By: Cindy Crabtree, Seminar & Training Coordinator

I love autumn for many reasons – and one of the things that make it special is that this is the time of year when we finalize and announce our plans for the upcoming year’s Reclaiming Youth Seminars and training schedule. It is exciting to look ahead and expand our circle of friends and colleagues in the Reclaiming Youth network. The Reclaiming Youth Seminars, open to everyone, are recommended for all adults who work with youth – including educators, counselors, social workers, residential staff, juvenile justice professionals, community leaders, foster parents and parents. Attendees come from all over the world. We hope you will join us at one of our 2011 events.

Reclaiming Youth International is pleased to announce our 2011 Seminar Schedule!

The 2011 Reclaiming Youth Seminars, each in a unique and distinctive setting, will provide affirmation and introduce new skills for all adults who work with today's most challenging youth.  The hands-on trainings and opportunities to visit with experts in the child and youth care industry will inspire and rejuvenate both new and experienced professionals in youth care and education. 

Mark your calendar.......join us in 2011 at these locations:

Reclaiming Youth International is pleased to announce that two world-renowned experts will be featured speakers at the 17th annual Black Hills Seminars.

Over the past decade, Reclaiming Youth International has provided training to hundreds of public and private organizations in education, social services, mental health and corrections in various parts of the world. We have resources to provide Response Ability Pathways (RAP), Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI), Developmental Audit and PersonBrain training programs. In many instances, while providing training services, we are asked to observe programs, consider challenges regarding individual young people and engage in discussions about organizational responses to problems or opportunities. These informal interventions, which have occurred in the context of training contracts, have resulted in growing interest among those who engage us in their work to request formal consultation as the primary focus of our work with them.

Martin Brokenleg, Steve Van Bockern and Mark Freado opened the 2009 Autumn Reclaiming Youth International Conference in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this month (October 10-12, 2009).  Nearly 100 participants from as far away as Canada and Barbados attended.  As always, the breakout sessions presented a notable variety of topics.

Dr. Inge Bolin, 2009 recipient of the Circle of Courage Award at the Victoria Seminars, is back from another trip to Peru where she lives and works with the people of Chillihuani who live high in the Andes.  Dr. Bolin is a Research Associate in Anthropology at Malaspina University - College in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

She wrote: "I am back from Peru.  It was wild and wonderful.  Our health station is being built, our health campaigns are going well, a new reforestation project  begins, and my research on melting glaciers and water scarcity indicates that we all must work together to avoid an environmental disaster.

Thank you one and all!

 Steve Van Bockern, President

It was a pleasure for Reclaiming Youth International to welcome participants from all over North America and beyond to the 2009 Black Hills Seminars in western South Dakota. An undergraduate student of mine who confessed that he attended because “I needed the college credit” told me after several days at the seminars that this was the best thing that ever happened to him. He was charged up when he expressed to me his appreciation and amazement that he had the opportunity to rub elbows with such a diverse and inspirational group. Those are my thoughts, too!

Join the growing network of Reclaiming Youth professionals now on Facebook! 

 Visit us at Reclaiming Youth Network  and become a member.  Or add the following link on your Favorites menu: http://groups.to/reclaimingyouth/ .  You will be able to catch up on the latest news from Reclaiming Youth, see pictures from past seminars,  learn about upcoming events, post a comment and join a discussion to share ideas! (Just click on the "Discussions" tab at the top of the page.)  

Our latest discussion topic is "At what point in the year do you most feel you need a boost?"

 We are excited to be able to interact with each of you in this way. Tell your friends and co-workers about us & check back often to share ideas and connect with others in the field! 

The Spirit of Crazy Horse Award Recipients

The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, came to the Black Hills of South Dakota at the request of Native Americans to create a mountain memorial that would honor the spirit of Crazy Horse. In 1949, Korczak wrote these words about Crazy Horse: