Boise, Idaho – One Stone, a student-led and directed Boise-based nonprofit, is teaming up with the Idaho Youth Ranch for Break Through 2014, an alternative spring break project for southwest Idaho high school students. This year’s project, March 28 – 29, will be staged at the Idaho Youth Ranch’s namesake Ranch Campus outside of Rupert.
This is the seventh year One Stone has staged the event, which is planned and organized by high school students with the help of adult coaches. Break Through is designed to be an experiential service opportunity with a learning component and direct connection to the recipient.
Sienna George, Boise High School senior and One Stone’s lead on the project explains, “The learning goes both ways. We get to share best practices in leadership development and design thinking. We also get to meet and learn from some incredible high school students. The project culminates in a life-changing experience for all who are involved.”
The theme of this year’s Break Through is “embrace potential, discover purpose, share perspective.” Students will be teaching and learning design thinking, equine therapy and ranching practices and will do some hands-on ranch improvements. More than 50 high school students are expected to attend.
The Idaho Youth Ranch announced this spring that the Ranch Campus program would be relocated within the next 2-3 years to be closer to a larger population base. A visioning of what that new facility might look like will be a focus of this year’s Break Through. One Stone students will facilitate a workshop on design thinking that will challenge current Ranch residents to design the next generation of the Idaho Youth Ranch’s longest-running program.
“We’re thrilled about our ongoing partnership with One Stone,” says Peggy Jordan, Idaho Youth Ranch director of communications. “Our entire organization, especially the kids and families we serve, benefits from the positivity and creativity the One Stone students bring to the table with every project.”
About Break Through
Break Through is a signature One Stone service event designed to offer an experiential service opportunity with a direct connection to the recipient and a learning component. The two-day, overnight event has been staged in past years at the Original Gangster Academy, Farmway Village, the Cities of Wilder and Marsing, and in Boise with a focus on the Capital quadrant. More than 500 Treasure Valley high school students have been involved in Break Through since its beginning in 2008.
About the Idaho Youth Ranch
The Idaho Youth Ranch has been helping good kids on a dangerous path find promising futures for more than 60 years, relying on private donations and revenues from its network of 28 thrift stores to fund youth programs and services throughout the state. The Idaho Youth Ranch offers emergency shelter, residential care, substance abuse treatment, job readiness training, alternative education, adoption services, family counseling, and more for at-risk kids and their families. Generous donors and thrift store sales help keep care affordable so that no child is turned away because of the family’s inability to pay for services. For more information, call 1-877-817-8141 or visit www.youthranch.org.
