelter, (2) raising the calves that are the ranch’s main cash crop and provide consecutive seasonal jobs throughout the year, and (3) filling the rest of the time with work to improve conditions and ranch productivity. Meat is plentiful; beef, pork and chicken and the vegetables are grown in a garden planted and cared for by the students. Troubled Youth at Mt Carmel Youth Ranch learn animal husbandry. Calf production presents an annual work cycle for the troubled teens, even though the calf crop is marketed during the May-September period. The work begins in February or March with the births, followed by plowing in April and May. May also brings branding and moving herds off the spring range to mountain pastures as well as irrigating, which continues through the summer. Haying begins in July followed by harvesting garden produce in September, returning the herds from mountain pastures in October and ends with shipping the calves in addition to beginning winter feeding in December. The Wilderness Program (Frontier Program) commences in a lodge without plumbing. There is a cook house where the troubled teens take their turns making the daily bread, an outhouse, and a washhouse, where they bathe and do their wash. There is no television, nor is there radio. The day is filled with prayer, chores, homework they receive from our schools for troubled teens, work projects and quiet time to reflect. Uniforms of western jeans and western red shirts with work boots are worn. To move on to the “Bunkhouse” level of the operation, the students must cultivate “cowboy” qualities involving self-motivation in both work and study, cleanliness in their bunk area, cabin, kitchen, animal pens, etc., a uniform dress appearance, respect for staff, peers and animals, a strong work ethic, and a cumulative frontier grade of a “B.” Wilderness Program teaches animal care to at risk youth.At risk youth cares for livestock at Mt Carmel Youth Ranch. Once at the bunkhouse, the at risk youth have some of the luxuries, like indoor toilets and bathing; washers and dryers. They wear various cowboy print “snappy” shirts and have more choices of boots. They continue their studies, and get opportunities to work the ranch with adult staff, where they can develop and express self-reliance, dependability and trustworthiness. These traits are necessary for the boys to go to cow camp in the summers, which is a mountain camp for troubled teens where the cattle feed during the spring through fall. This is a privilege. The ranch operation represents an instructional “scaffolding” model of behavior modification. There are plenty of resources to do jobs, and examples/guides of what needs done. There are ranch staff guiding the students in the developing of their thinking and social skills. The task is compelling, as it is life affirming and life supporting. Students do tasks until they develop their own skills and knowledge. A job done poorly or not at all leads to natural consequences, like a flooded road, a dead animal, and a lost crop. These mistakes are easy to see, understand, and go about correcting. And doing so leads to increased confidence and self- reliance in the troubled youth. Mt Carmel’s Wilderness Program for at risk boys. Do you know an at risk teen? Call Mount Carmel Youth Ranch for more information on our Wilderness Program and School for Troubled Teens, we can help. Business/ Admissions Office (307)-645-3322 or reach us by email at admissions@mtcarmelyouthranch.com.