| New
Perspectives
- Oct, 1994 Issue #30 |
TOIYABE INSTITUTE
the next step
Taos, New Mexico
Jonathan Pancost, Director
1-800-864-9291
Conceived in 1988
by Jonathan Pancost, Toiyabe Institute's goal is to provide
an environment "for adolescents needing emotional support
and a safe environment in which to grow and learn....in the
form of an educational adventure." In working toward that
goal, the Institute has developed wilderness adventure exploring
the culture and geography of the Southwest and elsewhere
through wilderness adventure, skiing Northern New Mexico,
Bike Tours, Whitewater Courses in the Pacific Northwest,
Mountaineering Courses, and House building and service projects.
They also have Parent River Trips so parents can benefit from
their own experience that is similar to that of their child's.
The Residential
Interim Program will probably be of most interest to parents
of children currently attending emotional growth schools and
programs, because it is designed as a transition, and to support
the newly found skills and attitudes the child is trying to
take back in his/her reentry to society.
The idea is to
give "each individual the time and support to flex his or
her newly learned behavior, making the possibility of success
more certain than hypothetical.... This program allows each
adolescent the chance to test his or her new self-image within
the context of society, yet with the ever present acceptance
of the group. It is also designed as a safe harbor for teenagers
in need of temporary placement between programs and school,
during school breaks, or during rough emotional times."
It is voluntary
and "runs almost like an on-call service, adapting to the
schedules and time restraints of the clientele." Activities
can include hiking and floating Rio Grande, visits to "local
events such as rodeos and fiddling contests, seminars with
botanists, historians, geologists and primitive skills professionals,
and cultural sites of the area" with building and community
service projects.
"The hope is to
teach not only a new sense of personal strength and self-esteem
but also a feeling of cultural diversity, tolerance for that
diversity, and an underlying unity between all people and
species. Students stay as long as they need or wish. Some
students reside at Toiyabe and attend local schools."
Copyright
© 1994, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced
without prior approval if the copyright notice and proper
publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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