Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => CEDU / Brown Schools and derivatives / clones => Topic started by: AuntieEm on September 26, 2007, 02:15:51 PM
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I have a niece in Boulder Creek Academy, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. They are affiliated with at least two other facilities in the area: Ascent and Northwest Academy. Also seems to be some connection to Rocky Mountain Academy. Her parents believe all the marketing.
* Does anyone have experience with BCA they are willing to share? Or relevant info from Ascent or Northwest Academy? Is BCA the same as Rocky Mountain Academy?
* I am particularly interested in what happens after she turns 18. Have you seen them keep adult teens in the program? How? What specific tactics are used to keep 18-year olds in BCA or similar programs?
* Can we expect any support from local law enforcement (Boundary County Sheriff, for example) if we go there when she turns 18?
I appreciate all the information here. My heart goes out to those who went through these programs and felt abandoned and invisible.
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When the program was closed in 2005 it had some element from the infamous Synanon Cult (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synanon) in it. The founder was working with the cult before he started the chain of facilities Boulder Creek is a part of.
The present owner - Universal Health Services - is a huge chain owning many facilities. Here is a list (http://http://www.uhsinc.com/hospitals.php?type=behavioral).
Where the former owner was in the business for the cause the present owner are in it for the money - nothing else.
I am working with the both the history of these lock-ups and their present structure. Here is the page about Boulder Creek. They are keeping their cards close, so it is not very much - yet. But as you can see, I have the exact position on a satellite photo.
http://www.fornits.com/wiki/index.php/B ... ek_Academy (http://www.fornits.com/wiki/index.php/Boulder_Creek_Academy)
The position could help you a little legally, but it is difficult. You can not drive down to the facility and find her and they are not some fundamentalist fools, who drags their detainees of the nearest church like they do other places, so you can not pull a "Kaye" (The story is printed at a compeditor) (http://http://www.caica.org/Estranged%20from%20parents%2012-20-06.htm) on them and that is a shame.
Here is their weekly schedule and there is nothing mentioned about forced church.
http://www.bouldercreekacademy.net/camp ... hedule.pdf (http://www.bouldercreekacademy.net/campus/dailyschedule.pdf)
What she needs is to sign a Emancipation Request if that is possible in Idaho so she can go to juvenile court. See a laywer and if the state laws allow it, sneak near the facility and get those papers signed.
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Thanks for your reply. They may still be using the Synanon model. Former director under CEDU, Paul Johnson, is still the current director, and many staff members were rehired by Universal Health Services.
Are they in it for the money? No doubt. Tuition is $6900/month, and they get all that unpaid student labor, as well.
What she needs is to sign a Emancipation Request if that is possible in Idaho so she can go to juvenile court. See a laywer and if the state laws allow it, sneak near the facility and get those papers signed.
Yes, emancipation documents would at least get a court hearing, but you say "sneak near the facility" -- you think we could get anywhere near her on "campus"? She will be 18 before the end of the year--but I don't think they'll let us see her even then. We're working on finding an attorney in Idaho.
Thanks again. I'll watch your site.
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Is BCA the same as Rocky Mountain Academy?
Rocky Mountain Academy was the first CEDU Idaho campus. It occupied the same space that BCA and NWA do now.
I cold called NWA several months ago, linked here:
http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?t=21142 (http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?t=21142)
Probably most of this information won't be of much help to you, since I talk lingo, such as "raps are now called groups" and "they still have propheets". But all in all, with the exception of the introduction of 12 step, it sounds pretty much the same.
If you really want to know about CEDU culture, I recommend that you read my Post about CEDU lingo (http://http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p=284028&highlight=lingo+thread#284028)
It speaks volumes about what the place is like. (I should probably see about making that a sticky.)
I attended Rocky Mountain Academy, which was, of a sort, a predecessor to the other two schools. RMA did still exist simultaneously when CEDU and Brown owned them, but it moved to Naples when NWA took over the main lodge on the cow creek campus, I believe.
RMA no longer exists. NWA, BCA and Ascent are the three schools that remain of the CEDU legacy.
As to her recourse when she turns 18, well... by then she might be so brainwashed that she wants to stay. I know I did. Back when I was there, to my knowledge, if someone was 18, they could walk out, but RMA sure as fuck wouldn't help them with that. They had to get the hell out of there on their own two feet and walk the several miles to Bonners Ferry to call someone.
I'm not sure about the sheriff's department. I know that they always returned runaways if they caught them, but not sure what they would do if someone was 18. I don't think they could do anything.
Someone recounted a story of the local sheriff finally getting up the curiosity to ask to sit in on a rap to find out what the hell the school was all about. After he did, he said he would never send any kid back to that place. I have no idea if that story is true or not. I can't even remember who on this board mentioned it, and the search function doesn't seem to be working too much any more.
Good luck, Em. I hope you can get her out of there. It's a shame when parents buy the propaganda. The scary thing is, most of the times, the kids help to spread it because they are under the influence of the program, or they are being intimidated and threatened to put up a good front.
In addition, her mail and phone calls are most likely being monitored and censored, so she probably wouldn't even be able to tell anyone on the outside anything negative about the place, and if she does, the faculty will tell her parents that she is being lying and manipulative.
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Consult with a family lawyer in the state in which your niece's parents reside. If they were to seek extended protective custody -- usually until age 21 unless your niece has a substantial psychiatric history, including many inpatient hospitalizations -- they would file in their home state. If they do not seek, or are not granted protective custody (usually termed by the section in the state's legal code e.g., Section 7 & 8), your niece will be free to walk off the campus on the day she turns 18. They will not hold her against her will after she turns 18 unless the school has legal protection against liability.
Best, M
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I have a niece in Boulder Creek Academy, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. They are affiliated with at least two other facilities in the area: Ascent and Northwest Academy. Also seems to be some connection to Rocky Mountain Academy. Her parents believe all the marketing.
* Does anyone have experience with BCA they are willing to share? Or relevant info from Ascent or Northwest Academy? Is BCA the same as Rocky Mountain Academy?
* I am particularly interested in what happens after she turns 18. Have you seen them keep adult teens in the program? How? What specific tactics are used to keep 18-year olds in BCA or similar programs?
* Can we expect any support from local law enforcement (Boundary County Sheriff, for example) if we go there when she turns 18?
I appreciate all the information here. My heart goes out to those who went through these programs and felt abandoned and invisible.
I left BCA 5 years ago, before the change in ownership to UHS, but I can tell you a little about the issue of extended custody as it pertains to BCA students. I remember a few of my friends turning 18 there, and this is the story I got from them...
- BCA's staff will do everything they can to pressure the parents to pursue extended custody in court. For some of them, their jobs depend on it.
- The legal system in Idaho is very fond of ruling in favor of the parents in extended custody cases. When I was there, the judge that EC cases in that county would go before was well known for his support of the program and would grant extended custody almost 100% of the time.
- Of my friends that battled EC in court, only 1 of 11 won, and that was because one of his parents had a legal record.
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I went to tour Boulder Creek Academy a few months ago. Their campus is fairly open and you can drive up with no problems. I was touring it to see about placing my son and they took me through the whole facility and among the students. If you were to take a tour, you would almost certainly encounter your relative.
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what MADE them want to send your niece there? I mean was she out of control, did they not know how to handle her adolescence? I'm not asking these questions to be condescening in the least. I went to BCA from 96-99. The things that I was doing, was normal to me, not my mother. I was involved in a gang, I drank, I skipped school, I fought, I got kicked out of every school in the district within a 3 month timeline. But it was MY counselor who found BCA and helped her to believe that it was the thing to do. I DID thank her however, for NOT sending me to Provo Canyon School even after we watched the "video" on it.
So what IS it? I mean, there are things that are normal for teenagers to grow through. It is part of life, growing AND education. But to just give up and throw them to these schools is what is going to make them worse coming out. I never snorted more coke in my life than I did when I came out. Simply for the fact that I couldn't keep friends in the real world seeing as how I was TAUGHT and TRAINED to speak "deeply, and with emotion" with people. I'm not blaming the school on my going back to drugs and having a heavier problem then when I got sent there, but I DO blame them for making me feel abnormal, weird, sick, demented, and giving me NO transition back into the real world where people simply don't give a damn about your 'feelings' even if they just shot you.
I have a four year old son, who is already growing over 4 feet tall, with size 12 kids shoes and has biceps, triceps, pecs and wing muscles, DEFINED! I EXPECT him to cause problems, to get in trouble and maybe even occasionaly fight. I WILL NOT condone him acting out, but we ALL did it as teenagers. It will continue to the end of time. The only thing we have ANY control over is HOW they approach situations, view them and either walk away or at least know and CARE ABOUT the consequences from their desicions, good or bad.
I would like to apologize for my tangent ONLY IF someone took offense to this. But I DO NOT apologize for my opinion. We, as parents, coming from an alumni of BCA, CEDU, LIFE, need to be MORE involved with our children and not pawn them off on someone else who will 'fix' the children who are not broken to begin with.
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If you really want to know about CEDU culture, I recommend that you read my Post about CEDU lingo
This was very helpful, "try another castle," thank you, as were the rest of your comments.
Thanks also to "mad," "d7" and "guest" for detailed advice.
Re extended custody, looks like I need to find out where this issue would be decided--in her home state or in Idaho.
AuntieEm
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To "If u want to know...":
what MADE them want to send your niece there? I mean was she out of control, did they not know how to handle her adolescence?
I've gotten nervous about BCA people reading this, so I will have to go easy on the details.
Yes, I think they did not know how to handle her adolescence. She was not having problems (that I knew of) with drugs, gangs, trouble with the law. She was having emotional problems that I would classify as normal for a young person who had had traumatic events in her life. When I was around her, she seemed a very normal teenager. We assumed she was a good kid, treated her that way, and we saw no behavior problems. Ever. Parents reported a lot of problems at home and school with grades and emotional outbursts. (And so why is that? What is troubling her?) Parents had their own significant problems and I think they were just in over their heads. An educational consultant (grrrrrrrr) recommended a RTC, maybe BCA specifically, not sure.
Of course they told no one, no one, that they were going to do this. I think several family members would gladly have welcomed her into their homes. Parents never asked, never mentioned anything about this decision before it was a fait accompli, over, history, a done deal. No communication or home visits allowed since, for a very, very long time.
When she comes home, I want her to have a good and happy life--free, unfettered. My god, we all want this. I fear that she will have difficulty with the transition, as you describe about your own experience. I want her to have the liberties she's been robbed of. I also want her to be safe, and know I will worry about that--don't know what to expect. I made mistakes in my youth--still do!--and there were consequences, but nobody sent me away. I can only imagine how abandoned she must feel.
Children live in occupied territory. -- P.D. James
AuntieEm
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Don't get nervous about BCA people reading this. YOU'RE not the one who sent her away rather, the ONLY one doing the research that says to me "I love my niece". I honestly believe her parents gave up. Which is what will hurt later. My mom told she was saving my life and in MY situation she probably was. I don't think I would have made it to 15 had I not taken a 'vacation' from the streets. However, the longer I was there, the more I saw kids come in who 'couldn't make friends easily' or who were 'emotional teenagers'. OF COURSE they are emotional. HELLO, HORMONES! :lol:
I comend you for speaking up on THIS forum though. No matter what the opinion is that is being verbalized, it is REAL to that person, their experience and feelings. So read what people write, take this back to your nieces parents, educate the FUCKIN therapist who apparently doesn't know their job very well! One person may not change the world, but they may change another person who might!
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How long were people kept from communicating with family other than parents? How long without home visits?
AuntieEm
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Well lets see, it was 3 weeks before I could speak with my mom. 2 months before they let her come visit me, two years until I got to go home
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How long were people kept from communicating with family other than parents? How long without home visits?
AuntieEm
The way it worked when I was at RMA, you couldn't communicate with other family members until you went through the brother's keeper propheet. But my memory may be wrong about that.
The brothers keeper is still one of the propheets they have there, but I don't know when it is, because their curriculum is accelerated to about 17 months, isn't it? We had ours at around our third month in the quest family, so that would be nine months into the program.
In addition, this doesn't mean that the kid could just call any family member they wanted to. That family member had to be approved by staff first.
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it's important to remember that it is forbidden to speak to any family members (including and especially parents) after any of the profeets. This is done very purposefully and the reasons are manyfold.
I also wanted to mention that siblings of the same age rarely were given communication rights. Most of the time letter writing agreements could be extended to grandparents and that was about it for the first year. After the first home visit or two I could contact most of my adult family but I'd have to wait until I could writie the selected friends before I could contact cousins.
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it's important to remember that it is forbidden to speak to any family members (including and especially parents) after any of the profeets. This is done very purposefully and the reasons are manyfold.
I also wanted to mention that siblings of the same age rarely were given communication rights. Most of the time letter writing agreements could be extended to grandparents and that was about it for the first year. After the first home visit or two I could contact most of my adult family but I'd have to wait until I could writie the selected friends before I could contact cousins.
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I had trouble accessing the site this weekend and panicked. I can't tell you what it means to me to be able to ask straight questions and get straight answers from you all. And to browse through information here that helps me put the pieces together.
I seem to have a mountain of general research and until now no specific information. It seems very easy for other family members to look at the horror stories, or the academic papers about the ineffectiveness of such programs, and say, "But that can't be happening to her," and "Her father has the right to decide." They just don't want to believe it--while I sit here with my hair on fire, urging action. So to have specific information about BCA/RMA/Ascent is really appreciated.
And thanks for the pep talk!
Was the girl emotional before being sent away? Yes. She had significant and valid reasons for being royally pissed off at the world. And in adolescense, this can be accompanied by explosive outbursts. Hello hormones, as you say. The family situation is very complex, undoubtedly confusing for a teen. And in complex family systems, one person often gets singled out as "the problem," because it's easier than dealing head-on with bigger challenges like a parent's drug and alcohol addiction.
Here's something to gnaw on:
Her father is not fulfilling his duties as a parent; he has abdicated them. He is not helping her with homework, taking her to the doctor, meeting and screening boys/girls who want to date her, taking her shopping, listening to her sucesses and failures, teaching her to drive, comforting when her heart's been broken, visiting colleges with her. He has signed over his parental responsibilities to strangers. He is writing checks ($200K is a lot of guilt, no?). He may have been her father at one time, but BCA is Big Daddy now.
AuntieEm
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Only her Nana has been allowed to send a few letters - that started after more than a year in the program. No replies from her have been received. No home visits have happened, or are being discussed.
Once letters were allowed from certain people, do you think you received all that were sent to you? Reflecting on what you now know, do you think they were arriving at the facility and not being given to you? Did you receive them unopened? Was communication still controlled in this manner past age of 18?
Communicating with her has become a very central concern (among many huge concerns).
AuntieEm
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1. You can expect the communication to be nil for most family members and few and far between (and monitored) with parents. All of us BS'd are parents on phone because we had to. The emotional barrage was too great to withstand, and we knew they'd lie to parents about us if we complained. And they did.
2. If intense verbal and emotional abuse is the treatment that the parents are seeking, look no further. It is not a therapeutic program. They will never really know what their daughter is subjected to. And she will learn the hard way to keep her lips zipped and spout the program line in order to survive. In fact, she'll end up adopting whatever storyline about herself they create and spend decades with a self concept that was never accurate. Hell, they had virgins convinced they were sluts, and teetotalers convinced they were druggies. It's not unlikely she will internalize the message, drink the KoolAid, graduate singing its praises, but experience a deep emotional disconnect that never goes away and gnaws away at her...
Go to the ISAC website (google it), and read the list of what entails a cult type "school." I think Maya may have posted a similar checklist in her book Help at Any Cost. It also includes Red Flags that may seem benign at first. Print it and give it to parents.
PS. Tell Pops his 200, 000 would be better spent spending time with her, getting to know her, believing in her, supporting her dreams and goals. Maybe he should go to a program to learn to be a loving parent.
Well, at least she has you.
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explains that her life was probably saved because she was on the streets... and yes, her circumstances were extreme enough that being warehoused at least kept her alive. In her case, she may honestly say her life was spared. But does that mean it was a good program? No. Because she still had to endure an emotionally abusive, psychologically twisted cult environment to be "saved." Imagine if she had a safe place to go that was nurturing, that was staffed by real therapists who kept safe boundaries and encouraged you to do the same? A place that helped prepare you for a real world?
The fall out from these programs take YEARS to understand, let alone sift through.
Maybe the new BCA is an improvement, but if it employs the same people, who followed a cultic model, I would think not. Most of these programs that are shut down simply acquire a new name, and keep old practices. You know: same shit, new name. It still stinks.
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Only her Nana has been allowed to send a few letters - that started after more than a year in the program. No replies from her have been received. No home visits have happened, or are being discussed.
Once letters were allowed from certain people, do you think you received all that were sent to you? Reflecting on what you now know, do you think they were arriving at the facility and not being given to you? Did you receive them unopened? Was communication still controlled in this manner past age of 18?
Communicating with her has become a very central concern (among many huge concerns).
AuntieEm
where was the girl before bca reopened in january? Was it a similar school? you sad you have not heard from her in a yr.
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She has been at BCA since last summer (you say January--do you mean they reopened in January 2006?), and was at a wilderness school before that. I'd rather not say which wilderness program at this time so as to preserve her anonymity. Apparently a very typical scenario to be sent to a wilderness program, then parents are told the child's condition is more serious and requires long-term care at a boarding school. Sent by escort service, of course.
Sorry to be evasive on details. Have to be for now.
AuntieEm
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Universal Health Services acquired Boulder Creek Academy sometime after April 2005. But many of the same staff were reportedly rehired. I am interested in which ones may still be on staff.
Do these people look familiar to you from CEDU/Brown days, before April 2005?
1. Paul Johnson, School Director
2. Shawnale Wilson, Admissions Director
3. Brian Daskivich, Ph.D., Psychologist, Dean of Students & Assistant School Director
4. Teresa Tompkins, Family Services Manager
5. Marjorie Timms, Ph.D., Academic Dean
Also, new in the last month:
6. Dr. Bruce Miewald, M.D. - Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (used to be Dr. George J. Ullrich)
Any stories about/experiences with these people (before or since)?
AuntieEm
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Could Fornits change this thread name to "CEDU/Brown/Universal Health Services Schools", by any chance? It would help others who do not know the history.
AuntieEm
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Did you receive them unopened?
No. All mail is opened, going both ways. All phone conversations have an older student present and are limited to 15 minutes once a week. If you write something negative about the school, they won't send it out. They will give it back to you and ask you to re-write it, if memory serves. If you start talking shit on the phone that you are not supposed to, such as ask about your friends, or family members who you don't have to the privilege to speak with yet, or talk negatively about how the school is treating you, the older student monitoring you will force you to end the phone call.
I honestly don't know what they do for mail they receive that you are not permitted to have.
When I was there, we gained the "privilege" to seal our own mail and make unmonitored calls after the Values propheet, which is when you reach the upper part of the challenge family. I remember that it was an election year, and it was going to be my first year ever to vote. I officially had "sealed-envelope" privileges, so I put my absentee ballot in the mailbox to be sent. Then I went on my wilderness challenge. Fifteen days later, I come back. It's the night before the election, and my fucking ballot is still in the mailbox in the challenge mudroom, apparently because it was an unidentifiable type of envelope, so the tard-heads in challenge staff weren't capable of wrapping their brains around the fact that someone from Rocky Mountain Academy MIGHT ACTUALLY BE VOTING.
I grab it and go and scream at Greg Springett to drive my ballot down to Bonners Ferry and put it in the post office mailbox NOW. That was the only time I got really really pissed about the mail situation. Can anyone say federal offense on two counts? 1. Tampering with the mail. 2. Tampering with a ballot.
Doesn't matter anyway. It was Bush vs. Dukakis. Yeah, right.
The other thing is, a lot of times, the kid won't say anything because they really don't *want* to say anything. They think the school is the best thing that ever happened to them. My parents were more than just a little surprised when I told them that the place was so fucked up. Their response was "but you looked so happy."
For the record, they know how I feel about the place now, and that it was a shit-hole. Whether they agree with it or not, I dunno. But I won't go into detail with them about what happened there, because it would break their hearts. Or at least, I hope it would. I mean, I hope they are the kind of people who would be horrified that they inadvertently put their child through that, you know?
I don't know anything about this new doc, but it's good that Ulrich is gone, because he was a greedy quack who just wanted to dope up kids and get a lot of money by referring them to his own private treatment facility for $1000 a day until he felt they were "better enough" to return to the school.
For the record, I was there before CEDU started using meds. I'm going off of others' testimony on this. In fact, when I was there, I don't think there was one single person who had any kind of license that would allow them to counsel kids. They were very anti-med, anti-science, anti-psychology, type people. i.e. fuckin buncha birkenstock-wearing granola-eating hippies who got hard-ons listening to james taylor, john denver, carole king and the plastic ono band album.
I also checked with admissions when I called NWA a while back. She said that almost all of the people who were around when I was there have moved on. Even Patsy Thompson, who was pretty much a fixture from inception to closing.
Also, they said that at least for the NWA program, which is only supposed to be a year long, ALL students must attend some sort of wilderness school before going there. My guess it that would be the same for BCA. I know that she said it did not have to be Ascent, which is the CEDU wilderness school, so I am assuming they can be sent to SUWS, or SageWalk, or other such nonsense. So essentially, every kid coming into NWA, and I would assume BCA as well, just came off wilderness.
And of course... now they have also introduced 12 step. Brilliant. Let's mix two cults into one. Especially because so many kids who go to these places are convinced by staff that they are druggies or drunks when they aren't. Ironically enough, a lot of them come out, and start using drugs like a fiend, when it never even crossed their minds before they got shipped off to that place.
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Kids who were sent to BCA that didn't drink or smoke or touch any kind of drugs had it pretty rough. This will obviously sound brash and doesn't reflect how I feel personally, but the general thinking was that if you were sent there for some other reason, you were either a slut (and obviously female...) or you had serious social problems. Either way, you'd catch a ton of shit. A lot of kids caught onto it pretty quickly and would just straight up lie - I remember this one kid being asked what his favorite kind of weed was and answering "salvia" hahaha.
But yea basically I can only imagine that after 2 years or so of pretending to be an ex-drug user or being picked on for NOT being an ex-drug user, or for one of the million other reasons (piqued curiosity, bottled up aggression, the fact that trying to reintegrate into the real world after being literally incarcerated is overwhelming and extremely stressful...) one would be pretty inclined to spark up their very first blunt or kick back that very first bottle of Jack. I know a lot of kids who went to BCA 100% clean and then started hitting things pretty heavily when they got out. I smoke blunts with one regularly.
Kids would show up not knowing the difference between an O'Douls and a beer, and by the time they left they knew how to brew alcohol in a storage tub under their bed. The fuck do you think is gonna happen when they get home? They combine their newly acquired knowledge, curiosity and frustrations with their long-awaited freedom...the rest is inevitable.
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Universal Health Services acquired Boulder Creek Academy sometime after April 2005. But many of the same staff were reportedly rehired. I am interested in which ones may still be on staff.
Do these people look familiar to you from CEDU/Brown days, before April 2005?
1. Paul Johnson, School Director
2. Shawnale Wilson, Admissions Director
3. Brian Daskivich, Ph.D., Psychologist, Dean of Students & Assistant School Director
4. Teresa Tompkins, Family Services Manager
5. Marjorie Timms, Ph.D., Academic Dean
Also, new in the last month:
6. Dr. Bruce Miewald, M.D. - Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (used to be Dr. George J. Ullrich)
Any stories about/experiences with these people (before or since)?
AuntieEm
I only remember that Teresa Tompkins is one of the most manipulative, devious individuals I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. She is truly nothing but a coil of various lies; she'll do and say anything to keep enrollment up. She actually assisted in trying to block my enrollment in another boarding school (one of the "ivy league feeders" back home in MA) and thus directly derail my future in hopes of keeping my parents paying tuition for another 6 months...
Shawnale was there long before I was. I can picture her now touring my parents around while I was taking advantage of their 3-day absence to throw what would be my last party as a normal high school kid. Can't really gripe about her, other than the fact that she was probably the most effective in convincing my parents to enroll me there...
I never met Timms, I just remember that I spoke to her when the school closed down about getting my transcripts...not only was she absolutely no help but she was a royal bitch on the phone. Academic dean was a pretty worthless position at BCA anyways, I could've taught myself the entire school's curriculum out of a handful of textbooks over the course of a month or two anyways. And that's not me being cocky, anyone could've done it.
BCA's website loves to flaunt its "94% success rate" (hey, at least they had the balls to update it when it dropped from 95%), but I crunched my own numbers and found that about 7% percent of people who spent over 12 months at BCA actually go on to college...
Less than 5% actually finish.
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I grab it and go and scream at Greg Springett to drive my ballot down to Bonners Ferry and put it in the post office mailbox NOW. That was the only time I got really really pissed about the mail situation. Can anyone say federal offense on two counts? 1. Tampering with the mail. 2. Tampering with a ballot.
Doesn't matter anyway. It was Bush vs. Dukakis. Yeah, right.
All elections, all votes, matter. I'm appalled they did not respect your ballot.
ALL students must attend some sort of wilderness school before going there. My guess it that would be the same for BCA.
This was true for my niece. Not sure about chicken v. egg. We were given to believe the wilderness program (not a CEDU affiliate) was it, then she'd come home--then at the end of that we were told she would be going to BCA. Don't know if BCA insisted on the wilderness program.
Ironically enough, a lot of them come out, and start using drugs like a fiend, when it never even crossed their minds before they got shipped off to that place.
Yes, I worry about this. This system, this program, this isolation does not provide the normal, gradual transition to adult choices and responsiblities that she would have in a home environment. Sure, this is what parents and kids have conflicts over, but that's growing up. I will not be surprised if she runs wild when she comes home--I would be very concerned for her safety and vulnerability, but not surprised.
AuntieEm
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I never met Timms, I just remember that I spoke to her when the school closed down about getting my transcripts...not only was she absolutely no help but she was a royal bitch on the phone. Academic dean was a pretty worthless position at BCA anyways, I could've taught myself the entire school's curriculum out of a handful of textbooks over the course of a month or two anyways. And that's not me being cocky, anyone could've done it.
How real is the threat to withhold transcripts?
BCA is now "provisionally accredited" to grant a HS diploma in Idaho. The provisional part is because of the change of ownership. Accreditation in Idaho is now handled not by the Dept of Ed, but by an outside entity: Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (a recent development). I am trying to confirm with local school districts whether they will accept credits from BCA. But they'll probably ask for a document or transcript, and then I'll be at a dead end because I am not her parent.
AuntieEm
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Thanks to Guest for specific info on staff at BCA.
But yea basically I can only imagine that after 2 years or so of pretending to be an ex-drug user or being picked on for NOT being an ex-drug user, or for one of the million other reasons (piqued curiosity, bottled up aggression, the fact that trying to reintegrate into the real world after being literally incarcerated is overwhelming and extremely stressful...) one would be pretty inclined to spark up their very first blunt or kick back that very first bottle of Jack.
I remember my first semester at college it was the kids who had come from the strictest homes--classic examples were the children of clergy--who were the wildest. Had to watch out for them so they didn't go home drunk with some pervert.
I hope my niece can go to college and be successful. I wish I could be more optimistic about her chances.
AuntieEm
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I never met Timms, I just remember that I spoke to her when the school closed down about getting my transcripts...not only was she absolutely no help but she was a royal bitch on the phone. Academic dean was a pretty worthless position at BCA anyways, I could've taught myself the entire school's curriculum out of a handful of textbooks over the course of a month or two anyways. And that's not me being cocky, anyone could've done it.
How real is the threat to withhold transcripts?
BCA is now "provisionally accredited" to grant a HS diploma in Idaho. The provisional part is because of the change of ownership. Accreditation in Idaho is now handled not by the Dept of Ed, but by an outside entity: Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (a recent development). I am trying to confirm with local school districts whether they will accept credits from BCA. But they'll probably ask for a document or transcript, and then I'll be at a dead end because I am not her parent.
AuntieEm
I don't know that it's such a real threat, it was more a reflection of how unwilling Marjorie Timms is to help out ex-students. Not only was it ages before I could get my transcripts sent to colleges, but I ended up having to forge my own recommendation letters because all the BCA staff kept blowing me off when it came to writing one for me. The transcript process took so incredibly long that I missed the application deadline for fall admission and had to wait to apply for the spring.
When I was there, BCA had no one who assisted with the college admissions process, no real SAT prep programs (there was a 6-year-old book in the library with some outdated prep strategies, that was it), and no one advising you on which schools to apply to and when to start doing it. The curriculum only taught 2 years of math (geometry and algebra 2, no trig, no pre-calc, nothing...) and only 3 years of english (most colleges have minimum requirements of 4 years for both, sometimes the 3 years of english would suffice but NEVER the 2 years of math).
Bottom line, just don't expect to get any semblance of an education for your kid if you send them to BCA. I'm tired of arguing with people over the cost vs. benefit of the emotional growth aspect of the program. But there is simply no argument when it comes to the academics; by sending your kid to BCA, you're pretty much pitching their academic future away.
What do you expect from a place where smiling at the cute girl in your US History class will get you banished from the classroom for a week to work on the farm...
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How real is the threat to withhold transcripts?
BCA is now "provisionally accredited" to grant a HS diploma in Idaho. The provisional part is because of the change of ownership. Accreditation in Idaho is now handled not by the Dept of Ed, but by an outside entity: Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (a recent development). I am trying to confirm with local school districts whether they will accept credits from BCA. But they'll probably ask for a document or transcript, and then I'll be at a dead end because I am not her parent.
AuntieEm
In some parts of the States Northwest is regarded as a diploma-mill. A WWASP was fined HEAVILY because they issued Northwest diplomas in New York. Perhaps Idaho is not so interested in quality but in quantity instead.
See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_ ... ed_Schools (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Association_of_Accredited_Schools)
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_at_Ivy_Ridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_at_Ivy_Ridge)
http://calbears.findarticles.com/p/arti ... _n14604073 (http://calbears.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050427/ai_n14604073)
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I hope my niece can go to college and be successful. I wish I could be more optimistic about her chances.
Don't give up hope. I went to college right after RMA. (No thanks to them.) The first year, a small liberal arts school in Virginia (because I felt that it would be "more rounded", thanks to RMA bullshit ideology.)
Halfway through my stay there, I realized that I hated it, updated my portfolio on my own time, applied as a transfer student and got into Syracuse University, which has one of the top ten fine arts programs in the country.
Again, no thanks to RMA. I wish I could say there is a formula for deprogramming yourself, but as far as I know, there is no pattern. If you are smart, there is no guarantee that you will be able to pull yourself out of it right away. I guess if anything, it takes tenacity and guts to go for what you want to do in life... and possibly if your identity is so directly oppositional to the program, that it bites you in the ass on the way out and you have to deal with it. All of ours was, but mine was *particularly* opposite... and having to face it eventually was non-negotiable.
I was lucky in that I am an artist, so I already had a goal and a direction... well before RMA ever entered into the picture, and I was able to get my shit together enough to attend college, even before I was completely deprogrammed.
Sure, I drank in college, smoked a little weed, did dex once, but altogether, my recreational narcotic use has always been rather tame, with the exception of some chronic weed smoking during the turn of the millenium, which had some serious adverse affects on my depression. Now, I only smoke on vacation.
I think that the worst long term symptoms I have suffered as a result of RMA are things such as attachment issues (which were pre-existing, but exacerbated by the program), arrested development, socialization problems, social paranoia/hyper-vigilance, self-hatred/poor self-image, self-absorption (case in point, this post, which is all about me. But I wanted to give you an example of one survivors' post-program story), narcissistic/borderline tendencies, and sexual dysfunction.
I know that sounds bad, but it could be worse, and I work on these issues constantly in an effort to transcend and heal. I'm higher functioning than I've been in a long time. As one of my best friends said: "Jonathan, you are the most well-adjusted fucked up person I know."
I took that as a compliment.
The fact of the matter is. People struggle. Everyone has problems. Some problems are weirder than others, but never underestimate the cussedness of a human being. We are tough little bitches.
I would be lying if I said I was successful. I have struggled, partially because painting majors aren't really in high demand in the job market, and I realized after college that the fine arts scene in San Francisco was a bunch of pretentious, self-masturbatory bullshit that was only worth the free buffet and the boxed wine at show openings. Did some temp work, got fired a lot, went to school for programming, got a good but grueling job, kind of fell apart and went on disability for bipolar, am now back in school for the third time as an animator, and plan to get a job in this ultra competitive field when I graduate in two quarters.
It's taken me about 18 years to get here, but I'm here, and here is good.
I'll end up in film credits eventually.
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I think that the worst long term symptoms I have suffered as a result of RMA are things such as attachment issues (which were pre-existing, but exacerbated by the program), arrested development, socialization problems, social paranoia/hyper-vigilance, self-hatred/poor self-image, self-absorption (case in point, this post, which is all about me. But I wanted to give you an example of one survivors' post-program story), narcissistic/borderline tendencies, and sexual dysfunction.
I know that sounds bad, but it could be worse, and I work on these issues constantly in an effort to transcend and heal. I'm higher functioning than I've been in a long time. As one of my best friends said: "Jonathan, you are the most well-adjusted fucked up person I know."
I took that as a compliment.
The fact of the matter is. People struggle. Everyone has problems. Some problems are weirder than others, but never underestimate the cussedness of a human being. We are tough little bitches.
I would be lying if I said I was successful. I have struggled, partially because painting majors aren't really in high demand in the job market, and I realized after college that the fine arts scene in San Francisco was a bunch of pretentious, self-masturbatory bullshit that was only worth the free buffet and the boxed wine at show openings. Did some temp work, got fired a lot, went to school for programming, got a good but grueling job, kind of fell apart and went on disability for bipolar, am now back in school for the third time as an animator, and plan to get a job in this ultra competitive field when I graduate in two quarters.
It's taken me about 18 years to get here, but I'm here, and here is good.
If you see any films with Jonny Possibly in the credits, that's me. I'll be there eventually.
I enjoyed this post, thank you. I agree that people can be amazingly resilient, and this gives me hope. I wish you all the best and will watch for your filmwork.
AuntieEm
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Have you all seen this on the BCA web site?
BCA students have ventured to:
Belize -- Marine Life and Ancient Ruins
Stone Hill, MT -- Rock Climbing
Washington D.C. -- "Presidential Classroom"
Alaska -- Exploring the Interior
San Juan Islands -- Sailing
Olympic Peninsula -- Flora & Fauna
Salmon River -- River Rafting
Mt. Rainer -- Hiking
Priest Lake -- Kayaking
Flat Head Indian Reservation -- Cultural Experience
Montana Dinosaur Dig -- Archeology
Idaho Backcountry Ski -- "Cat Ski/Snowboard"
Glacier National Park -- Hiking
Selkirk & Cabinet Mountains -- Backcountry Skiing/Hiking/"Brother's Quest"
Chimney Rock -- Alpine Rock Climbing
Did any of you go on any trips like this? I haven't read any posts that suggest this was offered.
AuntieEm
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i went to:
Selkirk & Cabinet Mountains -- Backcountry Skiing/Hiking/"
Chimney Rock -- Alpine Rock Climbing
Washington D.C. -- "Presidential Classroom"
a few others I'd heard of.
But the important point here is the general rule of thumb - 'anything exciting is only for the select few aka the 'teacher's pets" allstars'.
The ski trip lists that were read off every Sunday and Tuesday night were the biggest build up and let down for kids that loved skiing. Students that arrived to RMA and loved skiing often were limited to going 1 time during their whole stay. Nerds who never had been skiing before RMA may have ended up going on 5+ trips during their stay. Now that's not to say nerdy kids shouldn't try skiing at RMA or anywhere else but if you want to really fucking piss of some students for no reason or good reason that's a great method. Talk about generating senseless animosity angst and frustration - that's reason enough to split right there.
this was RMA 89'
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The wilderness expeditions could take place in several locations. Mostly the selkirk and cabinet mountains, which is where my first two expeditions were. However, there was one during my stay that took place on the olympic peninsula and in the canadian rockies. In addtion, my final expedition was in the owyhee desert in southern idaho. While I was there, everyone went on all four expeditions as they progressed through the school. Orientation (one day), final discovery (four days), final quest (six days), and wildnerness challenge (10+ days). There was also the option of the Ishi, but that was for the privileged few, hand-picked by Dan and Carmen Earle.
I will say that the expeditions, at least when I was there, differed greatly from wilderness schools or programs such as CEDU's own Ascent, or Catherine Freer, Northstar, etc. The main difference being that the staff knew what they were doing, were skilled trackers, and were constantly making sure we were hydrated and kept warm.
Sure, the expeditions were still tainted with the ideology of the school, and we actually had raps out in the woods to get rid of our "grievances". (Camping brings out the worst in everyone, let me tell you.) That was a suckfest. But all in all, it was much much mellower than being trapped back on campus, and I think it's because the staff kind of viewed it as a break for themselves as well. I liked them, because I was away from the school. The only time of respite I ever had while there was on my four day solo because I didn't have to be around any of those fuckers. It was awesome. I could go to sleep when I wanted, get up when I wanted, eat when I wanted, beat off as many times as I wanted in total privacy, and I didn't have to do a damn bit of work. I could just hang out all day and lay in the sun. I was one of the few people in my peer group who was totally bummed to come off of it and meet back up with everyone.
However, camping without the program (and my obnoxious peer group) would have been nicer.
I don't know about the whole skiing thing, dishduty. I've been skiing since I was five, was an avid skiier, and got to go on a lot of trips. Although I was also dorky and nerdy. However, there were those who weren't that way and went. Remember Roland? If memory serves, he went all the damn time, and he was a total dick while he was there and never followed the program fully. So did Hunter, I believe.
I'm pretty much critical of all the staff there, but I remember Twila would be cool to me. (Despite the fact that she moved on to become an escort.) I just remember one time feeling really down and upset, and she pulled me aside and said, "How would you like to go on a ski trip tomorrow?" I said "I don't know if I should. I really need to talk to Lyn in a rap and get some shit out of the way." She said "You can do that in the next rap. You're going skiing."
Yeah, I know. I was ready to turn down a skiing trip, because I felt so shitty and was so programmed. Crazy.
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How long were people kept from communicating with family other than parents? How long without home visits?
AuntieEm
The way it worked when I was at RMA, you couldn't communicate with other family members until you went through the brother's keeper propheet. But my memory may be wrong about that.
The brothers keeper is still one of the propheets they have there, but I don't know when it is, because their curriculum is accelerated to about 17 months, isn't it? We had ours at around our third month in the quest family, so that would be nine months into the program.
In addition, this doesn't mean that the kid could just call any family member they wanted to. That family member had to be approved by staff first.
Thats how it was at NWA when I went.
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Castle
True about the skiing. I overgeneralized but there were a few cases that matched my description.
Also a student that was an avid skiier would have done voluntary work details or dishes to be able to go once every 2 weeks during the ski season. Instead they had to look good in raps, lobby themselves to their family heads and often get a very poor return on their investment. The manner in which the ski trip lists were put together, were, in my opinion one of the most bizaaro manifestations of RMA insanity. I remember times where I was 'doing well', being praised by my family head, told I would likely be going soon... 6 weeks would go by and I didn't get to go. Then out of nowhere when I was 'struggling' I suddenly got 2 back to back trips. Fuck those dipshits like Caroline sitting in the office making the ski lists based on her warped, psychotic, kool aid saturated brain cell.
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Have you all seen this on the BCA web site?
BCA students have ventured to:
Belize -- Marine Life and Ancient Ruins
Stone Hill, MT -- Rock Climbing
Washington D.C. -- "Presidential Classroom"
Alaska -- Exploring the Interior
San Juan Islands -- Sailing
Olympic Peninsula -- Flora & Fauna
Salmon River -- River Rafting
Mt. Rainer -- Hiking
Priest Lake -- Kayaking
Flat Head Indian Reservation -- Cultural Experience
Montana Dinosaur Dig -- Archeology
Idaho Backcountry Ski -- "Cat Ski/Snowboard"
Glacier National Park -- Hiking
Selkirk & Cabinet Mountains -- Backcountry Skiing/Hiking/"Brother's Quest"
Chimney Rock -- Alpine Rock Climbing
Did any of you go on any trips like this? I haven't read any posts that suggest this was offered.
AuntieEm
All of those were offered prior to me arriving at BCA in 2000, with the exception of the San Juan sailing and Mt. Rainier trips, both of which were introduced in 2001.
If there is any injustice involved it is that they love to pull students off of those trips right before they take place for whatever bullshit infraction of agreements without refunding the $350 - $4,000 your parents have already paid.
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without refunding the $350 - $4,000 your parents have already paid.
Don't forget the $20 charge every christmas for secret santa, whether your santa gets you something or not. (I think I only got a present the first year.)
Yes, I shit you not, there was, indeed, a secret santa clause.
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a secret santa clause.
nice.
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Thanks, I wondered if all these trips were just hype.
Considering such trips exists, what gets me is that a student could go to Belize or Washington, DC, but not be allowed to visit home. (Why do these things still surprise me?)
AuntieEm
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It is the last of the so-called Lifesteps (http://http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/files/Lifestep.htm) (It is called La Mancha by Aspen).
I think that it is a mix of probation and wilderness therapy. Many of the facilities used Costa Rica, but this country have been investigating US programs since the closure of Dundee Ranch, so Mouth Baclelor (now owned by Aspen, but they worked with CEDU in the beginning) are now using the former communist countries in Eastern Europe instead. Those countries are worn down. Here are some picture taken march 2007 from Poland and Romania (http://http://www.welcomemba.com/looking2007/spring03.htm).
Eastern Europe are only used by youth from my country (Denmark), when they are on Binge Drink Holiday in Bulgaria (Yes, such a concept exist in Europe for teenager aged 17 and above), because everything is destroyed overthere from 40 years of communist rule. There is nothing to see, but we are watching their acititives because rumors tell that a La Verkin firm are talking about establishing themselves in Spain and Aspen already are present in UK with a fat camp.
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Thanks, I wondered if all these trips were just hype.
Considering such trips exists, what gets me is that a student could go to Belize or Washington, DC, but not be allowed to visit home. (Why do these things still surprise me?)
AuntieEm
It was pretty rare that a student got to go on a trip like Belize or Presidential Classroom before they had a home visit, and if they did it was because the staff had locked in on them as an easy mind to manipulate. You had to buy into the program hard or at least fake it well to get on those big-ticket trips if you weren't at least in the challenge phase, and if you were in the challenge phase you were probably going to get a home visit soon or had already had one (the 3rd phase of 5 for those unfamiliar). I had already gone home before I went on the CAT Ski trip or Presidential Classroom (well, I didn't actually go on presidential classroom, but I was selected for it...they booted me because they found out a few days before that I was going to split on the last day...thanks a lot Jason Kaplan you little bitch, snitching on your own best friend you brainwashed fuck).
For the record, I was a good faker, no "kool-aid" drinking here....after the presidential classroom fiasco I was never asked to go on another trip...
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did you graduate?
when where you there / what school?
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without refunding the $350 - $4,000 your parents have already paid.
Don't forget the $20 charge every christmas for secret santa, whether your santa gets you something or not. (I think I only got a present the first year.)
Yes, I shit you not, there was, indeed, a secret santa clause.
How did they even manage a secret santa? were you actually allowed to leave campus to shop? Also how could you not get a gift. Doesn't everyone get someone elses name from the hat? or does it work differently in the US?
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1. We made all the gifts. That's why it's hilarious that they charged our parents exorbitant fees for the materials to make the gifts. 90% of the shit we made was garbage. Business as usual - find every item and over charge the customer for it as often as possible.
2. It's not like a real secret santa program. For a week or so we just made gifts for family /friends. It was called santa's workshop. Hell, I can't even remember the secret part. From a CEDU perspective You'd expect the staff to make sure we followed through on the secret gifts and call us thoughtless losers for not doing so.....but I don't recall any of that. I think they knew life was hell at Xmas and didn't want to touch that sore spot.
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No, actually, there was a secret santa like they have at jobs. I can't remember how they managed to pair up 150 kids, but it was pretty close to a draw out of a hat type system if memory serves.
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1. We made all the gifts. That's why it's hilarious that they charged our parents exorbitant fees for the materials to make the gifts. 90% of the shit we made was garbage. Business as usual - find every item and over charge the customer for it as often as possible.
At Benchmark they did this with "Building Trades". Ultimately, parents were charged for this "class" as part of the program. Everybody gets to make a dresser, lamp, coffee table, etc... They use the crap stuff built to furnish the "student" apartments. The good stuff is sold off to the locals... Think about it: high quality, hand made furnature (and they actually did teach us how to build stuff well, i'll give them that)... You can make a mint off that. Free all day labor too!
2. It's not like a real secret santa program. For a week or so we just made gifts for family /friends. It was called santa's workshop.
Holy shit! that is what it was called at Benchmark too... though it probably shouldn't surprise me given it's a CEDU clone
Hell, I can't even remember the secret part. From a CEDU perspective You'd expect the staff to make sure we followed through on the secret gifts and call us thoughtless losers for not doing so.....but I don't recall any of that. I think they knew life was hell at Xmas and didn't want to touch that sore spot.
Ok. Here's what Benchmark staff did: we had a secret santa system as well... everybody's name was put in a hat, shaken up, and picked out randomly by students(the random part turned to be a really dumb idea). We were then bussed to wal-mart where we were each given 10 dollar gift cards to spend on a present... I forgot what I got but I remember I did not like it... Turns out my secret Santa had a sense of humor and wasn't exactly fond of me.
Apart from that, the only present I got from my parents (gameboy advance) was confiscated by staff "til level 2, and you write a proposal to be allowed it back"...
I was actually one of the few who was allowed the "privilege" of a visit with my parents on Christmas, but only because a death in the family corresponded with that holiday, my parents kept insisting, and they couldn't really refuse. They did get the requested visit cut short to a week, though... The first few days I was silent about what went on at Benchmark.
I was afraid of the consequences. I knew they would tell benchmark what I was saying(I was right). I was afraid they wouldn't believe me (i was right)... but when they introduced me to this Christian friend of theirs who was offering a place at this local group home. I, of course, accepted... I can deal with the fish-folk... Most of em are pretty cool. My parents went "ooh... He is willing to go to a religious place!" and decided to take me out of Benchmark. Benchmark later on successfully convinced my parents that I was manipulating them by playing the religious angle as bait to get taken. As I understand it, "manipulating" is when a person selectively used information, exaggerated, or lied to get something done. Simply put, I was willing and very happy to do do what my parents wanted me to do by going to this new place and I did not have to lie. I figured it couldn't possibly be worse than Benchmark. The only information I might have omitted about Benchmark I did so because I believed my parents would not believe me (and that was probably wise of me to do).
So I went back to program, waiting for my parents to arrange transportation and things in DC... A few days later, I get called into Carl's office (parent rep). He tells me that my con is up and that I'm not getting out. I'll post more on this later.
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I'm a current student at BCA, and it's been really funny seeing how much of this stuff is the same. I saw a list of the people who work here, and only one has changed, Theresa Thompkins (or something like that). Timms, Wilson, Daskivich, Meiwald and Johnson still work here.
It still runs off of child labor, too.
Beleive me, this place is run by anal retentive, bipolar Nazis who will do anything to make parents beleive that it is for their kids' good, when it is a crock of crap.
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Are you somehow accessing the Internet from there, or are you at a "home visit"?
If you're at home the time to say "Fuck you, I'm not going back, and I'll kill myself if you force it" is now.
If you're there the time to go apeshit is now.
Either way both of those things are more important than posting HERE.
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Kazuhite 1 wrote:
I'm a current student at BCA, and it's been really funny seeing how much of this stuff is the same. I saw a list of the people who work here, and only one has changed, Theresa Thompkins (or something like that). Timms, Wilson, Daskivich, Meiwald and Johnson still work here.
It still runs off of child labor, too.
Beleive me, this place is run by anal retentive, bipolar Nazis who will do anything to make parents beleive that it is for their kids' good, when it is a crock of crap.
Thanks for your post, and yes, we want you to get out of there if at all possible.
I have to admit I am starved for details from current students at BCA, so please post more details if you get a chance. My niece is there with you, being held incommunicado, and we are so very worried about her.
Auntie Em
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monthly tuition $6900.00 :timeout:
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AuntieEm2-
So far there are 2 18 year old Girls at the program. If you don't want to divulge the names, I would be able to know who by the state that they are from.
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Kazuhite, I don't know you very well, so I have to ask for more info. What's your connection to BCA and why do you want to know about my niece? Or PM me.
Auntie Em
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Excerpted from the Boulder Creek Academy website (text in color highlighted or added by me):
Message from Academic Dean
September 9, 2007
Dear BCA Parents and Families:
Welcome to our campus – we’re pleased you were able to join us for our Fall Parent Conference and hope you enjoy your stay! [...Blah, blah...] All students who attended a sufficient number of classes received academic credit for work completed this term, either through required coursework, elective classes, physical education, and/or personal growth work, depending on their phase, placement, and educational needs. [[Do students reaclly earn enough academic credits?]] Students may also have received educational support through tutorials, special classes and seminars, theme classes in preparation for personal growth workshops, or study skills development. We invite you to review your child’s reports for the term and check in with us if you have questions.
Our Fall Trimester features several interesting new course offerings and instructors, including:
• Project Citizen, a team-taught experience in American Government, English Composition, and Rhetoric with Claude Bisson and Kay Short, in which students focus on one central issue and interact with policy makers and government officials at local, state, and national levels [[*except Rep. George Miller D-CA, ha ha]].
• An expanded Voyager Farm and Voyager Classroom experience for our newest students, orchestrated by returning staff member, Heidi Vandyken, with Jason Munzke and Dawn Wagner;
• John Kastelic’s Voyager Transitional Class, with focus on research and academic preparedness;
• Beginning and Intermediate Computer Science classes [[computers? really? they're verbotten, aren't they?]] with new instructor, Paula Curtright;
• American Sign Language, with foreign language credit and active learning with Marjorie Timms;
• Experiences in advanced public speaking with Janet Hanson’s ‘Toastmasters’ class, including participation in a community Toastmasters group;
• A US History-based academic trip to The Glacier Institute, led by Paul Greenhalgh and Lars Hall.
• Dinner and theatre with Valerie Thompson, John Kastelic and World Literature students enjoying a rollicking Actor’s Repertory Theatre production of All the Great Books (Abridged);
• Professional Musician Marc Clarke’s new Music Appreciation class and Percussion classes, soon to be joined by Guitarist, Truck Mills;
• The grand opening of Connie Mier Y Teran’s Culinary Arts Studio, where students can earn a Certificate in Food Handling through the Department of Health;
• A continuation of Paul Greenhalgh’s exciting Habitat for Humanity project and a return of Chuck Lynn’s popular anthropology-based Archeology class and Museum Service project;
• Photojournalism, in which Kay Short and professional photographer, Doug Marshall combine their talents in technical writing skill development and creative photography;
• Dr. Gil Gilberts and Ruth Douthit, experienced special educators, offering programs in Reading, French, and Learning Skills, along with outstanding Tutor, Willow Feller.
The teachers and professional staff would enjoy the chance to share all that’s happening at BCA this fall; feel free to visit with them during your stay and find out why Boulder Creek Academy is committed to providing an exceptional educational experience for your child. Enjoy!
Marjorie Timms, Ph.D.
Director of Education/Academic Dean
So here is a more detailed list of the staff at BCA. Look at all these classes--this is BS, right? This can't be for real, can it?
Auntie Em
hilarious! they still have the same all-star team of shitty teachers! and wow...pretty much everything that was offered before, only shittier...
...they decided to bundle up government and composition + rhetoric as one class?? leave it to BCA to promote that as a GOOD thing...they used to be separate classes (as they should be)...
...the fact that kay short is still teaching composition means your kids won't be learning to write worth shit...
...voyager classroom, good to see they've still got a flowery-named class for fingerpainting (literary) and horticulture (make that horticulture minus any scientific method, so just gardening basically)...
...computers are allowed there but now that jim hooper is apparently gone I can't imagine they'll be teaching anything useful to the handful of students that are actually allowed to use them...
...culinary arts studio...hahahaha...we had a pottery studio too, that doesn't mean it had any functional pottery tools or that anyone ever used it even once...I'm sure your kid will be an oatmeal raisin cookie-making guru by the time your bank account is empt..I mean by the time they graduate...
...a habitat for humanity project? instead of just laboring away on campus all day they'll pimp you out to the national audobon society as well...
...french lessons? I wonder if they'll be as good as the spanish lessons they used to have...the "tutor" was still learning the language herself...
but here's the best of all that:
...kay short's technical writing development expertise combined with doug marshall's "professional" photography expertise for a photojournalism experience??? I'd rather take ballet lessons from barry bonds. by the time you finished that "photojournalism" class you'd know less about photography and writing than you did at the outset.
well clearly they've really beefed up the academics there and your kid will obviously be getting a top notch edjumacation, so seriously parents, keep on sending them out there!
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Kazuhite, I don't know you very well, so I have to ask for more info. What's your connection to BCA and why do you want to know about my niece? Or PM me.
Auntie Em
I would PM, bu I can't seem to get it to work. :/
I really want to know for no other reason then curiosity. I'm a current student at that hellhole, and Anyone who hates that place is a friend of mine.
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Kazuhite, I don't know you very well, so I have to ask for more info. What's your connection to BCA and why do you want to know about my niece? Or PM me.
Auntie Em
I would PM, bu I can't seem to get it to work. :/
I really want to know for no other reason then curiosity. I'm a current student at that hellhole, and Anyone who hates that place is a friend of mine.
you on a home visit or something? or are you guys actually able to get on the internet there and go to whatever sites you want? you'd think they'd block fornits or something, that place is getting really, really easy huh?
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Kazuhite, I don't know you very well, so I have to ask for more info. What's your connection to BCA and why do you want to know about my niece? Or PM me.
Auntie Em
I would PM, bu I can't seem to get it to work. :/
I really want to know for no other reason then curiosity. I'm a current student at that hellhole, and Anyone who hates that place is a friend of mine.
I don't know about anyone else, but this seems extremely suspect to me. Unless they are on a home visit. I seriously doubt that BCA has unlimited web access on their computers. Em, I'd leave this alone. I'll write you later k?
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I'm off campus right now, on a visit. My parents don't really care if I am on the internet.
And BCA does NOT have unlimited web access on their computers. Recently, since the new Tech Guy Adam came in, it got even more strict.
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I'm off campus right now, on a visit. My parents don't really care if I am on the internet.
And BCA does NOT have unlimited web access on their computers. Recently, since the new Tech Guy Adam came in, it got even more strict.
Hey, so there are a bunch of us here who went to RMA in the 90's (BCA now, same campus, different owners). I'm sure we're all super curious as to daily life there now. I know I am...I was on their website recently and saw all the educational courses they offer...when I was there I received science credits for working at the farm and digging out the pond down there. And didn't attend one class until I'd been there for well over a year. Plus I'm sure our raps and your raps, and our propheets and your propheets are completely different animals at this point...do you guys still have wilderness trips? I'd LOVE to hear anything you can tell us about life there. How long have you been there? Is it still a 2 and 1/2 year program? Is everything still super touchy feely and emotional, or have they moved away from that aspect at all? How did you find out about fornits?
1993 Grad
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...kay short's technical writing development expertise combined with doug marshall's "professional" photography expertise for a photojournalism experience??? I'd rather take ballet lessons from barry bonds.
That's some funny shit. Well put d7. I went to BCA's website recently and could not believe the academic courses they say are available to their students. In fact, I may go copy and paste it here for everyone's enjoyment.
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Well, cancel that, if I posted every single class and description they say is available, I'd take up at least five pages here and would surely receive some serious hate mail...so I'll just post the link to all the "academia" they offer.
http://www.bouldercreekacademy.net/curr ... ings.shtml (http://www.bouldercreekacademy.net/curriculum/offerings.shtml)
Enjoy! Feel free to chime in once you've stopped laughing.
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Well, daily life is as follows:
We wake up at 6:30 AM, and have half an hour to get dressed and shower. Then we go up to the East Campus (previously NWA) and eat breakfast at the dining hall. Usually substandard at best. Then, we go down to the main house (Quixote Lodge) and get our meds, then go to groups (no longer called raps). There are a few different ones, all run by the therapists. Then we go to classes until 12:30, and then go back up for substandard lunch, and then go back for one more period of classes, and then PE. We then go back to our dorms and shill there until 5, where we go back up again and have a, yeah, you guessed it, sub-substandard dinner. Then we clean Quixote, and then either do homework or have another "activity" layed out for us, until we go to bed at 9:15.
On the weekends, we also might be allowed to watch movies! Isn't that super?!
Propheets are now called workshops, and they still try to brainwash you. I don't even take them seriously. I've been through the Truth and Childrens, and both were just day long sessions of what I tell myself and "what I really am" (Truth/Lie, Childish/like).
The staff is still fascist, using child labor as a solution to all of life's problems.
I've been there for about 8 months now. There are still wilderness trips, like Brother's Quest, and a few other trips.
And I suppose it is pretty touchy feely, but my parents made an effort not to send me to a school like that (one in Pasadena, CA was like that... >_>)
And now the program is about 20-24 months. Luckily, I won't be graduating there unless my parents get extended custody.
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Well, daily life is as follows:
We wake up at 6:30 AM, and have half an hour to get dressed and shower. Then we go up to the East Campus (previously NWA) and eat breakfast at the dining hall. Usually substandard at best. Then, we go down to the main house (Quixote Lodge) and get our meds, then go to groups (no longer called raps). There are a few different ones, all run by the therapists. Then we go to classes until 12:30, and then go back up for substandard lunch, and then go back for one more period of classes, and then PE. We then go back to our dorms and shill there until 5, where we go back up again and have a, yeah, you guessed it, sub-substandard dinner. Then we clean Quixote, and then either do homework or have another "activity" layed out for us, until we go to bed at 9:15.
On the weekends, we also might be allowed to watch movies! Isn't that super?!
Propheets are now called workshops, and they still try to brainwash you. I don't even take them seriously. I've been through the Truth and Childrens, and both were just day long sessions of what I tell myself and "what I really am" (Truth/Lie, Childish/like).
The staff is still fascist, using child labor as a solution to all of life's problems.
I've been there for about 8 months now. There are still wilderness trips, like Brother's Quest, and a few other trips.
And I suppose it is pretty touchy feely, but my parents made an effort not to send me to a school like that (one in Pasadena, CA was like that... >_>)
And now the program is about 20-24 months. Luckily, I won't be graduating there unless my parents get extended custody.
so raps...sorry, groups are every morning for 2-3 hours or so? do they still have it on that 10 week block system for classes? sounds like you can only take 2 classes at once...so how does anyone actually get a diploma there? when I was there, your only option was to get into "zero period" classes as early as possible...hope to hell not to lose an entire 10-week's worth of classes if a restriction lands you on the farm during classes. and even then it was pretty much impossible.
therapists are running raps? so not the program staff or team leaders or heidi vandykens or any of them... just therapists? are the program staff still in love with their little mindgames? how many times have you heard the words accountability and manipulation in the last 8 months? hahaha is sam zug still there? has doug marshall started intentionally deepening his voice or does he still sound like a 6 year old boy? ok that's it man sorry for all the questions.
no, no I have one more:
are panhandler pies and joel's burritos still in sandpoint?
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Hey, Kazuhite,
As you might guess, we don't hear much from current students, so I really appreciate what you have to say. How much longer will your home visit last? We're kind of bombarding you with questions...sorry.
I've read a lot of people's stories here about being at BCA, NWA, Ascent and RMA. I don't know your situation, but I want you to know there are a bunch of us here that care deeply. Please hear this and tell the other students: You are not invisible. No teen should be placed in a facility like this, far from home and separated from friends and family, without some say in the matter, or a process for appealing the decision.
I won't speak for the others about their experiences. But for me, it's been just awful having our niece gone and not being able to see her, talk to her, tell her that we love her and believe in her, to tell her she could come live with us.
So please take care of yourself. I hope you have some people in your life outside of BCA who can be there for you. Trust your own thoughts and opinions, and don't let them take that away from you.
Auntie Em
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Kazuhite1 wrote:
I'm a current student at BCA, and it's been really funny seeing how much of this stuff is the same. I saw a list of the people who work here, and only one has changed, Theresa Thompkins (or something like that). Timms, Wilson, Daskivich, Meiwald and Johnson still work here.
It still runs off of child labor, too.
Beleive me, this place is run by anal retentive, bipolar Nazis who will do anything to make parents beleive that it is for their kids' good, when it is a crock of crap.
My apologies, Kazuhite, I just realized that you are the same person who posted in late December. Did you tell your parents back then that you didn't want to go back? What's it like trying to explain it to them?
Take care,
Auntie Em
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Quixote Lodge. LOL. Yep still sounds about the same, except that they're making you go to class more. Where the hell is Quixote Lodge though, is that the main building where administration is, and the classrooms, by the lower parking lot? You guys have to clean that place daily? If it's the building I'm thinking of it used to be called Emerson, and we had to clean it on Saturdays. You should tell your parents to check this forum out.
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Quixote Lodge. LOL. Yep still sounds about the same, except that they're making you go to class more. Where the hell is Quixote Lodge though, is that the main building where administration is, and the classrooms, by the lower parking lot? You guys have to clean that place daily? If it's the building I'm thinking of it used to be called Emerson, and we had to clean it on Saturdays. You should tell your parents to check this forum out.
I'm pretty sure Quixote Lodge is the boomerang-shaped building on the new campus? if you were at RMA in the early nineties, the Quixote Lodge I think Kaz is talking about wouldn't even have been built yet. if I'm understanding him, it sounds like everyone is up on the old RMA campus (now called BCA?) at night and then heads down to the "east campus", which was BCA in the late nineties/early '00s and then became NWA and is now whatever the hell it is. the old rma campus (where emerson still is) is such a better campus, not that it really matters...they both suck.
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Well, I was finally pulled so I could go back home for my senior year.
It really takes finally being out of that place to realize what a load of crap it is... I feel so lost since I got back home, because I have to reconnect with friends I barely have talked to in a year, and I haven't even gotten my permit yet... @_@
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Well, I was finally pulled so I could go back home for my senior year.
It really takes finally being out of that place to realize what a load of crap it is... I feel so lost since I got back home, because I have to reconnect with friends I barely have talked to in a year, and I haven't even gotten my permit yet... @_@
I am happy that you were pulled.
I am afraid that you will find it difficult to make other people understand how these places function. Not even your parent will understand it fully because they have been subjected to marketing developed for more than 30 years.
I will recommend that you take a look on the wiki pages of Boulder Creek Academy (http://http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/fornitswiki/index.php/Boulder_Creek_Academy) and join a myspace group of survivors.
If you find errors or missing info on the wiki page, please inform me at wr(a)secretprisonsforteens.dk, so it can be corrected.
BTW. Most of these facilities demand a wilderness before entering the facility because they want broken kids to work with. Were you forced through such a program and did your parents make the drive to this place by themselves or did they use a Transport (http://http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/fornitswiki/index.php/Teen_Escort_Company)?
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Well, I was finally pulled so I could go back home for my senior year.
It really takes finally being out of that place to realize what a load of crap it is... I feel so lost since I got back home, because I have to reconnect with friends I barely have talked to in a year, and I haven't even gotten my permit yet... @_@
Yes! Welcome back, Kazuhite. So glad to hear you are out of there.
What can we do to help and support you? Do you have someone in your life you can talk to, like a friend, cousin, neighbor, teacher, coach, brother or sister (or auntie, of course)? I would feel better if you were connected to someone who knows and understands what you went through. It sounds like being with your old friends is a bit difficult.
Be well, K. May you have a wonderful life ahead.
AuntieEm
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Yeah, I was sent to Second Nature in Bend, Oregon by transporters. Ironically, I was one of the best behaved kids, but other kids (like ones who stole food and masturbated in lotion) got out in less time then I had, with the staff knowing about it too.
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Yeah, I was sent to Second Nature in Bend, Oregon by transporters. Ironically, I was one of the best behaved kids, but other kids (like ones who stole food and masturbated in lotion) got out in less time then I had, with the staff knowing about it too.
That's because you gave them reason to suspect that you hide something for them. They can only "cure" what they see.
I have spoken with several professionels who treat criminal youth (convicted in court) in my country. All claim that even youth who have killed others will seem as the nices kids the first 14 days if they got a brain. But professionels can not deal with nice kids, so normally they just wait and see what happens.
When you continued to behave they properly thought that you kept a lay to protect yourself, so they had to wait longer.
I am also happy that you are out.
Rotsne (http://http://crybabydanishimmigrant.blogspot.com/)
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Oh lord, I know. I never got any of their programs or work assignments once, but when I asked to be moved up peer groups to go on a home visit, it never happened while other people who got into lots of trouble were moved up and therefore, able to go home sooner, or go on longer home visits. The whole program is a game of favorites. If you take it in the ass and smile, you get the best.
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masturbated in lotion?
There was an agreement against this?
You were there for more than 6 months and never did a work detail?
Odds are you that you got pulled for a handful of significant reasons. Financial, emotional, etc. Getting pulled , "so you could go back for your senior year" is far fetched...... That would be like saying the US pulled out of Iraq because our camoflouge shirts didn't blend as well as expected with the Iraqi sand.
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Oh lord, I know. I never got any of their programs or work assignments once, but when I asked to be moved up peer groups to go on a home visit, it never happened while other people who got into lots of trouble were moved up and therefore, able to go home sooner, or go on longer home visits. The whole program is a game of favorites. If you take it in the ass and smile, you get the best.
You did not give them enough to move up.
Program with levels and something to earn function by you giving them something and then you receive something. When you just take what they give you and behave nicely even if the orders are wrong and unfair, you destroy the program. See Parent info - Child already placed (http://http://geocities.com/wildernesstherapyinfo/child_placed.htm#1).
You were in this situation: You wanted a home visit. You have two choices.
1) Confess to something and exaggerate. Use the other kids as inspiration regardless of the fact that you have not done it.
2) Behave nicely.
Doing the first will give you the home visit. Doing the second will make the staff believe that you are either withholding something from them or having a low IQ.
So you choosed the first thing and it did cost you shortterm but you won longterm, because by confessing you would have justified the need for you to stay in the program. You didn't and properly they program gave your parents two options:
1) A more restrictive program. The owners have Provo Canyon School (http://http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/fornitswiki/index.php/Provo_Canyon_School) for that
2) Giving your parents a tale about you being partly cured of ODD (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder), which is a sickness all teenagers suffer from, so you could return home for a transsion period. They properly also told your parents to sell the news in the nices way. "Returning home for your senior year" sounds so nice.
I hope that a lot of teenagers learn to live by your methods in the programs and just shut up and live by the rules. It will destroy the programs, but as your President candidat McCain (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mccain) has stated "Everyone has a breaking point. I had reached mine."
I dont know why you were there but if you at some point were hoping to be treated for something, programs is not the place. A hospital could have made it, but not a program. You cannot mix education and treatment.
BTW. I saw your other thread and noticed that your parents used an ed-con. One time in the future ask your parents if they know how many percents she got from the program. Normally their advices are not given based on kids like your needs, but rather by who is paying them. See this case about a similar "school" once marketed together with your Idaho "school". (http://http://oah.state.or.us/decisions/Department_of_Education/J_J_Special_Education_of_FO_00.doc)
The belated disclosure of the relationship between Dr. Conway and MBA has engendered bitter recriminations by the District. I have neither the authority nor the knowledge to determine whether Dr. Conway’s conduct in this matter violated any ethical constraints applicable to school psychologists. At best, what happened resulted from a failure by Dr. Conway to be scrupulously careful in disclosing his affiliation with MBA, and (with hindsight) a failure by Ms. Andrea Hungerford to be scrupulously careful in inquiring about Dr. Conway’s affiliations. Although I denied the District’s motion to bar Dr. Conway’s testimony and strike “those portions of his evaluation and report regarding recommended placement for J. J.,” in evaluating the weight of Dr. Conway’s opinions I have taken note of his ongoing association with MBA. I do not consider him a neutral witness.
Enjoy your senior year. You have certainly earned it.
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masturbated in lotion?
There was an agreement against this?
You were there for more than 6 months and never did a work detail?
Odds are you that you got pulled for a handful of significant reasons. Financial, emotional, etc. Getting pulled , "so you could go back for your senior year" is far fetched...... That would be like saying the US pulled out of Iraq because our camoflouge shirts didn't blend as well as expected with the Iraqi sand.
No, that was at wilderness.
But really, it was for my senior year. My parents are fine financially, and emotionally. But, because I am 4 months away from 18 and already told them that I'm coming home, and they don't have any reason for extended custody, they took me home.
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Oh, and basically, yes, I naver had a work assignment as a consequence. Of course I was on farm, but the only time I was ever on one was because they didn't put me in study hall after I got back from the dentist on community service day.
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Ahhhh ha - a younger/middle school student 4 months from 18 is the significant factor here.
If I were a parent and had a kid who was there less than a year and would probably split on their 18th (<120 days) I'd pull them asap.
That's approximately $18k not pissed down the drain.
"work details because they didn't put me in study hall after I got back from the dentist on community service day."
I don't understand - please clarify...
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Oh, and basically, yes, I naver had a work assignment as a consequence. Of course I was on farm, but the only time I was ever on one was because they didn't put me in study hall after I got back from the dentist on community service day.
um, the only people I knew that managed to avoid work assignments the entire time they were there were the people that kissed the staff's ass, broke, and snitched on everyone left and right. judging from all your posts, this seems to describe you pretty well.
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Easy now. Everyone's circumstances are different, and program survivors are not at fault.
Auntie Em
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Oh, and basically, yes, I naver had a work assignment as a consequence. Of course I was on farm, but the only time I was ever on one was because they didn't put me in study hall after I got back from the dentist on community service day.
um, the only people I knew that managed to avoid work assignments the entire time they were there were the people that kissed the staff's ass, broke, and snitched on everyone left and right. judging from all your posts, this seems to describe you pretty well.
And your problem with me is...? I'm curious to know how you got to that conclusion. Really, I had better things to do then snitch on my friends OR kiss staff's ass. Everyone knew how much I disliked the program, and thought it was bullshit. And I've filed my fair share of grievances.
Hey, I can understand where you are coming from, but as AuntieEm said, we all have different circumstances. For BCA now, if you keep a low profile, you can get away from consequences alot.
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Sorry, but I'm with the guest on this one. I have a very hard time believing you never picked up a work assignment here or a program there or a restriction here. Just doesn't happen at that school unless you really were a junior staff like you claim you weren't. I wasn't there too long ago and I've been in touch with people in and around the program...it hasn't changed THAT much...
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I am sorry too, but I am trying to understand something here. I live in a country where we are trained in public schools to be hostage by groups, which hate our way of living. The basic rules for surviving and not being singled out for execution are:
1) Do not attract attention
2) Lower your head, no eye-contact and appear inferior
3) Talk only when impossible not to. When answering be polite and inferior
What would happen if a teenager basically behave as the staff's floor cloth?
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Getting pulled , "so you could go back for your senior year" is far fetched...... That would be like saying the US pulled out of Iraq because our camoflouge shirts didn't blend as well as expected with the Iraqi sand.
LOL. that's hilarious DD. i agree tho, there had to have been something deeper going on there.
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Sorry, but I'm with the guest on this one. I have a very hard time believing you never picked up a work assignment here or a program there or a restriction here. Just doesn't happen at that school unless you really were a junior staff like you claim you weren't. I wasn't there too long ago and I've been in touch with people in and around the program...it hasn't changed THAT much...
ok, let's hold on a second. this is either one of two things, either he's telling us the truth and managed to pretty much fly under the radar or he's lying. either way, shouldn't we err on the side of caution with something like this? there should be some way to prove or disprove that he's being honest, and until we know for sure we shouldn't be saying things like this...
um, the only people I knew that managed to avoid work assignments the entire time they were there were the people that kissed the staff's ass, broke, and snitched on everyone left and right. judging from all your posts, this seems to describe you pretty well.
...especially when the person who said that signed on as GUEST. If this kid's for real then he needs our support. he doesn't need some dick who won't even sign on post mean shit about him. i don't know, someone brought this thread to my attention and i just think there's a need for a little more caution. i was at RMA in the early 90's and back then, ya it was pretty unrealistic that you'd get through that much of the program without incurring the wrath of at least one of the staff. But these days, who the fuck knows what's going on at that place. All I'm saying is that if he's for real it's pretty fucked up to attack and isolate, especially here. one girl's opinion.
Although if he is a troll, and there's significant evidence, we can lynch him.
Dniceo, what have you heard from the people you know who are still in and around the program?
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Let's hug it out people.
1. I should have qualified and said back in the 80's/90's era you couldn't go for more than a few months without getting a work assignment for some ridiculous reason like not talking enough in your last rap or taking 6 minute showers.
2. I'm not trying to calling this person out. I got no beef with him. I'm just curious.
3. Pointing fingers at other students for the behaviour at CEDU is asinine. (That's like 'pulling someone up' at an orgy). We were all a bunch of guinea pigs getting cattle-prodded by wannabe demented teen saviours. That's hardly an environment where people made good choices or were thinking straight. That's not to say that some kids there didn't bug the shit out of me. However, I attributed those kid's irritating behavior to to them and them alone. This, "hey you were a program look good", "you're a snitch" shit is such wannabe prison horsecrap.
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*sigh* It really isn't that hard to not get work assignments nowadays at BCA. There are quite a few other kids who have never gotten them but who have been at the school longer than I have. You just have to stay under the radar, and follow the rules when staff is watching. Yeah, it sucks to have to take it in the ass and smile sometimes, but to survive in a place like that, you have to play by their rules, not your own. I kissed ass, yeah, but it's not like I was bending over backwards for staff members either.
Frankly, compared to what I've heard of old BCA and other boarding schools, now this one is pretty tame. As long as you aren't on anyone's bad side, it's easy to not get work assignments. At least that's what I've found.
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Aha. I was right. Act like what you are - a hostage and you lower the risk of getting hurt.
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Kaz I hope you don't think I'm coming at you like the guest was. When I said I was with the guest I just meant I had my doubts, not that I like his abrasive style. My only reason for doubting you is that the nature of the program, the very basis of their whole break-you-down-and-rebuild-you plan relies on the fact that they have those work assignments in their back pocket. You either do what they say and act how they say you act or you can sit and weed a path that will take so long to weed, the part you started on will be sprouting again by the time you get to the end. The way Dish says it was in his days is how it was when I left in '02...they couldn't not hand out work assignments because that's just how the program worked.
If staff realized you had gone awhile without a work assignment, they went up to your dorm and found something wrong with your bedspace - part of a sheet sticking out here or a thumbtack on the floor there - and they gave you a work assignment. Or they followed you around, just within earshot, waiting for you to curse or talk about your friend from back home that smokes weed with one lung or spit on a path or walk into a building without having your shirt fully tucked in first. All offenses punishable by work assignments.
So maybe the staff don't pull that shit anymore. If that's the case, then man, you need to find yourself a time machine and go live a day at BCA in the 90's. You're missing out on all the fun. But I have a feeling they haven't gone all anti-bullshit work assignments, so I caution you to think on this, because it's exactly what happened to me: I picked up so many work assignments and restrictions and such in my early BCA days and then I got smart and started playing the program the way you said you played it, and the work assignments and restrictions waned. But about a year ago I realized that eventually I had lost the ability to determine how far I could go before I actually WAS giving into the program and not just playing the game anymore. Down the road you're going to realize that line was blurrier than you thought. And if you're anything like me, it's going to really haunt you.
Stina - I keep in touch with a couple of my old BCA friends, and we've been in touch with a few staff members that are still in the program (and for the really uncensored news, we're still friends with a couple staff that were unjustly fired but still have spouses who work there haha). I really haven't gotten the vibe from any of them that the program has changed as much as Kaz claims...they alluded to a few instances where kids were getting bullshit workies or restrictions like the old days. I also know a girl whose little brother was sent to BCA about 2 1/2 years ago (thanks to my parents recommendation). Was there for about a year.
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Just a quick extra question...
In our days, if someone was about to get a work assignment for something, staff would often go to friends of that person that they knew were with them when the infraction took place. They'd then ask those friends to snitch on the person first. If they refused, they received work assignments. I know for a fact this kinda crap still takes place. So how did you avoid work assignments in those types of situations?
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I realized that eventually I had lost the ability to determine how far I could go before I actually WAS giving into the program and not just playing the game anymore.
Very well said. This is 'the' question we all have to look back on and process. It's not an easy task. This is the point where most give up. It's too unsettling to undo this rat's nest of Cedu twine. And the past is the past right? It doesn't matter anymore right? Just get over it right?
As shanle123 pointed out, this is the point when we started acting like the truth was a lie on a 24/7/365 basis.
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I was a student at BCA for 2 years. I had to graduate the program to leave, and so i had to b.s. my way through it. I hated that place, and the vast majority of the school today would agree. December 19, 2007 was the day i escaped. That place is a scam. They manipulate kids in to believing that they would be a failure in life if you weren't there. I had a quack therapist named Linda Daggy, who along with Teresa Tompkins, is a huge manipulator and has fake all written over her face. I still keep in contact with my friends that survived on facebook. I've had my fair share of work assginments and programs, for the most ridiculous reasons as well. Lets hope that school gets shut down for the good of all man kind
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I was a student at BCA for 2 years. I had to graduate the program to leave, and so i had to b.s. my way through it. I hated that place, and the vast majority of the school today would agree. December 19, 2007 was the day i escaped. That place is a scam. They manipulate kids in to believing that they would be a failure in life if you weren't there. I had a quack therapist named Linda Daggy, who along with Teresa Tompkins, is a huge manipulator and has fake all written over her face. I still keep in contact with my friends that survived on facebook. I've had my fair share of work assginments and programs, for the most ridiculous reasons as well. Lets hope that school gets shut down for the good of all man kind
Oh god, Daggy's still around? Those liar McLiarpants at NWA admissions told me that no old school staff were still working at either school. And this is after I pretended I was a troubled parent who had a brother there in the 80s who adored the place and couldn't sing enough praises about it, so they had no reason to hide that info. I remember her. She was my friend at the time, but then again, I was friends with lots of assholes back in the old RMA days.