The Leadership and Resiliency Program (LRP) at the Holmes campus is an intensive substance abuse prevention program designed to serve adolescents and teens (ages 12–18) who are “at risk” of failing academically, are having disciplinary problems, substance abuse issues and/or have severe life stressors. LRP uses a strengths-based approach to focus on three key resiliency areas:

  • Goal setting
  • Positive coping skills
  • Healthy relationships

LRP seeks to bolster such resiliency traits in students as:

  • ability to delay gratification and develop a future orientation
  • optimism
  • positive relationships with adults and peers
  • self control
  • effective management of risk-taking

Moreover, as students are developing resiliency traits, it is the philosophical belief of LRP that the effects of risk factors in students’ lives (i.e. impulsivity in youth, risk for academic failure, low level of school and community bonding, poverty) are being diminished.

Short Term Goals

  • Reduced school behavioral incidents
  • Increased attendance
  • Increased MAP scores
  • Increased school and community bonding

Long Term Goals

  • High school graduation
  • Minimize illegal behaviors
  • Reduce usage of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs
  • Post high school enrollment in college or employment

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

  1. Resiliency groups
  2. Community volunteer experiences
  3. Adventure activities

Resiliency Groups: During the school day, weekly resiliency groups of 8-15 participants meet on a rotating cycle to ensure that students’ classroom time is maximized. Students engage in experiential teambuilding activities, develop healthy peer relationships, learn new positive coping skills, and focus on setting and obtaining realistic goals.

Service Learning: Community volunteer experiences serve to foster a strong sense of goal orientation and to develop a strong sense of altruism, encouraging youth to view themselves as agents of change and increase social awareness. Successful, positive experiences with building empathy skills and community recognition are integral in enhancing a teen’s sense of self.

LRP Service Activities:

  • Blazing Trails - creating a local bike trail
  • Annual Great American Clean Up
  • Annual Project Sticker Shock
  • Annual Red Ribbon Week Substance Abuse awareness
  • Disabled Veterans
  • Fundraiser for Haiti
  • Rosedale Manor Nursing Home - “Adopt-a-Grandparent”
  • Annual Hoops for Hope
  • Annual Step Up Cincinnati - city-wide service learning projects
  • Licking River Cleanup
  • Fairhaven Rescue Mission - canned food collection
  • Northern Kentucky Emergency Cold Shelter - preparing meals
  • Pen Pal Mentors with local elementary students

Adventure Learning: Adventure activities allow for healthy risk-taking to be experienced in an effective and fun manner and to help adolescents turn natural risk-taking impulses into positive behaviors. Problems with risk-taking can come about because youth often lack the experience and knowledge to know when risk can result in harm or serious outcomes. It is critical to identify potentially destructive risk-taking behaviors as early as possible and to address them through comprehensive and consistent programming.

PROGRAM DATA

  • 246 students have successfully completed at least one year of LRP
  • 95.6% program retention rate
  • 100% of LRP participants have graduated High School or are on track to graduate
  • 99.2% of LRP Seniors have enrolled in a post-secondary institution or the military

Recent self-report data findings of LRP students indicate that experiential learning has a lasting impact on the social-emotional development of students as evidenced by the following data: