The Story of West Dysmal Nitch Academy
The Junior High was the worst in the state for incidences of aggravated bullying, that is to say both physical and mental. Additionally the school was understaffed, dirty, and was at a loss for addressing online activities outside of school hours targeted students. The school was a war zone with instructors scared of the students. We transformed into a high school with a waiting list. Here is how.
“We ditched low expectations. We emphasized independence and respect.”
When students arrive here our intake staff let them know – you have potential. You’re fantastic. You are gifted and talented, let’s find where you fit. What we found is that for a lot of students they had never had one single adult in their life believe they were capable. We had a lot of pandering to young people as if they were incapable of achieving, dumb, and destined to fail. The adults were essentially saying, “it’s okay, you’re never going to amount to much and that’s what is special about you, you’re broken.” There became a competition to be the most dysfunctional and broken – they were living to expectation. Our youth were being taught street rules of survival in the classroom and emotionally abandoned, instead of mastering academics at the Junior High – and after three years of that nonsense they were sent to us.
We first had to find volunteers in the community due to budget constraints but we found four new coaches to regularly show up and a couple of part time occasional coaches. Physical activity became a cornerstone of their day right out the gate but we wanted them to have options for what they were good at so we had outdoor trail running, swimming, cycling, rowing and rock climbing. We gave the coaches a vision of what we wanted. They weren’t to babysit – they were there to challenge. “I know you have got this” we wanted our students to hear that every day. We wanted them to point to the quiet kid in the corner and say, “you know what, you have grit and I’ve noticed your focus, I bet you are fantastic.” And what we found right off is the kids would work their hearts out to meet high expectations.
Coaches would have groups of no more than ten kid at a time and we didn’t only have physical education but also financial planning and management and coaches explaining to the students how adult life worked and how to maximize advantage. Instead of, “well you’ll work for your whole life and it probably won’t amount to much,” we brought in professionals who had been successful who explained opportunity, interest, and strategy. Our students connected it to game theory and a few opened a thrift shop and started a small business with our coach as an advisor. We had students going home and helping their parents, they were explaining interest rates and tax breaks. So students applied what they learned right away. When they see the benefit to themselves and their family – they pay attention. Skill acquisition opens doors and creates real world opportunity. Nobody had taught or shown these kids about how to build a life – we give them a talent stack.
Respect
We begin the day talking as small groups. Our number one rule, which you passed as a banner in the hall, is respect. You need to respect yourself first. You need to understand you have value. Then you respect those around you. You carry yourself with dignity and respect. Belittling anyone has a knock on negative effect to the community. We connect success to being respectful to everyone around you and that it is the foundation of self-interest.
Yeah, self-interest, it’s not a bad word or a concept here. You need to care about where you’re going in life, the life you are making, and who you are, in order to build strong families and communities. If you give up your self-interest and are convinced “it’s useless” or there is no hope and other people’s interests come first, that’s a victim mentality that leads to dependency and generational dysfunction.
We cut our core classes down to thirty minutes because more time really wasn’t needed and we saw that there was so much waste. We assign work study, and the kids have some options but the great lawn you saw as you came in – they mow and maintain that. They wash the windows, maintain a vegetable garden / greenhouse. They clean and stock the cafeteria. They plan the menu and they clean the school. They’re supervised of course but even difficult jobs like taking down a tree or installing a water heater they are hands on. We are training adults here. The feeling of accomplishment is addictive.
Our fitness teams who compete have done quite well in the last couple of years taking state finals. Part of our fitness involves healthy eating, we have a green house and five acres and some of the students really get into it. What we discovered too though is they respect themselves and their team and don’t want to let anyone down, so we have very low rates of drug use and smoking. They want to perform their best every single day whether training or in competition and they’re proud of their self-discipline and they like the changes they see in their bodies.
When we have a student with behavioral issues we first assign more responsibilities. So far that has worked exceedingly well. We found that a lot of the most troubled youths simply weren’t challenged.
We have a lot of after school clubs where they get to do hands on projects. I head up the quilting club and at the end of the year there is a raffle and an auction with the proceeds going towards the school. Yeah, the school, you thought for charity? Charity starts at home. If you go to the green house there is a plaque that outlines which clubs earned the money to pay for it which is a source of pride. We have had graduates come back and bring family members to show them, “I helped get this fountain installed” or “I aided in helping build this garden.” It’s pride that lasts.
That’s how society is supposed to work, not with mindless consuming of facts in the back of a classroom and then consuming social media and then consuming vegetable oils and sugar all to become dependent on a system that says, “you’re broken so high expectations are unfair and nothing should ever be unfair! You are entitled to consume and not participate – other people should take care of you.” We show them, you can be strong enough to take care of yourself, others and your community and anyone trying to talk you into signing over your sovereignty wants to take away your respect – and that is the one thing you should never allow.
Life is unfair, it is always going to be unfair, but you can rise to meet the challenge because you are strong enough and have self-discipline. – class of 2025
We teach our students how to take care of their clothes so they last longer, how to iron a shirt so they look sharp, how to keep a room clean and how to stay disciplined. We try to help them form better questions so they arrive at better answers. We try to team up students with different skills to aid one another in projects. The IT Club might help the Accounting club with using AI tools. You can feel the synergy and forward momentum as you walk in our front doors. This is a rapid growth environment.
We are giving these young people what they crave, purpose, foundation, structure and the tools to succeed. In the short time we have them they are building a talent stack and learning to reframe problems into challenges that can be overcome so they aren’t overwhelmed but actually empowered to take on difficult issues and handle them with stability and confidence because lets face it, all people face problems that can feel insurmountable. We know with one-hundred percent certainty that everyone has challenges and sadness but we tell our kids, “You have got this. There are five-star experiences to be had in every single day (we have them write them down daily in our 8 week course on happiness). You have to work at happiness, appreciate yourself and others and keep your respect for self and others.
Authors Note; the idea of framing and talent stacks are from Mr. Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, he has written several excellent books on the topic.
