Owning It

I take my responsibility to DRC and, by extension, the kids, their families, and the wider community very seriously. There is a reason I was voted the "most dedicated" of my 1983 St. Lawrence Central graduating class.

I have, for the most part, changed beyond recognition since then - but that characteristic remains an underlying part of my identity. Therefore, when someone accuses me of not doing my job - I take it to heart and examine the situation closely. 

In this case, this past week, in a string of emails, a parent informed me that DRC does not hold kids responsible for anything. She said she would report us and that she had already let people know that it is an ineffective program that they should avoid sending their kids to.

The thread of emails was hard to read because - 1. of the accusations and threats she was throwing around, and 2. it was poorly written, with little punctuation and zero consideration for spelling or grammar. As I slowly deciphered the messages, I realized that she was upset (and pitching a fit) because the school was requesting an April quarterly report after she had re-enrolled him in school - that she did not have.

Upon further investigation, I discovered that I had spoken to the teen (who I remember being a delight) and written the original IHIP at the end of January - when they had joined DRC. Then I realized the parent had only brought the child to the Center once since then. We contacted her several times over that period to check and make sure he was OK.  Then I noticed that she had informed us of the re-enrollment four days before the reports were due.

So this parent accused DRC of not holding kids accountable - when she only brought him once in three and one-half months. I (hopefully) resolved the situation by remaining outwardly professional (meanwhile pitching an internal private hissy fit) and offered to write the April Quarterly Report immediately with the list of activities, classes, and projects she provided.

The hardest (saddest) part of this story is that this awesome teen with excellent communication skills had the opportunity to follow his interests (the law and theatrical art) right now by independently burying himself in Supreme Court cases and creating costumes but now has to sit in a classroom to be force-fed information that he finds irrelevant to his future goals.

I find it interesting (hilarious, frustrating, and infuriating) that DRC is accused of not holding kids accountable because they are not coerced to do the things they do not want to do - when that accusation cannot be further from the truth.

As a direct result of all that built-in freedom, kids own every single decision they make (whether it is impulsive or well thought out). When they do mess up, they know who was responsible and understand they are the ones who need to repair any damages (physical and emotional) they incurred. They can try to pass the buck - but at the end of the day, the truth will come back to bite them - directly - in the butt. Instead of telling kids what to do (or not to do) and how to do it - they learn through the consequences of their actions.

We have the awe-inspiring (exhausting) privilege of supporting (and loving) them through it all - the reparations and (sometimes) brutal lessons - eventually cheering them on through their triumphs.

DRC News

Thank you to Northern Credit Union for their sponsorship of $350. It was a pleasure to meet the Gouverneur branch staff this past Wednesday.

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Friday was Esme's (the amazing SLU volunteer) last day at DRC-Canton this year. She had the kiddos create egg protectors to do an egg drop. Some creations were more successful than others. Thank you, Esme, we hope to see you again next year!

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This is the newly revised version of our homeschool guide. You can download it here for free.

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