‘Natural Helpers’ host retreat

VICTORIA BARBER

April 25, 2008 at 10:54AM AKST

Ice cream, burgers, swimming, movies and even a dance were on the schedule for 57 Unalaska junior high and high school students who attended a Natural Helpers retreat on Friday, April 11.

The topic of the retreat, however was, serious.

Family violence, bullying, drug use and accidental pregnancy are just some of the issues that touch many teenagers’ lives at a time when they are going through the already big challenge of growing up.

These issues are not new, but the Natural Helpers program has developed an innovative approach to helping teenagers: It teaches them to help each other.

"Who sees the problems with their classmates? Who sees the bullies? Who sees the drug use? It’s the kids, and they’re going to their friends," said Claire Musgrove, who teaches health and physical education at Unalaska School and coordinated the Natural Helpers program.

"Natural Helpers gives them the tools to help and lets them know who they can refer their friends to."

The program is based on the premise that when high school students have problems they will usually turn to a friend first rather than to an adult or a professional.

The Natural Helpers goal is to identify the teens that other teens naturally turn to, and then give those leaders the skills and tools to help their peers and guide them to other resources in the community.

The program in Unalaska began more than three weeks ago, when junior high and high school students were asked at a school assembly to fill out an anonymous ballot. The ballot asked only, "If you had a problem, who would you go to?"

Teachers counted the ballots and invited anyone whose name had come up twice or more to participate in the Natural Helpers program – a weeklong process that involved some study, training and even some light cooking.

Michelle Woods trains the Natural Helpers, and has worked with program since it began. She said it was created to prevent suicides in the Lower Yukon School District, which in 2000 had an astonishing average of seven to nine suicides per year.

Since the Natural Helpers program began in 2000, that number has gone to zero, with only one to two attempts in 2007. Woods said that part of the success of the program was that it could be adapted to different cultures or social problems.

"Not only were students doing suicide interventions, they could do a lot more," Woods said. In schools where the program has been implemented, this has meant everything from self-esteem workshops to cultural celebrations and ice safety information sessions.

Anything that students feel is important to their community can become the focus of the Natural Helpers.

"Their (the students’) confidence levels zoomed," Woods said. "And now they weren’t afraid to go in front of the local school board or the traditional council."

The program is structured around workshops that have students participate in trust-building exercises, group activities and sessions where they learn about issues such as bullying, self-esteem and communication.

Led by Woods and veteran Natural Helpers trainer Reynold Okitkun, the Unalaska Natural Helpers learned skills such as how to listen, recognize suicidal thoughts and other danger signs and when to turn to resources available in their community.

The Unalaska Natural Helpers also got a big assignment. They had to help plan a two-day retreat for junior high and high school students for the following weekend.

In planning for the retreat, Woods said that she started by asking teachers and students what they thought the big problems in Unalaska city school are. Bullying and racial tensions were both identified as issues, but Woods said she was shocked by how healthy the environment was on the whole.

"Unalaska doesn’t have some of the social ills that we (in the Lower Yukon school district) have," Woods said. "To see so many healthy kids – talk about a shot in the arm, we didn’t know that many existed."

However, Woods said that problems would always big for teens, regardless of the relative size.

"The one thing I’ve learned with all the kids is that they all have problems, and these problems are huge in their eyes," said Woods. "Natural Helpers can be adapted to whatever their problems might be."

Fifty-seven students showed up to the Natural Helpers retreat, including the Natural Helpers. The retreat began on Friday and didn’t end until the stroke of midnight on Saturday.

The students were kept up and running, going from trust-building exercises to workshops with local professionals, such as Lynn Crane from Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence, behavioral health clinician Jane Bye from the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association and Unalaska school counselor Teri LaGrand.

Natural Helpers were on duty the whole time, helping to prepare meals, giving presentations and seeking out people who seemed uncomfortable and helping them to feel included.

The weekend culminated in a "sharing circle" on Saturday evening. Organizers turned out the lights in the gym, lit candles and arranged everyone in a circle.

Michelle Woods and Natural Helpers trainer Okitkun starting asking questions and passing around a small, illuminated ball to anyone who wanted to share.

"We had students saying they never realized how much they judged people by the way they looked, or they were new at school and they didn’t like the way they had been treated," Musgrove said.

After the circle was completed, Musgrove, Woods and Okitkun handed out bags that had been decorated by the Natural Helpers for everyone at the retreat.

The bag was filled with letters from the students’ parents, teachers and other community members. The letters described how important each youth was and how much they were loved and appreciated.

Musgrove said that it didn’t take long before all the students were in tears.

"The whole room was bawling, everyone hugging everyone else," Musgrove said.

Haleigh Zueger, a senior at Unalaska city school, is one of the 12 Natural Helpers in Unalaska. She said that she’s already seen changes in the school as a result of the program.

"Every single day now when I walk down the hall everyone says hi," Zueger said. "I’m definitely more open to people I have never talked to before, and more excited to talk with people ... now I take an extra second each day to acknowledge everyone."

Victoria Barber can be reached at (907) 348-2424 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 424.