Building Developmental Relationships With Our Youth

Academic support at CORRAL

In our work with our girls, we focus on transformational life change. This requires a holistic intervention: emotional, physical, spiritual and mental. One of our five pillar approaches to this holistic intervention is academic support.

The majority of our girls are failing one or more classes when they first come to CORRAL. Education is key to helping our girls lead healthier, happier lives and achieve their goals and dreams. Here’s why. The research is clear that there’s a link between education and a host of benefits: job opportunities, wages, civic engagement and healthcare to start.

But, good grades and transformation don’t happen overnight. Because we are relationship-first at CORRAL, we spend time building relationships with our girls to ensure our programming is transformational and life-changing. According to this study by the Search Institute, when students experience strong relationships with their educators, they are:

  • 3.7X more likely to believe their school is fair and safe for everyone
  • 3.3X more likely to feel like they belong in the school
  • 2.5X more likely to work hard in school
  • 2.3X more likely to be committed to and enjoy learning
  • 2.1X more likely to set and word toward achievable goals
  • 2.0X more likely to see a future for themselves in their communities

As caretakers, the responsibility falls on us to help keep our children motivated during this quarantine. The Search Institute has identified five elements to focus on to build strong relationships with our children. These are the elements that help our youth discover who they are, cultivate abilities to shape their own lives, and learn how to engage with and contribute to the world around them.

  1. Express Care: Show them that they matter to you
  2. Challenge Them: Push them to keep getting better
  3. Provide Support: Help them complete tasks and achieve goals
  4. Share Power: Treat them with respect and give them a say
  5. Expand Possibilities: Connect them with people and places that broaden their world

Get the downloadable PDF here to dive deeper into these elements and how to incorporate them in your relationships with your children or other youth in your life!

CORRAL intervenes in the lives of the girls whose current systems and structures are failing them. Our virtual tutoring and vocational training are still going strong as we continue to push our girls toward good academic standing. Now, more than ever before, they are at greater risk for dropping out. Help support our critical services here and create positive change among the youth in our community. 

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CORRAL is a faith-motivated nonprofit that equips adolescent girls in high-risk situations through a long-term, holistic program of equine therapy and education.

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