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Wake Monarch Academy: A Beacon of Hope with Leah Wright · Finding New Waters

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  If you could leave a potential family member or a potential,
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  you know, client or somebody that's struggling with kind of a
• 0:06
  a nugget or something that you wish that they could kind of
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  walk away with, what would, what would that thing be?
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  Here's what I consistently find, including myself, right?
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  Families forget they get so wrapped up in their loved one,
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  right? That's struggling, they forget
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  about themselves. So even if it's putting out
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  like. No one can do recovery for you,
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  right? You got to do it for yourself.
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  You got to want to do it. Don't do recovery for somebody
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  else, right. Do it for yourself.
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  And and that look, that could be the whole family like and that
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  you can't do it for someone else.
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  But to find the resources you know find somebody who who gets
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  you. Because you know, unless you've
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  walked in these shoes, it's very hard to understand, you know,
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  what someone's going through unless they've.
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  Experienced it, you know, even though we all have different
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  journeys, so that would probably be my best thing is, you do need
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  recovery and do whatever you can to find that support of what
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  that journey looks like for you, right?
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  There's no set path. Good afternoon.
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  My name is Graham Dergie and I'm the founder and CEO of New
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  Waters Recovery in Raleigh, NC Welcome to our weekly podcast,
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  Finding New Waters. Our goal in creating Finding New
• 1:47
  Waters is to provide a resource for families to help navigate
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  the complexities of supporting a loved 1, struggling with
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  substance use or mental health. When we find ourselves in crisis
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  due to one of these issues, most people have no.
• 1:58
  Idea Where to turn? We hope to shed some light on to
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  what is often the darkest hour for many families.
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  Thank you guys for joining us for a new A new episode of
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  Finding New Waters podcast. Today I'm joined by Leah Wright,
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  who is the Executive Director of the Monarch Academy.
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  Did I get the name of the? Wake Monarch Academy.
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  Yeah, Academy. There we go.
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  Thank you for having me. Thank you so much.
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  It's been a long time. I feel like we haven't seen each
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  other in a while. It has been.
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  It's been a few years, right. It's been a few years.
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  Feels that way. Yeah.
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  So I thank you so much for joining us.
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  I'd love to start out with, you know, just kind of what brought
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  you to, you know, I know Wake Monarch Academy.
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  I know just talking to you over the past, you know, several
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  years is, you know, been a big passion of your something that
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  you were very passionate about kind of watched from afar as
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  you, you built it and watched it come to fruition.
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  And so just kind of first question is, you know what, what
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  brought that interest and what led you down that path?
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  Honestly, personal, you know, a personal experience with my son.
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  So yeah, he was, you know, when he was struggling as an
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  adolescent, We couldn't find any help and we didn't know any
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  family that was going through it.
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  We hadn't been around it. And so, you know, with him, it
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  started with marijuana. We handled it, you know, thought
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  there was consequence or typical teenage behavior, but then the
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  behavior continued to escalate and we didn't know where to
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  turn. And so everywhere we did turn
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  and ask you know looking up you know treatment centers or
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  multiple psychiatrists psychologists, we just when we
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  word for referred somewhere I would call and they go, well,
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  how old is he? And I'm like well he's 16 or
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  he's 17 sorry we only start 18 or above.
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  So it was very isolating and all the while just watching the
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  addiction continue to to grow, you know, from marijuana to
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  pills to ultimately. Heroin addiction.
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  And so I'll never forget he had been in and out of rehab and
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  refused to go back. He was still using and we didn't
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  know. We didn't know what to do.
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  And so there was a doctor that had a a family practice that had
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  an addiction specialist there. And so I said, hey, you know,
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  let's, what do you think about going to talk with him?
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  So he agreed. And they had an IOP.
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  He said, you know, I'll do an IOP.
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  And I went, OK, awesome, you know, And the doctor looked at
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  me and said, well, you need recovery too.
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  And the first words out of my mouth was like, well, like I'm
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  good. Like, I don't, I don't use, I
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  mean, I literally said that's what I was thinking.
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  And she goes, no, like you need recovery.
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  Addiction is a family disease and you need recovery too.
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  And I went, OK And she said here's Elena Naran.
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  She gave me a bunch of different places.
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  She said find a meeting. That works for you and start
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  going. And so I'm like, OK, so in my
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  mind, still being extremely codependent on my son, I said,
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  well, you know what, You do your IOP and I'll go to these
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  meetings and we'll do recovery together.
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  Like I had still not transferred my own brain as to like I need
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  to make about being I. It was for me looking at I'm
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  going to support you, we'll do this together and I'm not really
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  thinking about me, really. So going to the meeting, I
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  remember, you know, going around visiting and thinking, oh, this
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  is not, this is not helpful to me.
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  But then that's How I Met you was many years ago at Healing
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  Transitions working over there and went to their family support
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  group. And so there, for the first
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  time, I was around other people that were going through what I
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  was going through and not feeling alone.
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  And starting to like listen to like oh wow, they've gone
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  through the same things I have. Couple of things that were
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  really like mind blowing to me were some hard decisions that
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  had to be made by some families and I remember thinking at that
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  time I would never do that like how could how could somebody do
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  that you know to their child. And but just the more I got
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  involved with it and really starting to educate myself.
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  And then later, the family support group said to me one day
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  she said, Leah, you're going to love your son to death.
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  And I will never forget that. It was life changing to me.
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  And so I started getting tools in my own toolbox.
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  And I remember hearing about recovery high schools in a
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  conversation that we'd had a family support group.
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  But at this time, you know, we our son was.
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  Only about 1920 years old at this time.
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  We've been dealing with this since he was 14, So many years
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  into it and I remember thinking, wow, that's a really cool idea,
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  but there's none around here. And he's already out of high
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  school and so OK, I mean it literally went in kind of 1 ear
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  and out the other but about a year later as I continue to work
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  on my own recovery and our son have been not.
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  You know, very long. I think he probably went at that
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  time. The longest he went was about
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  three months and then here we were.
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  We were just in the cycle. But it's really have a very
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  strong faith for myself and so truly felt LED.
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  I mean, I felt like this was something that I should be
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  doing. I fought it for a while because
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  I'm like me, like, you know. God doesn't use me to do what?
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  To start a school that even makes sense.
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  I was getting ready to retire, actually that same year from
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  being an educator of 30 years in Wake County public school
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  system. So I'm like getting ready to
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  retire. I'm like, yeah, I'm going crazy
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  like I want to help others. I don't want others to go
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  through what we did as a family. But like, this is not going to
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  be me. But I thought it, and the more I
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  thought it, the stronger it began.
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  So on a Sunday afternoon I. I had not watched the film
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  Generation Found, and I told my husband Jimmy, I said I want us
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  to watch this film together, this documentary together about,
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  you know, I didn't even tell him what it was about.
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  So I wanted to watch it together.
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  And then afterwards I'm going to tell you why I wanted to watch
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  it with you, because I knew if I didn't have his support.
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  To do this, like, I don't know how I could have done it.
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  And so I literally balked through the whole documentary
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  because all I could see was how our son would have thrived in
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  that environment, wishing that he had had it.
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  And so after the, you know, documentary is over, I sat and I
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  went, well, the reason that I wanted to watch this with you is
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  I feel like I'm supposed to do this.
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  I have no idea how to do it, What to do, where to turn?
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  But I I need your support. And so he was on from the very
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  beginning. And then the next person I went
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  to was our son, who at that time was living in an Oxford house.
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  And before he got kicked out of that one.
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  But I went to him and I said I feel like I'm supposed to do
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  this. I'm going to start researching.
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  And I hear there's a a Charlotte school that's also been.
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  They're a couple of years ahead but they are getting to school
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  open and some reach out to them. But if I decide to do this are
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  you going to be OK? Because I know people are going
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  to ask me why are you doing this right and in order to tell them
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  that I'm going to have to share our story are you going to be
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  good. And from the he said, yeah, I'm
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  going to be good with that. And so once I had those two,
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  then I, you know, reached out, started gathering information
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  and. Talked to their executive
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  director. She was the founder not
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  executive director at that time and said how did how did you do
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  this? And so they just like we did,
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  started. We did screenings of generation
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  found at multiple places, I remember that.
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  Yeah, started telling everybody what we were doing, what was the
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  price, wanting to build a team. Anybody interested in helping us
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  come join the team and we're meeting, you know, this day and
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  this day? And started working on our
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  nonprofit application and so that took a while but we had my
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  very first meeting was May 7th of 2018 with a group of seven of
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  us, some from my my family support group.
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  My husband was there, the youth pastor and an addiction
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  professional that I worked with our son and he would actually
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  was very involved with the healing place which is now
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  healing transitions. Very much valued what he had to
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  say. And so he was at that first
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  meeting and then a year later, almost or a year plus July 17th
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  of 2019, we became an official 501C3 nonprofit.
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  Then when our goal was to open up 20 and 2020, we had just
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  found a location and we're starting inspections.
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  And then COVID hit. Gosh.
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  So that could that put a big, you know, stop on on everything
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  and like well what could we do, you know, so basically we lost
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  our team because how can they, It was hard to delegate what to
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  do if no one could go anywhere. So the ones that remained was
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  the board and so the board, very hard working board, what could
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  we do? You know, while no one can meet,
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  we can't do anything. So we started working on like a
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  strategic operating plan. You know, what's our handbook
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  going to look like? You know, so things that we
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  could do on a computer on Zoom that we didn't necessarily have
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  to meet and would send revisions and what do you think about
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  that? So that's what we did until
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  things started to open back up again.
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  And as soon as they did, we started inspections.
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  Because we real weren't totally sure if we could even do the
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  school there because of on the inspections that needed to be
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  done and we had started but then couldn't finish.
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  But fortunately for us the inspections turned out OK We had
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  to do a little bit of up fitting, but we were able to
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  open. So then was like OK here's our
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  timeline. So we opened a year later.
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  So we did our ribbon cutting June 30th of 21 and opened in
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  August of 21 with two students. So it's just myself and another
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  staff member. We hadn't found our the recovery
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  coach position yet. So we're like well we can do
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  this we've talked to other recovery high schools we can
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  contract with another treatment center.
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  So we actually contracted with Green Hill recovery.
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  So I was like healing transition of Green Hill was like, I know
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  one of these two we've. We have met and interacted
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  before but we contracted with them to do our check INS in the
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  morning. So check INS where you touch
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  base on mental health topics, recovery and that's what we did
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  until well, the 1st that fall and then we were able to
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  actually find. That perfect person, Yeah.
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  Recovery coach who? Ian McLean, who started in
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  January of 22. OK, yeah, I know Ian.
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  That's awesome. Is he still with you guys?
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  Yes. That's great.
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  How about? That he is an amazing, amazing
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  individual that's awesome and hasn't just really helped to
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  build a program and have wonderful relationship, has
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  wonderful relationships with the students.
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  That's amazing. That is amazing.
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  Yeah, sounds like a long Rd. Long road, long journey that
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  honestly looking back like. Would never want to like, relive
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  or wish on any other family. But I will tell you there's so
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  many experiences and feelings the especially new and recovery
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  that a lot of these families are just at the very beginning,
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  right? Only been it with a few months
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  so I can relate a lot to those feelings especially time.
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  I'll send your child off to rehab and, OK, good.
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  They're fixed, right? They're they're good to go.
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  I remember all of those same feelings.
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  And so it makes I can relate to them and and kind of guide them
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  through the process. But instead of them waiting and
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  years into it like we were not knowing where to turn, like
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  they're immediately connected to resources.
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  We have family support within our school as well.
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  So you know addiction is a family disease.
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  So again, learning from my own experience of saying hey, you
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  need to go. To weekly support groups, find
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  one that works for you. But here's why.
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  You know, give them the why behind it.
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  Because we're not going to be a good fit for a family.
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  If a family comes and says like fix our child because we're not
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  a treatment center and we support the treatment, right.
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  But we are not a treatment centers.
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  But you know, if if a family says fix my child and they're
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  going to sit back and not do anything, then we're not going
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  to be a good fit. So I'm very upfront and sharing
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  that information. Do a tour.
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  There's a process for enrollment, but when we enroll a
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  student, you know, we know that they want to be there and
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  willing to work a program of recovery.
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  So you mentioned, you mentioned you're not a treatment center,
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  right? I know that.
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  But so I'm wondering maybe a next, a good next step is what
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  is Wake Martin Ark Academy, obviously it's a recovery high
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  school, but what does that look like?
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  What does a student look like? You know, what did, what did
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  they engage in? Like what does that look like?
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  For them well. Yes, a safe and supportive
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  environment for a student recovery.
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  But honestly it's so much more. I mean, yes, working on the
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  sustained recovery. Yes, trying to give them a
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  college ready academic program that we, you know, I as a as a
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  school like I report to the Department of Administration
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  which there's really no set curriculum.
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  I could I can make it whatever I want to make it but for us.
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  We didn't want families to look that they were getting less or
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  like a step down for academics because we knew a lot of these
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  students would be coming from our public school system.
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  So I'm like, I really want to want to have it.
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  And I being the board, the organization like let's let's
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  make this where they're really getting a step up because with
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  all the individualized instruction that they're giving
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  in addition to recovery, but. Let's have a college ready
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  program. So we what our requirements are
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  what a regular school system, you know so we look at what DPI
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  does and then that's what we we work towards.
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  We also have on dual enrollment with Wake Tech so our juniors
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  and seniors can take classes while at Wake Monarch, but
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  they're getting college credit just like they would have in a
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  regular high school. So really tried to build it up
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  to like this is. This is actually a better
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  program, you know, coming here because of what we're able to
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  offer. And so that's what we did for
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  our students. But our students not only again,
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  recovery academics, but it's teaching them to be a
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  well-rounded individual. So you know what, what are,
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  what's an important part of recovery?
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  Well, exercise is an important part of recovery.
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  So one of our amazing community partners is Noose River CrossFit
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  and so. Our amazing coach Christy Hagen,
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  who you might know in recovery herself, has been with us since
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  the very beginning. So she's our coach.
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  But many of our gym classes have turned into like recovery pep
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  talks and so that's our gym class.
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  We go twice a week. So and students work to the best
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  of their ability. You know, as long as they're
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  trying, like not doing it is not an option, right?
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  But doing it, but watching them even evolve there, right?
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  And the. Competition, friendly
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  competition you know between between the students and and so
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  you know we're we're in there as well you know staff doing the
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  best that we can as well. But another part of important
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  part of recovery is giving back. So we have integrated service
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  learning as we want them to know like there's someone else beside
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  yourself and so how you learn that is when you serve others.
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  So we have multiple community partners that on Wednesdays we
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  do what we call Wednesday Wellness.
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  So we go out and we learn. So we're learning something, but
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  then while we're there then we're giving back and so we keep
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  track of those volunteer hours. So for example, we're involved
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  currently with a bit of pleasure Horse school and so we go there,
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  we split the students up because we're.
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  You know, grown, you know, quite a bit.
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  And so half of our students are learning to ride, other half of
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  our students are doing ground work and things like that with
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  the horses and then afterwards then where they're all pitching
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  in, cleaning water buckets, mucking stalls, doing whatever.
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  And we keep track of their volunteer hours, so.
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  When that ends, then we'll be involved in another
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  organization, learning while we're there, but also giving
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  back. So we've done a place at the
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  table. We've been involved with Maggie
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  Kane and her, her group. So the students have greeted,
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  they have bus tables, they have, you know, prepped food, They
• 19:01
  have done a variety of things. We've done things at the food
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  bank. We're going next week with the
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  Food bank to the State Fair. So when on their collection
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  candidate canned food drive the students, help them with like
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  sorting the cans that they need. And then while we're there then
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  we have some fun together, you know that team building.
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  So we'll have a little bit of time at the fair together and
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  eat some fair food, you know, that's awesome.
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  But we do that something on Wednesdays about the throughout
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  the year and relate it to our curriculum, whether it's even
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  art. We were at the summer, we were
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  at the museum. North Carolina Museum of Art
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  doing our Wednesday Wellness Music class.
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  We went to rock'n'roll High school in Apex.
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  That was our music class. But while we were there,
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  students filed papers. They swept.
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  They clean windows. So the idea is of that look how
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  good you feel when you help someone else.
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  And it was. It's amazing to hear that.
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  I'll never forget one of the students came while we were
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  doing something, he says. Lee, I tell you this, he has.
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  Like when I help them, Like when I'm doing this, I feel good
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  about myself and I went exactly. Absolutely.
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  Exactly. But for them to realize that
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  instead of, you know, everything we do here is for purpose.
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  I tell them that all the time. Like, you're getting credit for
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  lots of things, but we're there's a reason behind what we
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  do. But for them to like, realize
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  it, like they get it, you know? That's amazing.
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  Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, so do so.
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  Is there certain criteria? I mean it sounds like they
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  obviously are struggling with substance use disorder, but are
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  they do they have to go to residential treatment first or
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  are there any kind of criteria that they have to meet before
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  they can be admitted? Great question.
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  So most of these students are coming from a residential
• 20:44
  treatment center or IOP, so having some treatment in place
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  because again we are we are not a treatment center and they need
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  they need that. So if I have had families call
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  and I'm like, well, tell me a little bit about what's going on
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  and I can share with them. Like your child, I have lots of,
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  not lots. I mean, for the adolescent
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  community, for resources for treatment is limited, right.
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  So I'm able to share with them. Like, tell me about your story,
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  what's going on right now And like your your child needs help
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  that we are not going to be able to provide.
• 21:19
  Let me give you some resources. So I've put families in touch
• 21:22
  with you know depending on where they are.
• 21:25
  You know said here's is an IOP, talked to the director, here's a
• 21:29
  treatment center, taught the director and then the
• 21:32
  professionals because they are in treatment, let them you know
• 21:35
  help you and decide what's best for your family.
• 21:38
  And so like some of these students I've worked with for
• 21:40
  over a year before that in fact one just recently enrolled what
• 21:44
  I've been working with this family for over a year now
• 21:47
  because of that same process. And but once they get there, the
• 21:51
  student has to want to be there and so they have to have at
• 21:55
  least 30 days in recovery. So they're usually coming from a
• 21:59
  a treatment background 30 days in recovery and willing to work
• 22:02
  a program in recovery. But wanting to be there and
• 22:05
  wanting to be you know student turned down you know for for
• 22:09
  things that we do there like random and frequent drug
• 22:11
  screenings like they're we're not we don't do it, they catch
• 22:14
  you. That's not why we're doing it.
• 22:15
  We're holding it for doing it because you're accountable.
• 22:18
  You're accountable to yourself. You're accountable to your
• 22:20
  peers, your parents, your caregivers staff, you know so
• 22:26
  have to be willing to work a program and recovery and by
• 22:29
  doing that and going through the process of a tour and then an
• 22:32
  interview. I always say don't let that word
• 22:34
  scare you like but it's the purpose of it is to make sure
• 22:37
  all questions are are answered and that we're a good fit for
• 22:42
  you guys as a family, but that you're a good fit for us.
• 22:45
  And based upon that information that we gather, then we enroll a
• 22:51
  family or not. But sometimes, you know, it
• 22:53
  comes to where I'm able to have to say, look, our doors are
• 22:57
  always open. We want to help you, but we
• 23:00
  cannot do recovery, you know, for your child.
• 23:04
  Right, absolutely. And so when they are willing,
• 23:07
  you know, to work a program in recovery, you know that we're
• 23:10
  here and would welcome you at any time.
• 23:13
  But we also have a community to protect because I can tell you
• 23:17
  that the students that are here, our work in a program of
• 23:20
  recovery. So we want you to, you know,
• 23:22
  come back when you're ready. And sometimes they come back and
• 23:26
  sometimes they they don't, you know.
• 23:28
  But I guess the hope in that situation is that like you said,
• 23:31
  you guys will be ready when they are essentially exactly,
• 23:33
  exactly. And our age limit like is 13 to
• 23:36
  21. We did that purposely early on,
• 23:39
  like you didn't cut up 18. You're now because of that
• 23:42
  scenario. I mean, I remember having a
• 23:44
  discussion with the board going well, what if, what if we have a
• 23:47
  senior, right? Yeah, in and out of treatment,
• 23:50
  you know, and not going to school, right.
• 23:52
  Even though you should be by law, but maybe do an online
• 23:55
  school not doing well. Like what if and what if they
• 23:58
  just can't get until later. So that's why I want that.
• 24:02
  Reason behind it was 13 to 21, Come when you're ready because
• 24:07
  you can't have education if you don't have recovery.
• 24:10
  Right, absolutely. And your parents are, like,
• 24:13
  worried about I'm getting behind or they're not where they should
• 24:16
  be. And I am like, look, I know this
• 24:18
  sounds weird coming from an educator, you know, that's my
• 24:23
  profession. But I'm telling you not to worry
• 24:27
  about the education. I know what we do here.
• 24:30
  I know that this we can catch the students up at where they
• 24:33
  should be, but there's not a time limit.
• 24:36
  And so, like, they'll be ready for that when they're ready.
• 24:41
  And so, you know, sometimes there's like, OK, I'm like the
• 24:45
  education will come, but I always explain if you can't have
• 24:48
  education, if you don't have recovery, right.
• 24:51
  So let's get solid in that. And then then that education
• 24:55
  will come. Absolutely, you know.
• 24:58
  Do they work at their own pace or is there like are they
• 25:00
  assigned to grades? I'm I'm curious as to what kind
• 25:02
  of the academic part of it. So we have rolling enrollment so
• 25:05
  and modified year round so the most of these students are ever
• 25:08
  out of school or away from us you know is is 2 weeks.
• 25:12
  So our first year, you know a lot of it's been trial and error
• 25:15
  like what works, what doesn't work and three weeks is just too
• 25:19
  long for these kids to to be out.
• 25:21
  They and as much as they don't want to admit it, they want
• 25:25
  structure. Yeah.
• 25:26
  They want the structure to the day and they need that and they
• 25:29
  thrive on that. And so so we we're modified year
• 25:33
  round. And so they come and totally
• 25:36
  lost my train of thought. What was the question?
• 25:38
  Oh my goodness. Well, the.
• 25:39
  Academics, you said academics. Yes, thank you.
• 25:42
  So 9th through 12th grade and we start them off, we'll get the
• 25:46
  transcript from their other school and we'll map out a a, a
• 25:52
  program to where they to catch them up because most of students
• 25:54
  are behind to catch them up and then a plan to to graduate.
• 25:58
  And so with students being 9th through 12th grade, they're all
• 26:02
  over the place. So that was something we put a
• 26:06
  lot of thought into early on, is how we going to meet the needs
• 26:10
  of these students 9th through 12th grade when having multiple
• 26:13
  teachers, like hiring a teacher to teach history for one student
• 26:17
  like that just financially doesn't even make sense, right?
• 26:22
  So we looked at various online programs and had an evaluation,
• 26:27
  excuse me, from Wake County teachers said if you could
• 26:32
  evaluate these various programs based on the content area, based
• 26:37
  on the curriculum, what's going to be best, what online program
• 26:41
  will be best in your opinion. And so from that we went with a
• 26:45
  particular, it's called Edmintum Ed options online education
• 26:50
  platform, top by North Carolina certified teachers and then we
• 26:54
  have two teachers there. So we have a full time North
• 26:57
  Carolina certified teacher and a part time North Carolina
• 26:59
  certified teacher. So and it's the only way to that
• 27:03
  we could offer accredited classes.
• 27:04
  So again, kind of looking into the future, right, we didn't
• 27:08
  want one of our students to be in a situation where that
• 27:11
  particular college, if that's what they chose to do said well
• 27:14
  these classes aren't accredited. You're not you can't come here
• 27:18
  or you need to go do this. We didn't want to put the
• 27:20
  student in that position. So that was another reason that
• 27:23
  we went with this particular program to be accredited in that
• 27:27
  way. And so our teacher sits down,
• 27:32
  maps out a program with them, and we start them with two
• 27:34
  classes. And then we this teacher's
• 27:38
  gauge, you know, some of these, you know, they're behind a lot
• 27:42
  of the students are in difficulty focusing or, you
• 27:45
  know, because there's usually like a mental health component
• 27:47
  there too as well. And so they go at their own
• 27:50
  pace. We want them to be successful.
• 27:52
  And so we also tell parents that, well, oh, I want them to
• 27:55
  do honors. AP I'm like, let's start with
• 27:59
  this, right? And let's see how your child
• 28:02
  handles it. We want them to be successful.
• 28:04
  We want to challenge them, but we want them to be successful,
• 28:07
  right? And sometimes that is slow
• 28:09
  because most of the school experiences with these, these
• 28:12
  students have not been good. They've been suspended,
• 28:15
  expelled. You know, they hate school.
• 28:18
  You know, they don't like school.
• 28:19
  They like the idea of our school because, you know, it's cool.
• 28:21
  They realize they're going to do academic work.
• 28:24
  They just don't realize that, you know, when they're not doing
• 28:27
  it yet. So when they know like our
• 28:29
  expectations are here, right. But they're tatable.
• 28:32
  But we're going to work at your own pace we want you to be
• 28:34
  successful and it's that's another transformation that's
• 28:37
  amazing to see and the praise of like Oh my God I did it like I
• 28:41
  got it a exactly. You know, you can do it again
• 28:45
  And then many times they're they're like they can handle the
• 28:48
  regular and so they want more challenging.
• 28:51
  So then we're able to add another class and then it is
• 28:54
  gone. And so, yeah, we've got students
• 28:57
  on honors classes. We have students that are taking
• 28:59
  weight check classes. So it's a, it's a process,
• 29:03
  right. But you know it's like I tell
• 29:04
  parents you may have 20 plus things you want your child to do
• 29:08
  better. But let's do one thing at a
• 29:11
  time. Yeah, absolutely.
• 29:12
  You know are they in recovery check.
• 29:14
  You know are they in school? Check.
• 29:17
  Are they working at on academics?
• 29:19
  Check like one thing at a time. You know, if you want them to
• 29:22
  take, you know, an honors class, let's let's get them there.
• 29:25
  You know, we have the time. Well, and especially like you
• 29:28
  mentioned, I mean, you know, I would imagine a lot of those, a
• 29:31
  lot of those kids do have, you know, they're coming from
• 29:33
  situations where they weren't doing well in school, very
• 29:35
  similar to what you said. And I would assume it probably
• 29:38
  takes some of that to to build up that confidence.
• 29:40
  It's just you know just small bits of success for them to be
• 29:43
  able to start to realize that they can they can do some of
• 29:46
  this right. Yeah.
• 29:48
  It's when one of our students came had who had not been
• 29:52
  successful. I mean it just really had a bad
• 29:55
  attitude towards school doing school work but was willing to
• 29:58
  be there knew they had to do school.
• 29:59
  You know, it's particularly how to do school made an A, came
• 30:03
  down like high 5 Leo. Guess what.
• 30:06
  And so like it's it's again confidence.
• 30:08
  You know, building that confidence of like, yeah, you
• 30:11
  can do anything you set your mind to do, You know, your past
• 30:13
  does not define you. Yeah, absolutely.
• 30:15
  You know what? Look, what you're doing now, how
• 30:17
  awesome is that and building their confidence up to where
• 30:20
  like, OK, I can do that. I can be successful, you know,
• 30:23
  that's fantastic. I can go to college if that's
• 30:25
  what I choose to do, you know. So yeah, it's like I said, it's
• 30:28
  a a transformation of the whole child, not just recovery.
• 30:33
  Yes, this is safe and supportive environment, but they're just so
• 30:35
  many other things that we're, you know, working on that is
• 30:41
  not, it's just like subtle, right, building their
• 30:45
  confidence. But when I tell you like the
• 30:46
  transformation, like the student that they came in to where they
• 30:51
  are now, especially if we've had them, I mean some students we've
• 30:54
  had, you know, a couple of years right now, that's great.
• 30:56
  And to see them what they were to where they are now is yeah,
• 31:02
  it's incredible and it's healing, you know, for me, like
• 31:04
  I said, oh, I can imagine healing.
• 31:06
  Yeah, you know, that's. Amazing, yeah.
• 31:08
  That is amazing. So three years, now 3 years.
• 31:10
  That's amazing. Yeah.
• 31:11
  Had to start a waiting list. Like, we're growing.
• 31:14
  We're growing out of room, right.
• 31:15
  I mean we're we are just like the other day like every room
• 31:19
  was full. And I need to have a private
• 31:21
  conversation like, OK, well, I'll go into a room over here.
• 31:24
  You know that I'm that's part of the churches that's not supposed
• 31:28
  to, you know, not supposed to use.
• 31:29
  But there's nowhere else to go, you know.
• 31:31
  So there's been a few situations I've had to text going sorry,
• 31:34
  but you know how to use the room, which is fine, right?
• 31:38
  But but yeah, it's it's AI guess a good problem to have.
• 31:42
  Yeah, sure. Right.
• 31:43
  I mean, it shows that there's a need and you guys are working to
• 31:45
  fill it, right? Which is great.
• 31:46
  And the students are bringing other students.
• 31:48
  That's amazing. And so that's your best kind of
• 31:51
  referral is when who's actually living the program of the
• 31:54
  students and the parents that they're sharing with other
• 31:58
  families about this program. So then, OK, I'm going to call
• 32:02
  and get some more information. Then it just kind of goes from
• 32:04
  there. That's awesome.
• 32:05
  I love that. So are you guys thinking about
• 32:08
  other locations or things like that in the future or expanding
• 32:10
  where well the ads are open, let's put it that way, the ads
• 32:13
  are open and just actually had a conversation this morning and
• 32:17
  just be on the lookout, you know, I mean, we can make it
• 32:20
  work by by growing, you know, a little bit more, but again, that
• 32:25
  needs stuff, right. So that's where it's not just
• 32:28
  location, is why we have a waiting list.
• 32:30
  I mean really the the main reason is that we're at a point
• 32:33
  where we need to hire more staff and we're just in a in a
• 32:37
  position that we need to do some other things.
• 32:40
  You know as well because you know the majority of our budget
• 32:43
  we have to fundraise now and so that can be that's challenging.
• 32:47
  We have a gala for recovery coming up on November 4th at
• 32:50
  McGregor Downs Country Club. So that's our largest
• 32:52
  fundraiser. So you know, we're going to re
• 32:55
  evaluate after that fundraiser and see where we are.
• 32:58
  You know, we want to continue to grow because the need is great,
• 33:01
  right? You know the need is great and
• 33:04
  you know any opportunity that I can talk about the school.
• 33:07
  So thank you again for giving me this opportunity or go to
• 33:10
  businesses and you know do a short presentation of what is a
• 33:13
  recovery High school opportunities like the
• 33:16
  International Overdose Awareness Day for the 5th year now was
• 33:19
  able to speak and the students were able to speak and share.
• 33:23
  So opportunities like that just to get the word out, I mean,
• 33:26
  even if it's just for awareness, you know, of like this is what a
• 33:29
  recovery high school looks like, right?
• 33:33
  Because there truly needs to be a recovery high school in every
• 33:35
  county and state. I mean honestly.
• 33:37
  I mean that's what I'm thinking as we're sitting here talking is
• 33:40
  that I mean thank thank goodness, right that that you
• 33:42
  guys are here and that we have that that resource here locally.
• 33:45
  But I mean, to your point, I could see where this would be
• 33:48
  valuable. I mean literally everywhere.
• 33:49
  Yeah, everywhere. Yeah, even with the mental
• 33:52
  health. I mean, even if it was just that
• 33:54
  recovery, maybe if it was the mental health.
• 33:55
  I mean that just that these kids need that that one-on-one, you
• 34:01
  know, attention but also the flexibility.
• 34:04
  You know that hey, you know, I can take a break from the
• 34:08
  academics and go talk to recovery coach or I can take a
• 34:11
  break and you know, say hey, can I come over here and you know,
• 34:16
  color, I mean draw, you know, whatever, take a mental health
• 34:19
  break, you know, yes you can and come back to it.
• 34:23
  And so we have the flexibility to do that because we meet the
• 34:26
  students where they are, you know, meet the families where
• 34:29
  they are and we go from there and and each of the staff
• 34:33
  members looks at it at a different lens, you know,
• 34:36
  recovery coaches and recovery knows the walk, right.
• 34:39
  And so he's able to really relate to the students and
• 34:42
  students relating to him. And then even though I'm not
• 34:45
  personally, you know, in recovery, but I am as a family
• 34:48
  member, so I'm able to look at it from that lens as well.
• 34:51
  And then our staff has been touched by addiction in one in
• 34:54
  one way or the other. So we've all been touched by it
• 34:57
  just differently. And so where I'll be able to
• 35:00
  just kind of give our own input as well and very much involved
• 35:04
  in the program. I mean to make this really truly
• 35:08
  work to it also take the staff of being approachable.
• 35:11
  You know that's why I mentioned Leah, like we're not by our last
• 35:14
  names like it's breaking down the barriers, right Leah, you
• 35:19
  know Ian first names being approachable but also showing
• 35:25
  them that we can be vulnerable to.
• 35:27
  So, like, we're staff as part of the check insurance in the
• 35:29
  morning if it's on a topic. I mean, they've seen us cry, you
• 35:33
  know, except Ian. Ian has the only one.
• 35:36
  Watch me laugh about it. But I mean, you know, totally.
• 35:38
  I give him a hard time about that.
• 35:40
  But no, all of us have cried because if we're asking the
• 35:43
  student to be vulnerable about difficult situations in their
• 35:46
  life and we aren't, like, what does that show them?
• 35:51
  So when we break down those barriers and show them like,
• 35:55
  yeah, we've been through trauma too.
• 35:57
  And like, we've been through some hard things in our life,
• 35:59
  too. But this is what we did.
• 36:01
  This is how we overcame it, right?
• 36:04
  And you can too. You know, I remember even
• 36:07
  recently I was talking about purpose, right?
• 36:12
  And what they want to do. And I'm like, what is the, what
• 36:15
  is my purpose in life, you know? And so I was able to shine the
• 36:21
  light on it, going on like, I'm decades, like older than you.
• 36:25
  And I said, I'll be honest with you, I was in like, I loved
• 36:30
  teaching, right? I loved being in the classroom.
• 36:33
  But I was probably 25 years. I remember having this thought,
• 36:37
  25 years in right of teaching and remember distinctly
• 36:43
  thinking, and this was before, right?
• 36:45
  This was before I even thought about recovery.
• 36:46
  High school. What's my purpose?
• 36:48
  Is this what I'm supposed to do with the rest of my life?
• 36:50
  Like when I retire, like, what am I supposed to do?
• 36:53
  I'm not teaching like I'm fairly young, right?
• 36:57
  What's my purpose in life? So by sharing with a student,
• 36:59
  like I was in even a career, still trying to figure out my
• 37:03
  purpose hands down. Do I know my purpose now?
• 37:06
  Absolutely. Like I'm passionate about what
• 37:09
  I'm doing. That's great.
• 37:10
  But I can also look back over my entire life of going of things
• 37:15
  that have liked, helped me get to where I am now, right?
• 37:18
  And so my purpose may not come until like, years later, right?
• 37:22
  And that's OK, right? You know, do something that you
• 37:25
  love, right? And if you're in a yes, this is
• 37:29
  my job. But if you're in a position
• 37:32
  where it's doesn't feel like a job, like you're showing up at
• 37:36
  at work every day, that doesn't feel like work like you, that's
• 37:39
  your purpose. There you go.
• 37:40
  You know, I like that, you know, so that's what we we're able to
• 37:44
  bring to it. So it's it's a collective
• 37:46
  experience, you know, and then the kids bring in, you know,
• 37:50
  their own experiences and helping others and that's an
• 37:52
  amazing thing to see because again, recovery is best in
• 37:54
  community. Absolutely.
• 37:56
  So when you see another peer help another peer and it's like
• 38:00
  it's powerful or lead a group, you know it's it's powerful to
• 38:04
  see. Well, I can imagine that is such
• 38:06
  a big part of it because I mean, I would assume the students and
• 38:09
  just them forming relationships together.
• 38:11
  I mean, that's got to be a big part of it.
• 38:12
  Oh, yeah. Right.
• 38:13
  Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And sometimes specially like if
• 38:19
  we have a, a student that we know, like they're really good
• 38:22
  at art or they're really good at, you know, whatever else.
• 38:26
  Like we can connect students and or work on like hey, can you
• 38:30
  talk to the student a little bit more?
• 38:32
  I think if maybe if you sat down, showed him a few things or
• 38:35
  showed her a few things, like I think they'd really be able to
• 38:38
  help them, you know. And sometimes these kids don't
• 38:41
  let you look at themselves as leaders.
• 38:44
  I know. But then when you're able to
• 38:45
  point down like you are leading right look what you did look,
• 38:49
  you know you did this that is leadership.
• 38:52
  So getting them to look at themselves as cause a lot of
• 38:58
  them are really hard you know that that's that there's a lot
• 39:02
  of been a lot of things that they've been having to work
• 39:05
  through that where they haven't had a very positive self-image
• 39:09
  about themselves. And so being able to kind of
• 39:12
  turn that around of going look when I I know you don't see this
• 39:17
  now but when I when I look at you like I see so much potential
• 39:22
  and this and this look at your you're good at this and you're
• 39:24
  good at this like it's hard for them to see that.
• 39:28
  But again, all what you're doing is just planting the seeds.
• 39:30
  Tonight you're just planting the seeds that you know hopefully
• 39:33
  overtime you know. And that's another reason too
• 39:35
  behind community partners is them being around other adults
• 39:40
  that are, you know, positive role models for them that are
• 39:42
  coming from different careers, some in recovery, some are not,
• 39:47
  right. But sharing their life
• 39:48
  experiences to to help these kids, to plant seeds, to, you
• 39:53
  know, help them, help them see that what we see, right, that
• 39:57
  we're hoping that we're going to get to the point like they see
• 40:01
  that within themselves. And it just takes time, it takes
• 40:04
  time to build that within them, you know?
• 40:08
  That's amazing. Yeah.
• 40:09
  Have you had anybody graduate and kind of move on to the next
• 40:12
  step? Yes, we had our first formal
• 40:14
  graduation this past June, had a graduate.
• 40:17
  We've had another senior graduate actually in August.
• 40:20
  That's awesome. And from that we're developing
• 40:23
  again, looking at that and going, OK, we want them to work
• 40:27
  at their own pace, right? But we can't do like multiple
• 40:32
  graduations like all throughout the year.
• 40:35
  So it was you know, again like reaching out to the associated
• 40:37
  recovery high schools, you know other recovery high schools.
• 40:40
  So how have you done your program and getting their
• 40:42
  feedback, which is how we've developed ours.
• 40:45
  I mean our model is based on other successful recovery high
• 40:48
  schools. So reaching out to them and
• 40:50
  going how have you handled this? And so most recovery high
• 40:54
  schools are part of their school system.
• 40:55
  So that's been a little bit harder to to relate to that.
• 40:58
  But what we and staff came up with is that.
• 41:02
  Most recovery high schools like we'll have one graduation
• 41:04
  ceremony, right? So that we set, we're going to
• 41:08
  have one formal graduation ceremony in June, right?
• 41:12
  But if we can set up our students to finish their WMA
• 41:18
  classes in the fall of their senior year, get enrolled in
• 41:23
  white tech. So they're taking a college
• 41:25
  class, they're earning college credit and several of the
• 41:27
  classes you can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.
• 41:30
  So like if they. You know take a you know college
• 41:32
  credit then it could also count as one of their high school
• 41:35
  credits right. So we we try to set that up best
• 41:39
  way you can. But ideally if we can set up a
• 41:42
  senior to be done with their WMA classes and that December finish
• 41:46
  up a weight tech class, then we have our break right come back
• 41:50
  after you know holiday break in January.
• 41:53
  They would come to check in in the morning, they would do their
• 41:56
  academic classes which now. Would be all way tech classes
• 42:00
  'cause they would have you know, re enrolled for the spring, then
• 42:04
  they leave around 11:30 and go to an internship of a career
• 42:08
  choice that we've helped them figure out with as part of our
• 42:12
  life skills blocks. Great.
• 42:13
  So that's what we just finished up with life skills, did a whole
• 42:16
  lot of things with like career building and looking at like
• 42:20
  your personality. Like these are the
• 42:21
  characteristic that would characteristics that would be
• 42:24
  really good in this these particular fields and really
• 42:27
  have them look at. You know, research that
• 42:31
  particular job. So having an area of interest,
• 42:34
  So that's been another involvement of searching out
• 42:37
  community partners, which we still need, you know, help Ben,
• 42:40
  right, of like you're interested in interior design.
• 42:45
  All right. Let me go see if I can find a
• 42:47
  community partner that would be interested in doing something
• 42:51
  like this. And so this actually just
• 42:54
  happened recently, didn't know this particular.
• 42:58
  She has a community partner now, right?
• 42:59
  But was like a friend from a, you know, through a friend and
• 43:04
  said I would love something, you know, interior design.
• 43:06
  He's very artistic, you know, loves to do things like that,
• 43:10
  you know, what do you think? And so I ended up getting
• 43:13
  connected to this particular, you know, organization and talk
• 43:17
  with the owner and said, hey, we haven't done this before, right?
• 43:21
  But this is what it. What we want it to look like
• 43:24
  would you be open And so she was came in talk with a student and
• 43:28
  when I tell you like the sparkle in his eye and that to see them
• 43:34
  talk back and forth oh this is what I did and this is what you
• 43:37
  do and like the conversations and I'm I'm like that that's
• 43:40
  cool sitting back in my head going this is cool you know to
• 43:43
  see and so hopefully he's going to be doing that you know in the
• 43:47
  spring with her. So that's what we like to do
• 43:50
  with this premise behind it. You know, we're working really
• 43:54
  hard on, yes, recovery education, but it's a scary
• 44:00
  world out there, you know, so how can we slowly transition
• 44:06
  them in before they get that diploma?
• 44:09
  And so this was a great way to go.
• 44:11
  Hey, they're here for recovery support.
• 44:13
  They're doing their academics, but then they as a senior, you
• 44:15
  know the big deal like leave campus.
• 44:19
  Go to a career, you know whatever that internship looks
• 44:22
  like And then when we do have the graduation in June, like
• 44:25
  they they've been out of, they've been connected to WMA.
• 44:30
  But half of their day, they're also like in the real world,
• 44:32
  right. Whatever that looks like for
• 44:34
  them. So that is a program that we're
• 44:36
  developing as we you know, as we speak, you know as a need has a.
• 44:42
  Has arised you know but that arisen but that's what we want
• 44:45
  to do. I mean that's huge you know I
• 44:47
  mean being able to get some I mean internship I think as we
• 44:51
  know I mean colleges are just becoming much more competitive
• 44:53
  and things like that. So I mean just internships in
• 44:55
  general I think, but you give you a good, you know leg up
• 44:58
  there, but also just that that you know on the job training
• 45:02
  type experience and being able to just see what it's like being
• 45:05
  in a work environment, I mean that's just so valuable.
• 45:07
  Yeah, exactly. Exactly so.
• 45:10
  Like we're still working out the details, you know, but to be
• 45:13
  able to go out and shadow something and and this is what
• 45:16
  we say, you may get into that and think that I don't want to
• 45:20
  do anything like this, right. But then guess what, you haven't
• 45:23
  lost. Like you're not two years into a
• 45:25
  degree if that's what you choose and just say I don't want to do
• 45:29
  this. And now you do a complete, you
• 45:31
  know, degree change. And now I've added more time
• 45:33
  like if you can figure that out or or we can help maybe help you
• 45:37
  figure that out now. You're not losing anything.
• 45:40
  Well, all you've done is just gain experience and still earn
• 45:43
  college credit. Still on track to get your
• 45:46
  diploma as originally right, but now you've gained something else
• 45:51
  and so, and that's what we're hoping to do, that's amazing.
• 45:54
  Now if we have a student come in and say, you know, I want to be
• 45:56
  an astrophysicist, then that might be a little bit more
• 45:59
  challenging. I'm like, I was trying to keep
• 46:02
  it within this realm, but you know what would I go out and try
• 46:06
  to. I'm like, you know what if
• 46:07
  that's what you want to do, let me let me see what I can find
• 46:10
  out. Yeah, absolutely.
• 46:10
  You know, who knows? You know, so well, I'll say and
• 46:14
  we can talk a little bit more offline about this.
• 46:15
  But as you're saying that, I mean we would be happy to
• 46:18
  support any way that we could too.
• 46:20
  I mean, if there was somebody that needed an internship or
• 46:23
  something like that that maybe was interested in like the
• 46:25
  mental health or the substance abuse field, we would be happy.
• 46:28
  Well, guess what? I absolutely have a student,
• 46:31
  which I had. She wants to be a nurse, right?
• 46:36
  But she also wants to work in treatment.
• 46:38
  Well, we should. Talk about that.
• 46:40
  Let's talk about that. Yeah.
• 46:42
  And we're close. That's great.
• 46:43
  Yeah. OK.
• 46:44
  I'm excited. I'm excited.
• 46:46
  You never know, right? You never know.
• 46:47
  Yeah. That's awesome.
• 46:48
  Yeah, I'd love. We would love to support that.
• 46:51
  Absolutely. All right.
• 46:52
  Well that offline we will. We'll talk and develop this
• 46:55
  together, right. I love it because when it
• 46:58
  something works out, I know that there'll be.
• 46:59
  The other students that will come up and you know, since
• 47:04
  we're not planning on going anywhere, right, and they'll be
• 47:06
  another nurse or whatever or don't even have to be a nurse,
• 47:09
  could be something else like there, there are different ways
• 47:12
  they can, even if it's the business side.
• 47:14
  How do you run a business, right?
• 47:16
  How do you start a business? You know, there's so many
• 47:19
  different angles that we can look, but that's the value of
• 47:21
  community partners because without the community helping us
• 47:25
  like build. You know this, I don't know
• 47:28
  where we would be. Yeah, absolutely.
• 47:30
  You know, so yeah. Well, Leah, I really appreciate
• 47:34
  you coming in. I do always like to end these.
• 47:36
  I'm kind of developing a little bit of a theme here with this,
• 47:39
  but or a pattern should I say I like to wrap these up with.
• 47:43
  So the the main reason for the podcast is, you know, for to
• 47:45
  provide, you know, education resources for like families or
• 47:49
  anybody that's kind of struggling their self with it
• 47:51
  with an addiction or mental health issue.
• 47:53
  Obviously some professionals watch it as well, but if you
• 47:56
  could leave a potential family member or a potential, you know,
• 47:59
  client or somebody that's struggling with kind of a a
• 48:02
  nugget or something that you wish that they could kind of
• 48:04
  walk away with, what would, what would that thing be?
• 48:08
  Here's what I consistently find, including myself, right?
• 48:12
  Families forget they get so wrapped up in their loved one,
• 48:18
  right? That's struggling, they forget
• 48:20
  about themselves. So even if it's putting out
• 48:23
  like. No one can do recovery for you,
• 48:25
  right? You got to do it for yourself.
• 48:27
  You got to want to do it. Don't do recovery for somebody
• 48:29
  else, right. Do it for yourself.
• 48:31
  And and that look, that could be the whole family like and that
• 48:36
  you can't do it for someone else.
• 48:38
  But to find the resources, you know, find somebody who who gets
• 48:42
  you. Because you know, unless you've
• 48:44
  walked in these shoes, it's very hard to understand, you know?
• 48:51
  What someone's going through, unless they've experienced it,
• 48:54
  you know, even though we all have different journeys, so that
• 48:57
  would probably be my best thing, is you do knee recovery and do
• 49:01
  whatever you can to find that support of what that journey
• 49:05
  looks like for you, right? There's no set path.
• 49:07
  That's perfect. Thank you.
• 49:09
  Thank you. Thank you for having me.
• 49:10
  Yes, thank you so much. I appreciate you coming to chat
• 49:12
  with us and look forward to chatting with you again soon.
• 49:15
  Absolutely. Thank you so much.
• 49:17
  Thank you. All right.
• 49:18
  Bye.