 Full Business Plan is available for interested parties, et al.
Contact: Zen Benefiel |
A 501 (c) (3) Corporation
(pending) |
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Presentations Plan Summary University Papers Further Resources
"Vision is the art of seeing things invisible."
Want to discuss or view our Spectrum Academy plan?
"Vision without action is a
daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."
In need of a personal transformation?
“Instead of accepting the unity of purpose provided
by genetic instructions or by the rules of society, the challenge for us
is to create harmony based on reason and choice.”
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Observing current conditions challenged youth encounter and engage we might use the analogy of taking a fish out of a dirty fish tank, cleaning it off, and throwing it back in the same water with expectations of survival and success. Rarely will the fish live, let alone thrive, without cleaning the tank and maintaining healthy water. Can we 'clean the tank' and increase the rate of success for our youth? It seems so and we developed Spectrum Academy in response to this growing need. Let us start with a fresh tank and introduce self-cleaning methodologies to our fish, shall we? Collaboration is the win/win above competition and control. Youth need a voice in their process. This website is a presentation of possibility, born of deep concern and consideration for future generations. It is only one dream among many to achieve, seeding our future realities with hope and inspiration for challenged youth today. The dream, our vision, is to restore hope and inspiration to those who've lost faith and trust in their worlds. A few good people with financial resources can make a world of difference. Many youth end up in correctional or treatment centers after experiencing ill-equipped community, educational or parental scenarios. Playing the 'blame game' serves no purpose. Warehousing of 'adjudicated' youths within the social systems only makes the problem worse. Teenagers seek rites of passage, often void of guidance, without knowing what they are doing or why; causing social issues of near epidemic proportions in our cities and an overload of our courts, educational and social service systems. Tending to these youth now, using best practices in business, education, learning organizations, and treatment programs will decrease problems for our society as a whole and for future generations to come. It takes a village to raise a child. We can create a flexible model that anticipates and resolves the turmoil driving the destructive behaviors while providing academic and real-world learning. Love unites people; creating healthy environments, understanding foundations of learning, and service lead the way toward harmony. We live what we learn. We present Spectrum Academy as a way to change what children, especially those at risk, learn about life. It is based on a simple act of kindness, offering them a new experience to shape their understanding of life. We suggest that changing the way we address these youth will ultimately change our communities for the better. We all know the benefits of a nurturing environment and the need for disciplined structure in developing youth. Can we center ourselves for a moment and make some critical observations? Will we be honest enough to admit we are situational [at-risk] ignorant? When can we expect to see a difference in the numbers of youth who stay clean and clear of abuses and addictions? Current behavioral, correctional and educational environments seem inept in dealing with the growing at-risk populations. A village environment specifically designed for empowering youth is an answer. Change management strategies and learning organization tools are powerful agents for facilitating the development of a holistic community designed to reflect the results of healthy attitudes and relationships with the world. Peer community strategies engage integrity and responsibility of the individual to the community. Many private organizations offer empowerment camps and schools, yet most at-risk youth and families are unable to access these programs. Privatization is not the answer as low-income families are bereft of finances or insurance. More effective educational and treatment methods are being implemented, yet overburdened systems with shrinking budgets spell poor performance. An old Turkish proverb states, "No matter how far down the wrong road you have gone, turn back." Our past methods have fragmented families and society, blinding and deafening us to reality. Youth are alienated by what their forefathers have created, a world focused on corporate insecurity, moral servitude, and terrorism. We need to do more than clean the fish tank. Applying best practices in business, education, management, and treatment calls for a systems approach to solving the problem. We can provide a solution. A new aquarium designed to meet the needs of these youth and their families is a beginning. Can we afford not to address this problem with a fresh approach, collaborative alliances, and integrated methods using the recent discoveries of peer community development and systems thinking? Can we begin anew with different eyes and ears? Great accomplishments have been made with private institutions, specific programs, and even public programs that address at-risk youth. Too many youth still fall through the safety nets of our educational and social systems. 21st Century best practices focus on integrated systems that draw resources together in one location. A living environment of total support for youth and families in need works wonders. It takes a village within the community to raise a child and support a family. Developing a model that serves these special needs better is both fiscally and logistically sound. A village environment that serves this disenfranchised population, both youth and young adults, invites the emergence of a better future for the community and society. Holistic education, modern philosophical works, and organizational development best practices focus on connecting the dots in the web of life so that youth understand the impact of their choices and decisions on themselves, others, and the world around them. Is it possible for us to build a new type of community that demonstrates a holistic living environment complete with academic, behavioral, emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual support? We need to consider the spectrum of needs of our children, the future citizens and leaders of our nations. We have a proposal that maximizes funds, integrates service delivery systems, and most of all restores hope for challenged youth and families. Imagine the change in the lives of those who no longer have to fight for survival and can teach others how to rise from their own ashes as the proverbial Phoenix ascended. We feel leadership in transforming lives can also be profitable for the community and the individuals that are served through Spectrum Academy's reality. Our concept includes a master-planned development with business partnerships, collaborative alliances, and child/family team decision-making in a peer community setting. It is conscientiously designed to support itself financially within five years of opening, possibly sooner. Beginning as a non profit endeavor, built-in features will empower and propel youth and adults into productive community involvement, greatly reducing the current trend of desensitizing young adults as well as their elders. What example do we want to model? One of nurturing holistic learning and living, our choice to be conscious of our connection to each other and the world. 21st Century technologies allow us to plan, execute, observe, evaluate and adjust our methodologies in process. Spectrum Academy's holistic learning organization systems design engages everyone and invites unlocking the door to loving and being loved. You may just be the key... Read on >>>
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© 2004 Spectrum Academy