Carbon School District held its annual Family Night Oct. 30 at Carbon High School and the theme of the night was “Resiliency.” The collaboration between the school district, the CARE program, various local agencies and the WhyTry program was evident in the program.
The main speaker for the evening was Christian Moore, the founder of WhyTry. Moore is an internationally-renowned author, speaker, licensed clinical social worker and advocate for at-risk youth. Coming from a blended family of 12 children, he spent most of his childhood years on the streets. In a neighborhood just outside of Washington, D.C., he was exposed to a wide array of social problems, which opened his eyes to the many injustices that exist in the world today.
By the time Christian reached second grade, he had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, conduct disorder and severe learning disabilities. Because of these setbacks, he often felt socially isolated in school. He spent time both as bully and victim and often acted out to avoid answering the questions of teachers. Due to his poor grades and learning disabilities, high school counselors informed him that college was not a viable option. But after graduation, and experience volunteering in the inner city, that gave him the drive to help others and a reason to try.
Christian had found his passion in social work. In college, he developed what he called his “No F” game plan. By attending all his classes, sitting in the front row, building relationships with professors, completing all his assignments and utilizing every resource available, he rose from a “troubled” special education student to a well-respected recipient of a master’s degree in social work. As a social worker in education, youth corrections and a homeless program, he began to see the need for a new approach in reaching out to today’s youth.
“I think the message he delivered to the residents of Carbon County was an important one,” said Alisa Morley the Inter-generational Programs and after school programs coordinator for the district. “His message was about resilience and how you take some of the negatives in life and use those as a springboard for improvement and progress, rather than letting those things get you down. His message was very valuable because life is hard for so many people.”
Using the energy from negative experiences is not a new theme, but coming from someone who overcame so much in his childhood, the message resounded strongly with the audience.
The program was attended by between 250 to 300 people who came for the speakers, the booths set up in the Grand Canyon in the high school and a pizza dinner.
“We had between 12-15 community partners who came out and did booths on various things for parents and students to visit,” said Morley. “There was literature passed out for parents to recognize the kinds of programs that are available to families in the area. I think that helped because a lot of people are not aware of the resources that are available here.”
There were other highlights.
“We had our after school program kids come (The Rising Raptors) sing the national anthem while the superintendent (Lance Hatch) played the guitar to accompany them,” said Morley. “Also at the end of the program, Adriana Taylor, the music sterling scholar from Carbon High sang ‘You Raise Me Up.’ I think that signified how much parents do and sacrifice to help their kids be successful. The strength of the family is important.”
To make the program easier to attend for those with small children a child care center was set up and staffed by students from the SUN Center at USU Eastern and some high school students.
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