Voltaire famously said, “Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.”
At Valley View School, it is felt that any time one can address three “evils” with one action, it is a very good deal. Many Valley View students hold jobs on campus, such as working in the kitchen, waitering, detailing vans, and recycling. Boys apply for jobs, carry out their duties, and, in the process, learn how to be responsible and conscientious. The workers are paid for their efforts through money deposited into individual accounts. This money can be used to fund off-campus trips.
Parents are often amazed at the budding industriousness of their sons once they arrive at Valley View. Rick May, executive director of Valley View School, tells the story of a newly enrolled boy who, within the second week of his stay, was working in the kitchen. When his mother saw a photo of her son running the industrial dishwasher, she was astounded. She told Mr. May that her son fiercely resisted the simplest home chores. What this mother regarded as “a miracle” is actually a function of a campus culture that values responsibility, industriousness, and contributing to the greater good. Through work, students practice learning various work skills and begin to understand the value of their efforts. Many graduates have emphasized they learned to be productive workers through the Valley View program.
Recently, a group of students and staff traveled to Peru for an incredible 10-day tour. Even during this venture, the group carved out time to engage in a community service project. Jim Haupt, clinical coordinator, led the trip and described the project. “We traveled to a small mountain village (elevation 12,500’) and spent a day painting a school building and planting 80 trees around another school building. Many of us felt that this was the highlight of the trip.”
In an age when many youth are plagued by self-indulgence, work, especially in the service of others, can be tremendously character-building.
About Valley View School
Valley View School is a small, private therapeutic boarding school serving boys in grades 6-12. Our campus is situated on 215 acres of forests and rolling hills in the heart of New England, just 90 miles outside of Boston.