THEY
Childhood trauma may be one of the most common denominators among us in this country.
ccording to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, nearly six in
experiential activities—such as a ropes course and paddle boarding—that involved safe and healthy risk-taking. The USU team was encouraged by survey results from camp participants, 80% of whom said that they enjoyed the program, and 90% of whom said they would recommend the camp to other youth. But because such activities may not be possible in all locations, the team has created a set of “challenge activities” that require very little or no equip- ment. These activities will be made available to after-school providers who can implement them with elementary- and middle school-aged youth from all backgrounds. We sat down with Dr. Schainker to learn more about the program and the team’s experience with NTAE. Why did you apply for an NTAE grant? We applied because our team was ready to take the next steps toward adapting our challenge activities to be deliv- ered in an after school setting. We thought that the guid- ance and coaching available through NTAE would help us move it forward more quickly. One of the biggest ways NTAE has helped us is in creating a project timeline. The monthly meetings with our mentor and project coordinator help to make sure we are meeting our project benchmarks. We have also engaged in training on time management with the leadership specialist. The marketing and writing services have been very beneficial for our team as we move toward creating and preparing to disseminate our final product.
10 adults across 25 states report having had at least one type of adverse childhood experience (ACE) (e.g., exposure to physical abuse, family instability, violence, parental substance abuse, or mental health problems) before they were 18. One in six reported having four or more ACEs. Resilience, or the ability to bounce back from life’s diffi- culties, is a powerful tool for coping with ACEs and other challenges. While we may not be able to prevent ACEs, we can prepare youth to deal with them by helping them develop resilience. A team from Utah State University (USU) is doing just that: helping youth build confidence in their ability to survive and thrive in any circumstance, through activities that push them out of their comfort zone in a safe and supportive environment.
DO HARD THINGS
Program helps youth build confidence to persist through fear, discomfort.
“We know that confidence can start to wane as youth move into the teen years,” says Dr. Lisa Schainker, an Extension Assistant Professor at USU and the project team lead. “Our team believes that we need to teach youth how to believe in themselves and to become resilient. We want youth to learn that they can do hard things—that they can push through discomfort and feel stronger knowing that they stuck with something even when it felt difficult.” The USU Extension team developed a confidence-building curriculum that was piloted at a summer camp in 2021; the program included six lessons, as well as “high adventure”
Have you done anything surprising this year?
We developed an innovative approach for conducting an anonymous peer review process, which enabled everyone to provide feedback in a safe and open way. It also al- lowed our team members to review each other’s proposed activities against a standardized set of measures in order to make apples-to-apples comparisons of the activities. ➤
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EXTENSION FOUNDATION/NTAE | 2022-2023 YEARBOOK
2022-2023 YEARBOOK | EXTENSION FOUNDATION/NTAE
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