Boulder Creek Academy: Interview with a Survivor, Part 1

[hurrikayne]

Hurrikayne: What is the name of the facility you were in?
Alex: Boulder Creek Academy, in Idaho.

When were you there & how long did you stay?
I was there from June 22, 2007 to June 21, 2008.

Their website states that “Boulder Creek Academy is a safe refuge for at-risk troubled teens.” Do you feel that you were “at-risk” or “troubled”?

I feel that I was troubled, but not ‘at-risk’, whatever that means (assuming you mean cutting, drugs, sex, etc).  I was mildly depressed and had mood swings because of my medication.  Basically, my parents didn’t want to wait out me being on new medication.

They also describe typical students as, “Capable but discouraged by academic struggle; Isolated, low self-esteem; Unable to see consequences of actions; Experimented with drugs and alcohol.” Do you feel these generalizations accurately describe how you were at the time you entered the program?

I would say about 1/3 of the student body is as they described. Some of the people there are INCREDIBLY intelligent.  One kid was doing college calculus from Stanford before he was 18; another is reading books about string theory.

The rest in on the front page.  www.fornits.com

[psy]

Hurrikayne: What is the name of the facility you were in?
Alex: Boulder Creek Academy, in Idaho.

When were you there & how long did you stay?
I was there from June 22, 2007 to June 21, 2008.

Their website states that “Boulder Creek Academy is a safe refuge for at-risk troubled teens.” Do you feel that you were “at-risk” or “troubled”?

I feel that I was troubled, but not ‘at-risk’, whatever that means (assuming you mean cutting, drugs, sex, etc).  I was mildly depressed and had mood swings because of my medication.  Basically, my parents didn’t want to wait out me being on new medication.

They also describe typical students as, “Capable but discouraged by academic struggle; Isolated, low self-esteem; Unable to see consequences of actions; Experimented with drugs and alcohol.” Do you feel these generalizations accurately describe how you were at the time you entered the program?

I would say about 1/3 of the student body is as they described. Some of the people there are INCREDIBLY intelligent.  One kid was doing college calculus from Stanford before he was 18; another is reading books about string theory.

The rest in on the front page.  www.fornits.com

Good job!

A direct link to the article is here for posterity (the front page changes, this links directly to that one article)
http://www.fornits.com/?p=14

[Anonymous]

where is part 2?
thank you

[try another castle]

One of the kids said that all the buildings in Tokyo were made of bamboo, and another believed that Japanese tiger eggs existed.

ROFL!!!! :roflmao:  :roflmao:  :roflmao:  :roflmao:  :roflmao:  :roflmao:  :roflmao:

Let me guess, they went to California public schools.

I love it. My kid is a simpleton, so instead of getting tutoring, Im going to send them to a place that guarantees they will remain stupid.


Is part 2 posted, yet?

Anyway, thanks hurrikayne. It's good to hear testimony about what's going down on the ol cow creek campus farm since UHS took over.


Also interesting to note is that second nature was involved. Didn't caroline wolfe and Jackie guber start that? (before moving on to create new horizons) I get conflicting stories about it.

[Ursus]

...Also interesting to note is that second nature was involved. Didn't caroline wolfe and Jackie guber start that? (before moving on to create new horizons) I get conflicting stories about it.

I thought Second Nature had four founders, but neither she nor Jackie were one of them (though Caroline did - at the least - get involved very early on). I could be wrong, however. The surviving executive lineups for these places generally do see fit to rewrite history in their own favor.  

Caroline Wolf's staff experiences - coast to coast - include at least the following:

• Rocky Mountain Academy (Idaho)
  [li]West Shield Adolescent Services (California)
• Aspen Achievement Academy (Utah)
• Aspen Ranch (Utah)
• Second Nature Wilderness Program (Utah)
• New Horizons Wilderness Program (Maine)
[/li]

See also: Caroline Wolf, an incomplete itinerary through the TTI