Operation Reset -Change the settings, change the outcomes
The vision for Operation Reset is a nonprofit 501c3 company that partners with a blended learning charter school to create a revolutionary new foster care group home setting for ten at-risk teenagers 13 yrs to 17 yrs old. The concept is to remove the ten-teenager cohort from familiar settings that are leading the students astray to create a focused, cultural reset that challenges their assumptions about poverty, their role in society, and the way they see themselves.
The cohort gathers in Raleigh, NC, in June and temporarily does research on San Marcos, Guatemala while gathering passports and preparing for its year of growth abroad. Students will learn that San Marcos is known globally by yoga enthusiasts and people wanting to get away from it all in a relaxing, beautiful setting. It is on a mountain lake ringed by 3 volcanoes high enough above sea level to boast perfect spring temperatures year round. In short, it is a paradise completely unlike any familiar setting of the urban poor.
The cohort is led in Guatemala by a married couple with education experience: Mike and Anastasia Shumake will lead the first pilot. Mrs Shumake has 10 years of dance, pilates, movement and growth and development teaching experience. Mr Shumake has 10+ years of at-risk youth alternative school experience and 5 years of blended learning experience.
Once in San Marcos Guatemala, the cohort will reside for 1 year in facilities that far exceed NC DHHS guidelines. Each child will have his or her own private room and bathroom. There will be maid service and a cook for the cohort. The home and grounds will be expansive and professionally landscaped and maintained, resembling a country club more than a typical group home.
The students' time will be spent working on life skills and online high school courses supported by Mr Shumake. They will also participate in an intensive pilates and yoga/movement program for flexibility, strength, and lifelong health with Mrs Shumake. The cohort will learn about gardening, cooking, and other life skills, and the students will offer free community seminars in Spanish on relevant sustainability practices like environmental responsibility and rocket stove mass heaters. They will have small group and private language coaches with whom they will learn Spanish. And they will work as a team on community improvement projects.
Learning a new language is just the beginning of a cultural reset for these students. In the beginning the cohort will have a hard time communicating with anyone but themselves, which will lead to a strong sense of unity, family, and support. Later, as their Spanish skills improve, they will begin to see themselves as the haves instead of the have-nots in the larger Lake Atitlan community of villages. They will be provided with polo style shirts, khaki cargo pants, and sandals as a 'uniform.' Each student will have his or her own computer, but no cell phone will be provided.
Funding will be supplied by DHHS at the normal foster care reimbursement rates and supplemented by the charter school partner, which will employ Mr Shumake as a distance learning professional and supply students with online course access, airfare to and from Guatemala, and health insurance. Additional funding will be provided by partnerships and grants, and it is possible that private child intervention placement will also supplement funding.
DHHS, the Department of Health and Human Services, will have 24/7 virtual access to the facility via cameras in common rooms -not in bedrooms or private rooms. DHHS representatives will be encouraged to reach out to the students via Skype and video chats. Operation Reset will also provide DHHS with one round trip ticket to and from the cohort's physical facility annually for a facilities inspection. It is the goal of Operation Reset to go above and beyond in the rehabilitation and cultural reset of its kids, and transparency and access are integral parts of its mission.
Concluding the pilot year, facilities will open in each of the 12 villages surrounding Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, and the program will expand to 12 facilities with the approval and support of DHHS.
The cohort gathers in Raleigh, NC, in June and temporarily does research on San Marcos, Guatemala while gathering passports and preparing for its year of growth abroad. Students will learn that San Marcos is known globally by yoga enthusiasts and people wanting to get away from it all in a relaxing, beautiful setting. It is on a mountain lake ringed by 3 volcanoes high enough above sea level to boast perfect spring temperatures year round. In short, it is a paradise completely unlike any familiar setting of the urban poor.
The cohort is led in Guatemala by a married couple with education experience: Mike and Anastasia Shumake will lead the first pilot. Mrs Shumake has 10 years of dance, pilates, movement and growth and development teaching experience. Mr Shumake has 10+ years of at-risk youth alternative school experience and 5 years of blended learning experience.
Once in San Marcos Guatemala, the cohort will reside for 1 year in facilities that far exceed NC DHHS guidelines. Each child will have his or her own private room and bathroom. There will be maid service and a cook for the cohort. The home and grounds will be expansive and professionally landscaped and maintained, resembling a country club more than a typical group home.
The students' time will be spent working on life skills and online high school courses supported by Mr Shumake. They will also participate in an intensive pilates and yoga/movement program for flexibility, strength, and lifelong health with Mrs Shumake. The cohort will learn about gardening, cooking, and other life skills, and the students will offer free community seminars in Spanish on relevant sustainability practices like environmental responsibility and rocket stove mass heaters. They will have small group and private language coaches with whom they will learn Spanish. And they will work as a team on community improvement projects.
Learning a new language is just the beginning of a cultural reset for these students. In the beginning the cohort will have a hard time communicating with anyone but themselves, which will lead to a strong sense of unity, family, and support. Later, as their Spanish skills improve, they will begin to see themselves as the haves instead of the have-nots in the larger Lake Atitlan community of villages. They will be provided with polo style shirts, khaki cargo pants, and sandals as a 'uniform.' Each student will have his or her own computer, but no cell phone will be provided.
Funding will be supplied by DHHS at the normal foster care reimbursement rates and supplemented by the charter school partner, which will employ Mr Shumake as a distance learning professional and supply students with online course access, airfare to and from Guatemala, and health insurance. Additional funding will be provided by partnerships and grants, and it is possible that private child intervention placement will also supplement funding.
DHHS, the Department of Health and Human Services, will have 24/7 virtual access to the facility via cameras in common rooms -not in bedrooms or private rooms. DHHS representatives will be encouraged to reach out to the students via Skype and video chats. Operation Reset will also provide DHHS with one round trip ticket to and from the cohort's physical facility annually for a facilities inspection. It is the goal of Operation Reset to go above and beyond in the rehabilitation and cultural reset of its kids, and transparency and access are integral parts of its mission.
Concluding the pilot year, facilities will open in each of the 12 villages surrounding Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, and the program will expand to 12 facilities with the approval and support of DHHS.