Ashcreek Ranch Academy and Sedona Sky Academy (AZ) have combined efforts to host regular three-day ‘Action Summits’ focusing on Leadership Skills, Empowerment, Understanding Personal Worth, Building Gratitude, and other pertinent topics. The girls from Sedona Sky Academy and the boys from Ashcreek Ranch Academy have joined together to participate in these meaningful summits filled with a variety of experiential activities, group sessions, guest speakers, and educational opportunities. The Action Summits are a part of regular programming for each campus and are held quarterly at either the Utah or Arizona campuses.

As a single-gender school, Ashcreek Academy understands that it is advantageous to provide students with opportunities to interact with the opposite gender. This provides instant feedback on how well they are doing with their self-esteem, treatment plan goals, and any identity issues that may have come up. It is helpful for the young men to receive feedback from the young women at Sedona Sky Academy.

Ashcreek Ranch Academy had eight male students who were identified as leaders in the community and were able to attend. Ashcreek Ranch Academy planned an ‘Action Summit’ in Page, Arizona where the two schools met in the middle. Both treatment programs participated in therapeutic groups, ate meals together, and learned about each other during free time.

The pinnacle of the trip was being able to go to Lone Rock Beach at Lake Powell. There they had a series of Experiential Therapy groups that they participated in and were able to process afterward. The students from Ashcreek Ranch Academy said how they enjoyed learning about the girls from Sedona Sky Academy and that several of them felt it would be nice to be able to be friends with them outside of this experience, as they felt the girls were really interesting. 

One Ashcreek student commented, “I didn’t use to view girls as friends, but just as people to date. I thought it was a great experience for me to grow. One of the girls gave it to me hard with some feedback about some war storying and it made me realize that I didn’t want to be that guy anymore and it wasn’t going to make me the kind of friends I want. I liked the Action Summit a lot and it felt cool to be more like a normal kid, hanging out with the girls at the beach.” 

The students at Ashcreek Creek Academy are excited for the next year’s ‘Action Summits.’  The boys look forward to helping them grow and learn and see the highlights of the trip on YouTube.

About Ashcreek Academy

Ashcreek Academy is a home-like residential treatment center that works with male students ages 13 – 18. Ashcreek Academy focuses on the three C’s: Character, Challenge, and Community. Ashcreek Academy is located in beautiful Southern Utah and helps provide trauma-informed care through experiential modalities. Ashcreek works with the student to rebuild relationships with family and friends while carving a path for success individually. It is licensed by the State of Utah and holds a Joint Commission accreditation. For more information, please call 1-435-841-0704