Jim – Health Insurance Consultant for Major Corporations in the Western USA
“Eagle Ranch Academy is the most unique and complete full service Residential Treatment
Center and Youth Development Program for teenage boys and girls anywhere. It is a great place to send a struggling teen. In fact, we sent our daughter to ERA when she was struggling. Our exhaustive research paid off. ERA is the BEST.”
Blake & Annette – Parents of an ERA Graduate
“We are forever indebted to ERA. They saved our daughters life!”
Parents of ERA students – VIDEO
Laura – Mother of an ERA Graduate
“They coached, was a mentor, and helped our son overcome his problems, and then they
developed strategies for maximizing his full potential.”
Terri – Mother of an ERA Graduate
“Our daughter, Michelle, was on a downward spiral of self destructiveness until we found ERA. All the love and help we tried on our own wasn’t enough. Her time at ERA was a true blessing and she has completely turned her life around. Where there was once self hate and doubt, now there is self love, respect and confidence. Where there was once self destructiveness, healthiness is in its place. She laughs so much now and although life throws things at her, now she is able to handle it constructively and with a positive attitude. Michelle sees that she has a future now and is eager to explore and learn. The staff at ERA has been so incredibly loving and supportive throughout our experience and we cannot thank ERA enough. Thank you for giving us back our beautiful young lady and showing her what a blessing she is to herself and to so many others.”
Johnny – ERA Graduate
“I had problems others thought were insurmountable and had given up on me; and my mother found ERA through a close personal friend, and they literally saved my life.”
Carlos – ERA Graduate
“I was running with a gang, was in trouble with the law, and my mother took action to save her son. I learned at ERA that I am loved and valued, and should value my family more than anything else.”
Marlene – Mother of an ERA Graduate
“I entrusted my “treasure” to ERA, and they returned him to me as a healthy, happy and
respectful young man. ERA prepared him to be a leader, and I am so happy and proud.”
Letter from a Mother of an ERA Graduate
Dear Dave,
If there are any parents going through what Mark and I have these past two weeks, I wish you would pass along our testimonial regarding the service you and Robyn have given us. Two weeks ago today, our son bolted from our home when he knew he was going to a 28 day inpatient drug rehab facility in our state. That is when our feelings were confirmed that he needed more than a 12- step program. He had already been in intensive out-patient services. He could tell you everything that every drug did to every organ of his body, but that didn’t stop him from relapsing the day he graduated from the program. More of the same training was not what he needed. That is when we remembered what his psychologist told us 18 months ago, that at some point we should consider one of the successful residential treatment facilities in Utah. Two weeks ago we began an intensive search for such a program for our son.
That night, Eagle Ranch Academy was the first facility to pop up on my Google list. After
reviewing their web site, I went on to investigate others but kept coming back to that one. In the Eagle Ranch home page there was a box in which one could explain the nature of the child’s problems. I explained the panic that I felt that night as our son had been gone all day, it was getting late and we were suppose to go to the drug rehab place the next morning. I went on to explain some of his risky behaviors and what we had done to help him.
I was surprised when I got a call from Robyn a short while later. She was genuinely concerned that our son had not come home yet. She was calling to see how she could help. She answered my questions about Eagle Ranch and residential treatment facilities in general. Over the next two weeks she was available to me day and night as we worked through our decision regarding a program for our son. She was not trying to sell us something but was very supportive of our concern for our son. By the end of two weeks, we felt she was a very good friend. She had a lot of experience working with youth at risk and was very understanding of what we were going through. She also offered us hope when our situation seemed so desperate. She was a great source of information and never too busy to help us any time we called. She followed up with calls to us several times a day as we worked on strategies for how to get our son to ERA once we made the choice.
Dave, ERA Admissions Director was fabulous, too! He was also available to answer our
questions and give reassurance 24 hours a day. We were skeptical at first about the staff, program and facility, but one by one, he resolved each concern. He was patient, sincere and never pushy. After a number of phone visits, we felt we knew Dave pretty well and felt we could trust him. Dave patiently went through the admission forms with us over the phone several times. We could call him any time and he always was available to us. He helped us work out a way to get our son to ERA. . . . . . All of the references he gave us were families who had or have a child at ERA. Each of them commented on the personal sacrifices that Dave and Paul Arslanian make for the youth at ERA. Without exception they all commented on the love you feel at ERA. They said things like, “they are too good to be real but they are!” and “they will love your child as if he was their own. At a crucial time in our lives, we benefitted from that love and support that they gave us and our son.
Sincerely,
Janene
Letter from Parents of an ERA student
Hi Guys,
Now that were all settled in, I told Maricela I wanted to drop you a note. I cant describe how proud we are of Alex, and how much gratitude we have for everyone at Eagle
Ranch. I know its probably cliché by now, but you really did save Alex’s life. Penny, you became a real factor in his life. He regards you as i you were a second mother and a
true friend at the same time. You’re the only adult he’s ever wanted to talk to about his personal issues, and as you know, to the point of calling you on his own. You’ve shown him how to look at his life from a different vantage point. You’ve also made him into a young man that has a new found respect for his family and his peers, recognizing what got him into trouble before. There’s no possible way to thank you enough for what you’ve done. We will genuinely miss you and love you forever. I hope we can continue to communicate with you as Alex grows.
Dave and Paul, I need to give you special thanks for the way you treated such a troubled kid with a dignity and respect he’s never known outside the home. You gave him such hope for his future by showing him how successful he can become, in spite of his disability. You surround these kids with young adults that have been, in a lot of cases, exactly where he was, and have been able to actually return their lifes lessons to these kids. That has always impressed us about Eagle Ranch. I also want to thank you for the personal attention you have given us since our first contact. An extremely difficult process was made as easy and comfortable as it could possibly have been. Your attitude with us has always given us hope and completely removed any fears we had about entrusting you with our only son. Well never regret the hardest decision we ever had to make in our lives, because of you. Alex has high hopes of returning as a successful young man, to share his experiences after his stay, as did the two students present at his ceremony. He is also excited about the possibility of being able to be of any help in staffing seminars in the future.
Maricela and I both feel Alex has proven he’s learned the 8 Core Values, and is demonstrating them to us on a daily basis. His impulsivity may cause him some bumps in the road, but considering where he began and comparing it to where he is today, we feel he graduated the program with honors. As you know, I’m always glad to talk to parents anticipating sending their child to Eagle Ranch, and will always be available for them. I would also be proud if you used my comments as a testimonial on your website.
Our Most Sincere and Heartfelt Thanks,
Steve, Maricela and Alex
Student Testimonial from Former Student (A College Application Essay).
This is a College Application Essay by an Eagle Ranch Student who had just completed his Program at ERA. He sent this to us because he wanted to share his thoughts about his accomplishments amid his darkest hour.
My life is a prism, stretching, bending, reflecting, interesting from every angle. Each day dawns with memories of yesterday’s experiences and promises of today’s adventures. The blessing, I think, is acknowledging the joy and wisdom as well as the disappointment and challenge that cause me to grow each day into a more responsible and compassionate human being.
At seventeen, I am the oldest of six children. My parents were blessed with four more boys
before they adopted our twelve year old sister from the Ukraine. As the oldest, I am a role model for my siblings, and therefore held to fairly high standards. I am also their protector, their mediator and sometimes their conscience! As the oldest, I am the first to experience the many benefits of first-born: skiing at age three, camp at seven, driver’s license at sixteen.
My sixth grade science teacher takes a group of students and parents to a rain forest each
summer. My dad, brother and I accompanied her to Belize the summer I turned twelve. We lived in a camp and spent every day studying the fauna and flora of Belize. That experience changed both my attitude and behavior. The rain forest is a microcosm of life’s fragile balance and we are its caretakers. I am hopeful that we use our intelligence and overcome our indifference to protecting our environment. For ten consecutive years I spent the last week of July at Kamp Kanakuk, a Christian sports camp in Branson, Missouri. Many of our activities focused on trust and cooperation and the greatest emphasis was placed on each person doing their personal best. At the end of the session, awards are given to each camper. I have annually received the leadership award. The goal, however, for each camper is to be third and the “I’m Third Award” is the most prestigious because it
acknowledges life’s priorities: God, others, and then self. It remains one of my personal goals.
Educationally I’ve experienced private grade school, home schooled middle school, both
parochial and public high school as well as online courses. I’ve learned to appreciate each
experience. Montessori grade school stretched learning far beyond the boundaries of text books; home schooling gave our family the opportunity to travel and spend quality time together; parochial high school allowed me to play sports such as soccer and bowling; public high school opened my eyes and mind to the incredible diversity of our nation – economically, morally, socially, ethnically, educationally, physically, and religiously. Just being a part of this each day is an education alone.
My single regret, my sole dark hour resulted from a series of bad choices I made when I
convinced myself that smoking pot with my friends was O. K. It wasn’t, but six months of my life reflect that sorry attitude. I had, in fact, decided that the life of a pothead really wasn’t for me, but before I acted on that decision, my parents intervened. It was the love of my family and their willingness to confront me that redirected my life. One day I woke up in my own bed at home and the next day I woke up in a bunk at Eagle Ranch Academy in St. George, Utah. Dave and Paul Arslanian, both former college football coaches, direct the program. The turnabout started with my willingness to take a vow of integrity – to myself and those around me. Honesty is the core of any relationship and without it nothing can or will grow. At ERA I regained my footing, raised my head and looked with confidence toward the future. I am, today, a man of integrity, bound for achievement.
All of this growth, these experiences and my increasing compassion I offer you as a student at Colorado State University, Class of 2011. In exchange, I will be able to study business and art at a nationally recognized university where student-teacher relationships are valued and achievement is expected.
Sincerely,
Kristofer