As the thermometer rises in June, HCYR prepares to launch its 28th Annual Summer Program. This is the longest active program at the Youth Ranch. Started in 1979 with our first four girls working in a new garden, the program has run every summer since, involving more children each year.

According to HCYR Founder Gary Priour, "The program evolved from that first summer. We didn’t have any recreational facilities – just one log cabin and the garden. So we went to work, grew some vegetables, and sold them at a roadside stand to take a summer trip. It’s amazing to me how many of our graduates remember their summer work experiences as a real highlight."

Important principles are fostered through this program – the children are getting paid, and they are held accountable for punctuality as well as performance. They are not forced to participate, but not working means not getting paid.

"It’s a great plan," says Priour. "Over that 28 years, the young people have done most of the landscaping in the Youth Ranch valley. The history of their summer work is evident everywhere you look."

Each weekday, the children meet at 8:00 a.m. and work until noon, divided into teams assigned to landscaping projects, gardening , or perhaps striking a hiking trail.

Adds Priour, "The summer work program produces its own set of heroes. Young people who struggle in school sometimes shine on a work team." In addition to weekly pay based on teamwork and individual effort, "workers of the week" go out for pizza or a Friday afternoon treat. This reward alone can spur a young person who lacked motivation one week to be first at task the next. The spirit of this program, as with all HCYR programs, is to affirm and reward strengths, as well as teach perseverance and teamwork.

Every Friday, there is an awards and recognition ceremony where children and staff celebrate the week’s accomplishments.

At noon each day, the children break for lunch, then head back to their cabins for rest and clean up. After quiet time, the afternoon is devoted to some fun and creative things – art classes, swimming lessons, or play rehearsal. Just as the morning program teaches the value of a good work ethic, the afternoons, starting at 2:30, engage and encourage special gifts and interests.

All the educational and recreational venues around the Ranch are put to use.

At the barn, some children will spend afternoons feeding, grooming and tending to the Ranch’s growing menagerie. At BSRC, the horseback riding program will be in full gear. In Ingram, the aviary is a favorite spot. On both campuses, animals are plentiful. With llamas, goats, a donkey, guinea pigs, pygmy hedgehogs, chickens, snakes, a tarantula, pigeons, doves, cockatiels, a parrot and dwarf rabbits – in addition to the horses – the children are able to experience bonding with and caring for animals.

In the library, reading programs, arts and craft classes, and research projects are available to the children. Fossil hunting and plant identifying adventures are favorites.

Recreational activities topping the afternoon choices include swimming, basketball, hiking, and bike riding.

Of course, fishing is one of the most popular activities throughout the year, and the old rods and reels are being tuned to catch "the big one" this summer.

Arts Center electives include visual and performing arts, ranging from poetry and creative writing to photography and videography. Each year a few children form a "band" and rehearse throughout the summer, treating us all to a concert at summer’s end. Plays may be produced, and the public is invited to see the children perform.

Priour concludes, "Whenever a child finds and develops a special gift or interest, the rest of life’s challenges take on a less daunting perspective. A long standing philosophy of the Youth Ranch is ‘each child’s need or gift is a challenge for us to grow.’ We have been known to design a course, and find a teacher, in response to the special gift of a single child, as when one girl found great joy in playing a violin."

In addition to concerts and plays, the children can display the results of their summer endeavors in various ways – swimming demonstrations, the publishing of poetry books, or in journals filled with hope and ideas.

Sharing at summer’s end may take the form of gifts. "Moon rocks", ceramic vases, paintings, photographs and potted plants are presented to favorite staff members. After a summer of work, learning and fun, new bonds develop and are celebrated. Then it’s time for groups of staff and residents to take trips together to Sea World, or a baseball game, or more distant places like the coast.

With 95 children, our traditional annual summer program does not come cheaply. It’s a major commitment from administrators, teachers, and a cast of support staff, to keep this enriching curriculum available year after year. To be honest. most children’s homes don’t offer such a rich summer agenda, because of cost.