Challenge Day coming to Sisters Schools

Carol Oxenrider has a vision and a hope for teenagers in America. The 67-year-old Bend resident was inspired by a program, called Challenge Day, that she learned about on a television program. Challenge Day, she discovered, was a way for schools, and the students within them, to address the challenges faced by young people today. Through her efforts, and others who have joined her, Sisters High School and Middle School will host three challenge days, April 13, 14 and 15.

Oxenrider's vision blossomed into a foundation she calls Serendipity West, through which she supports educational and experiential programs to help young people to, as her mission statement says, "awaken their magnificence and power and create bold new futures."

Challenge Day is an interactive day-long program in which students, along with adult facilitators, address the particular issues that merit attention in their school. Some of those issues come into focus during the day, while others are more universal in schools, such as bullying, negative peer pressure, academic stress and gossip.

According to the Challenge Day literature, spending a full school day together is just the first step in creating a safer, more empathetic, nurturing school. The Challenge Day Web site states, "The primary focus of all our work is to end the fear, separation, isolation, and loneliness that we believe is at the root of almost every destructive behavior we see."

A motto from Challenge Day is "Be the Change," which alludes to the ideal that each person can make a difference, whether it is by treating all people with respect or by choosing to serve those in need.

The co-founders of Challenge Day, Yvonne St. John-Dutra and Rich Dutra-St. John, who have recently published a book called "Be the Hero You Have Been Waiting For," envision every young person being able to accept themselves completely, practice love, acceptance and respect, and live lives of service.

Sisters schools have been able to book the Challenge Day facilitators for three days through the generosity of Serendipity West, a company called Trans-Canada, and the fund-raising efforts of Arlene Gibson, who operates "Foundations That Make a Difference" and others. There has been very little or no cost to the district for Challenge Day.

The seventh-graders from Sisters Middle School will be the first group to undergo Challenge Day, followed by the eighth-graders on Tuesday, and a group of 100 students from the high school on Wednesday. All three days will take place in the middle school gym.

In addition to students, each session requires 25-35 adult volunteers, who are full participants in the program right alongside the kids. Parents and other community members have been invited to take part in an effort to produce a cross section of adult participants.

Kathy Miner, principal of Sisters Middle School, sees Challenge Day as another component in maintaining a safe, supportive school.

"Defining the problems, giving kids a common language, and supplying them with some basic skills can make a huge difference in creating a super-positive school environment," she said.

Follow-up activities to Challenge Day are designed to keep the "Be the Change" message alive throughout the rest of this school year and into the next one. Students will help to keep that spirit alive by helping organize the followup, as well as through leadership class and the high school culture committee.

Oxenrider believes in Challenge Day so much, she is already working on plans for next year throughout Central Oregon, including Sisters.

"I think we need to do all we can to support our youth in developing into the most magnificent people they can be," she said.