GUIDE Status

To Ankoma Riddick, a Guide "is someone you can look up to, respect, get along with, and trust." On Woodward Academy's campus, it is one of the highest positions that a student can achieve and something that does not come along very often. Obtaining Guide status is reserved for students on Delta Company, the highly structured dorm on campus. "A Guide is a leader wherever he goes and people know it right away. He leads in everything he does… and carries himself with a positive attitude." In many ways, Ankoma is referring to modeling the behaviors that he wants to see in other students, and he's been doing it since first attending Woodward Academy.

Ankoma is the Executive Knight on his dorm and one of the top Knights across campus. But gaining Guide status was never a given. In fact, it has been 4 years since Delta Company produced their last Guide. With his new found status, Ankoma is given much more freedom to move across campus and gets additional privileges on his dorm. These are all things that Ankoma has earned since he's done a great job being a leader on campus. He understands that even though he has earned a title that very few students have received, his work is not done. "When I got Guide status, I was happy and honored to be recognized for doing my job. But I need to make sure my dorm is the best on campus. I know I can take on any challenge that is thrown my way and I will be a good Exec." 

Phase 5 Paintball

Earlier this month, the two Phase 5 houses went to ICU Paintball in Des Moines, Iowa as a reward for months of hard work on campus, in their houses, and in the communities where they reside. The houses are reserved reserved for students who have completed their on campus program and are waiting to transition to the next stage in their life. For some, that is college, for others it is to move back home. Generally, the students who occupy the houses are some of the top students at WA and exhibit an ability to live independently. They learn important living skills such as cooking and money management, and some students even work in the community. Overall, the two houses have been an amazing success and every student who has had the privilege to live there, loves it.

NBA Preseason

The NBA season is kicking off in preseason form and two teams made a stop in Des Moines with a lot of Knights in attendance. Over 90 Woodward Academy students and staff filled Wells Fargo Arena for the game between the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets. There was a lot of buzz around the game because it featured Iowa native Harrison Barnes (guard for the Warriors) returning home to play in the same arena where he won two state championships for Ames High.

Not only did a ton of current students attend the game, but alum and Lifetime Exec, Quartney Parker, returned to campus and also attended the game. Pictured is Quartney (right) with current Guide and a top Knight on campus, Ankoma Riddick. Quartney will be spending some time with students and talking with them about his experience at WA and how he has been doing since leaving the Academy.

Not that the preseason matters, but Barnes lifted the Warriors to a win in his home state by hitting a clutch jumper with 6.8 seconds left in the game.

Knight's Mind Training // Dialectical Behavior Therapy Group

The mission of Woodward Academy is to provide a safe and structured environment in which our students can learn, develop, and apply skills that will provide positive direction for their futures. In full alignment with this mission, we have developed a specialized program which will strengthen our ability to be effective in reaching our most challenging students. The Knight's Mind Training program offers an additional course of action for carrying out the WA mission - from the inside out.

A significant number of our students have been identified as having high levels of emotional and behavioral dysregulation. Emotional and behavioral dysregulation refers to emotional and behavioral responses that are poorly modulated and fall outside of accepted social norms. This results in entrenched patterns of maladaptive and anti-social behavior. Severe and explosive anger, physical aggression, verbal aggression, sexual aggression, opposition and defiance, isolation, anxiety, and depression/suicidality/self-harm are all indicators of high emotional and behaviors dysregulation. The pervasive and disruptive behaviors of these types of WA students present an ongoing challenge and frustration, often leaving us wondering if there is any real hope for change.

Read more about Knight's Mind Training after the break.