Alpine Academy Completes 8th Annual Alumni Weekend

Each summer, Alpine Academy has the privilege of inviting alumni students and families, as well as current families, to come out to our campus for a weekend of reconnecting. Our theme this year was, "It's Your Turn to Change the World". We were thrilled to have 46 alumni students join us, along with many of their parents. We were also joined by many of our current students' parents and other family members. All told, roughly 300 people!

In addition to the traditional workshop weekend events (in person family therapy, meetings with the after-care coordinator, etc) some of the highlights of these weekends are the alumni student panel, the parent panel, and the Lila Award Gala.

During the Alumni panel, our current and alumni parents are given the opportunity to talk with and ask questions of our alumni students. This year we had a great group of alumni girls, with a range of graduates from 2006 to 2016. They were able to offer some amazing perspective on what works and what doesn't in regard to working the program, successful transitions home, and reintegration to "real-life."

The parent panel is an opportunity for current and alumni parents to ask questions of each other and seek support, ideas, and guidance. This is a great moment where the parents can learn from each other and get great ideas on how to not only make time spent at Alpine most effective, but also how to aid their daughters in the process of coming back home.

The capstone of the weekend is the Lila Award Gala. The Lila Award is an award that honors our founder, Lila Bjorklund. Lila dedicated more than 30 years of her life to helping children and adolescents, never accepting a dime for countless hours of work. Her dedication, compassion, and love are at the center of our mission. Each year, we honor one of our alumni students who has taken advantage of her opportunity to learn and grow and help others along the way. The recipient is selected by a vote of all of Alpine Academy's staff members. In addition to the award ceremony, we were blessed to have three of our alumni students speak about what they are doing to "change the world". One has become a certified EMT, one has gotten back to nature and is in the process of becoming a field guide and hopes to become a wilderness therapist, and the final gal that spoke was part of a collaboration with Coca-Cola to start an anti-bullying initiative.

It is an honor and a privilege to work with such amazing individuals and to see them become empowered to take control of their lives. We are so blessed to stay connected with our ever-growing Alpine Family!

Alpine Academy offers family-based residential treatment that is uniquely successful at helping teenage girls learn the skills to succeed at home, in school, and with their own families. Alpine is a part of Utah Youth Village, one of Utah's oldest and largest charities providing treatment to children and families in crisis.