At the recent NAPSA conference, Matt Ammons received the WhyTry Resilience in Action Award. The award recognizes how pupil services professionals help students to see the “why” and in turn help to facilitate the development of resilience in students so they can answer the question, “Why Try?”

Matt was given the award by internationally renowned WhyTry founder Christian Moore, who cited Matt for his fine work in programming for students in need at the Hamburg (PA) Area School District. Those programs removed barriers and widened boundaries for students. In fact, Matt has been the catalyst in the development of two educational programs that have greatly benefited students academically, socially, and emotionally while fostering resilience in each student.

One of the programs that Matt has been instrumental in developing is the Transitions Academy. The program helps young adults to transition to postsecondary life and is designed for special needs students aged 18 to 21 years, but could also include students considered high school juniors or seniors that plan to exit school prior to becoming 21 years of age. The program focuses on helping vulnerable learners to become engaged in hands-on educational opportunities within the community, allowing them to develop a work ethic while enhancing a skill set that will help them to become competitively employed after they are no longer high school students. It immerses them at an off-campus job site and fosters in them a sense of value, self-awareness, self-care, self-management, and the enjoyment in successfully completing assigned tasks. Goals and objectives are tailored for each individual student based on need.

Importantly, the Transitions Academy educational experience helps students to develop resilience. For example, it teaches them how to handle challenges as they arise, the demands of everyday work, operating in less desirable job assignments, communicating with peers and others, resolving conflicts, and overcoming barriers and obstacles as they carry out those tasks assigned to them.

The other program Matt has been a catalyst in developing is the Uniting Talent & Passion Extended School Year Program. In this program, the school district partners with Camp Fowler to provide a unique experience for students to have authentic learning experiences in a classroom setting and outdoor educational environment. The program runs for a total of 10 days. During the first day, lessons and activities will be based around team building, social skills, and peer-to-peer interactions. On Wednesdays and Thursdays students attend classroom-based ESY where they will focus on individual goals, therapies, and social skills activities tied to thematic units which will culminate on Fridays. On Fridays, students have a variety of activities and public displays of learning at camp that are tied directly to their individual goals and needs along with the thematic unit of the week.

This ESY program is for students pre-K to age 21. Camp staff collects pertinent data with regard to student goals and tracks their progress with regard to such. A highlight of the program has been a deaf-blind student who participated in camp in a very successful manner.

In essence, both of the above programs foster the development of resilience as students learn to take responsible risks and challenge themselves. Students are also taught to learn from mistakes and failures through recognizing, understanding and accepting that such things are part of the learning process. Further, receiving praise and encouragement for hard work and perseverance spurs students to persist despite difficulty and to interpret academic or social challenges in a positive way. In sum, many of the most vulnerable learners become more resilient as they participate in these excellent programs.

Congratulations Matt!

NOTE: Matt Ammons is PAPSA’s Executive Board President and a NAPSA Trustee.