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“One of life’s most distressing experiences is being separated from the things and people we love. It is often difficult to leave memories, and it is always hard to say goodbye to loved ones when we must leave them.”
It became evident to our family that something had to be done. Life was no longer pleasant in our household. We were at odds all the time. Our son’s grades were sky rocketing downward. His school involvement stopped. He had experimented with drugs and alcohol. He was making poor choices. As parents, my wife and I were lost. We were at our wits end and had no idea where to turn. One day we found on the internet Teen Solutions and it wasn’t too much longer after that our son was enrolled at Darrington Academy in Blue Ridge, Georgia. It was not an easy decision to make but we all realized that something drastic had to be done. As it turned out, it was the best decision my wife and I ever made. It saved our son’s life.
Our son had been heading down the wrong path for too long of a time. By enrolling at Darrington, our son’s life took an abrupt change. He turned his life around. He was now clean and sober. He was now focused on making positive decisions. His grades were where they once were. He actually was able to finish a year and a half of high school in nine months. In one letter home he said, ”I had forgotten that I was smart.” It seemed that everything was starting to click for him again. Sure we missed him but he was getting his life back on track and we were committed to “do whatever it takes” to get the job done.
When Red River Academy opened up last spring, our son was asked to transfer there. When we got the call that he was asked to transfer, we were all thrilled. People were asking him to take a leadership role.
Upper level students were needed. They could help the new staff become indoctrinated to the program and when new enrollees come, upper level students become “big brothers” for five days to help. This is when our son’s program really took off. He was gaining a great deal more than just his high school diploma. He was gaining a great deal of interpersonal relationships with the students and more so, the staff. Darrington Academy built a great foundation and Red River Academy put in all the finishing touches for our son. My wife and I thank God every day for our son’s experience at Darrington and Red River.
Linda and Andy Balser, Greenwood, Indiana
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I knew my teen-aged daughter wasn’t “broken.”
She didn’t need to be “torn down and rebuilt” in boot camp as some friends and family suggested. But she had fallen into a pattern of destructive attitudes and choices.
I did my best to help her. I tried everything I could but nothing worked. And the deeper my daughter got into her unhealthy life, the more our family’s life disintegrated until we had no life at all. I knew I had to try something else. I wasn’t about to give up on my daughter.
Enrolling my daughter in this program was both the most difficult and best decision I’ve ever made. Aside from financial considerations, placing my daughter in the hands of strangers miles away from me didn’t feel natural. But I soon came to know the staff at Red River Academy as family and their hands became an extension of mine.
At Red River Academy my daughter worked daily on stripping away the destructive image she’d created for herself so that the smart, kind and funny person she is could shine through again. She also worked on accepting consequences for her actions and learning to make better decision to shape the outcome. And as her sense of self-worth and confidence grew, she became such a profound leader that she even surprised herself.
But none of this came easily. She really had to work on herself. And in this program, parents are encouraged to work their own program of self-exploration and growth to coincide with their child’s. This wasn’t easy either, but I feel more capable as a parent than I ever have.
For my daughter and family, Red River Academy was essential to enabling us to reconnect and get on with our lives as a healthy, loving, happy family. And I encourage other struggling families to consider this school and it’s program as well.
Patricia Rodriguez, Oxnard, California
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I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that I appreciate all of your efforts for taking care of my son.
You all have a really tough job and I respect you for doing what you do. I know you all have to have the patience of saints to be in the job that you all have. I know that my son is being well taken care of and I can’t thank you all enough for that.
God Bless You All,
Linda Wray and Grandma Bea__________________________________
We appreciate what you are doing for our children and for us as a family (you are considered pare of our family now). Since we could not keep our child safe under our roof we are completely 100% sure that you will have our son’s best interest at hear and take care of him to the best of your ability. We have not had the chance to meet Shelia personally, who is our son’s family rep. All we can say is that after getting the opportunity to experience Markus and see what a loving, caring, and generous man he is we are confident that Shelia must be just as awesome inside.
Thank You RRA for being there!
Denise and Sam Caine__________________________________
I just want to take a moment to tell you what a blessing you are to me and my family. What you do with these kids on a day-to-day basis is amazing! Watching the lives of children transform must be a truly rewarding experience. I am experiencing that transformation right now, not only in my daughter, but in myself through the seminars you have provided for me. I can not put a price on that. How do you say thank you to someone who has given you you again? There are no words to fully express it, but thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Jennifer Wheeler
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Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there to help our son regain his greatness.
After attending Discovery, Focus and meeting Markus, my husband and I are confident Joseph will be whole again. The confidence and compassion of all the staff I have encountered has reassured me that we truly found the best “program” for our son.
The world will be a better place because of these schools who utilize the program, and Thank God for that!
Debbie Hammer
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I wanted to acknowledge you for your commitment to my child, JJ, and my entire family. You cannot imagine the respect I have for each of you. You are there whenever I email or call, you know why I am calling before the phone rings. This can only happen if you are as concerned for JJ as I am.
You make so much available to us parents, and to me, that my life and my family are changing while you are helping JJ with his own changes.
Finally I asked you just a few days ago to make my child a program child. And true to form, as with all my requests, you did that via Discovery.
Joel Hubbard, JJ’s Dad
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Thank you for the wonderful, difficult work you do. We were lost when we found Red River and were almost to the point of feeling that things could only get worse. Working with our child the way you have has given us a sense of hope for his future and our family’s future. A day doesn’t go by that we don’t think of how blessed we are to have your assistance and dedication to improving Chris’ life.
Ruth Anne and Gary Boothe
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Virginia and I are the grandparents of Logan. We are at the Focus seminar and we were given and we were given the chance to express our appreciation for the oversight, correction, and growth of our grandson. Too often we do not express our thanks for the difficult job you do, for we know the school runs 24/7. Please extend to each staff member our thanks. We needed help and you were there for us. I only wish we had used your expertise earlier. The parent support website is a blessing through communication with other parents in the same situation.
Eddie and Virginia Dunagan
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Thank you for all you do each and every day to assist my son JJ to learn how to make good choices and to stand accountable for the results he produces
It is comforting to know that he is in a safe environment surrounded by loving and caring staff who are dedicated to helping him grow. God Bless You All!
Larry (Grandpa)Crowe
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I want to write you a note expressing my sincere thanks to you for your dedication to guiding and coaching Matt through these times. Thank you for standing in the gap when we just were unable to make a positive impact on him anymore. You were there ready to step in, make up for the mistakes we made and take over. Your time is valuable to us as each of you individually.
Mike Coursey
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Thank you doesn’t begin to express my appreciation of your commitment to the program and our son. He is such a valuable and worthy person. I am continually praying for you as you share your honesty and wisdom and love with him. Every time we invest time and energy in an individual we have an impact on who that person becomes. Honest loving feedback is a valuable aspect of what will help him grow to be a whole individual.
I will never be able to repay you for how you are blessing my family. Regardless of what Matt chooses, I know each of you have “+5” before him.
Annette Coursey
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We are taking this opportunity to Thank all of you at Red River from the bottom of our hearts for taking care of our grandson and giving him the tools such that he has the opportunity to “live,” if he chooses. May you be blessed.
Jack and Pamela Brown
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Bill and I thought we should follow up with another letter about Carl. At this point, he is doing great! We did have some trouble the first couple of days, but as we calmly stood our ground with our rules as spelled out in the exit plan, he just fell into line.
He is a very different child from when he left Red River. One of the biggest changes we notice is that he takes responsibility for his wrongs instead of blaming others. I called him out last week concerning his room, and a few rules he had broken. He apologized and told me it wouldn’t happen again and it hasn’t. He has been driving since he got home and he is responsible and drives safely and he tells us where he is at all times. He wants to have a relationship with us at this point, so we have had some good times going out to breakfast and hanging out together. He took the Navy Seals test at the local recruiting office and has to do a couple more pushups and he will be admitted into the Seals program. The recruiters commented on how much he has changed since they worked with him a few months ago. If he makes it through the Seals program, he gets approx $38,000 for college and another $40,000 for passing seals training. For now, he is working out every day, but starts a full-time warehouse position next week after he turns 18. He is paying us for his car and taking care of his own extra financial needs. He is going to attend his graduation at Westerville North and will go into basic training August 7th.
Carl now admits that Red River was good for him. He says the biggest things he learned were structure, discipline and accountability. He wants to keep the discipline in his life and part of the reason he wants to go in to the Navy is that he is not sure he can maintain a necessary level of self discipline on his own. For him to come up with these ideas on his own is a pretty big maturity jump!
Bill and Kristina Rotach