Alpine Academy
Erda, UT

---

Teacher Couple Nominated
For Teaching-Family Association
Practitioners Of The Year

Alpine Academy is proud to highlight one of our amazing Family Teacher couples, Derek and Melissa Barney. Derek and Melissa were recently awarded the Utah Youth Village Agency Practitioners of the Year and also nominated for the Teaching-Family Association Practitioners of the Year at the annual national conference.

The Barney's joined Alpine Academy in 2011 after having spent several years working in other residential treatment centers and as foster parents. They came to Alpine with a great desire to learn a better way to serve and help adolescent girls. Family teachers receive specialized training and supervision and are evaluated each year in their ability to implement the Teaching-Family Model in their home. Derek and Melissa Barney have completed the national certification in this evidence-based model 6 times.

The role of a family teacher is essential to the progress of students at Alpine Academy. Family Teachers live in each of the 7 homes on campus and devote their time and efforts to teaching Alpine students the necessary skills to be successful in life. Family teachers establish a family and home environment where students participate in cooking and eating family meals, doing homework and chores, and going out in the community together. Throughout these day-to-day experiences, the family teachers are actively looking for opportunities to teach to the individual skills that each student is working on. Family teachers are able to provide a real-life environment and situations that empower students to be more successful when they return home.

The family teachers also play a pivotal role in the communication between the therapists, school teachers, and the parents of the students in their home. Through these many layers of communication and coordination, Alpine is able to minimize miscommunication and manipulation and provide a more collaborative approach to the treatment process.

Alpine Academy is so grateful for Derek and Melissa, as well as the other family teachers, for the sacrifices they make in their own lives to be able to provide havens of safety, learning, and love for their girls.

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.