What does it mean to succeed?

I’ve written about this before in these emails. The mission of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch is to “help at-risk children and their families succeed in the name of Christ.” But, how do you measure success? Does that mean everyone goes to college? Or does it mean a child can control their anger? Or does it mean finding an adoptive family? Or does it mean sitting through a whole math class?

Yes.

It means all those things and more. Success is unique to each of us, and that is true for Ranch children, as well. The really complicated piece is figuring out what defines success for each of us. You can see that in the number of times people change careers! It is our passion at the Ranch to help each child find and become their best self. There simply is not one measure of success.

For some children, General Educational Development (GED) Certification is a momentous success. That Certification ensures that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the U.S. high school diploma. For “Z,” at Seegers Cottage on our Minot Campus, the GED removed the roadblock that traditional school has been in his life.

Here are two celebratory emails I received from Seegers Cottage leaders. (The party happened a while ago, so you missed it!😊)

“Seegers has some exciting news! Z, whom we have all grown so fond of, successfully completed and passed his GED today! Z is an amazing young man who has worked so hard while being with us at the Ranch! We are celebrating his accomplishments by having a little graduation party for him in the cottage tomorrow! If you can, we would love for you all to stop by!! Hope to see you there!!! P.S. we’ll have cake, sooooo there is that!"
—Breanne Sattler, Make Good Choices!, Youth Care Worker/Safety Specialist, Seegers Cottage

And here’s the rest of the story…

"Z completed the work in A WEEK! Completed in a week? Yes. He blew away the assessments and they had him go right to the tests. And he blew away the tests. Z is a very smart kid. When he says his struggle is the school environment and not the schoolwork, he is absolutely accurate. Mrs. DeGree is looking at dual credit online college. So now we are looking at off-campus jobs for him."
—Dawn Moreau, Case Manager, Seegers Cottage

Success comes in many forms. As for Z, I think he will just keep adding to his.

Please keep our kids and staff in your prayers.

In His love,

Joy Ryan, President/CEO
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch

Your Thrivent Choice Dollars® can be used to support multiple organizations each year. At the Ranch, we use all Thrivent Choice® funds for our Spiritual Life Program. Your support is vital in giving our precious children the foundation of faith they need to thrive. To direct your Choice Dollars® to the Ranch, simply go to Thrivent.com/thriventchoice, login, and choose Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. To direct Choice Dollars® over the phone, call 1-800-847-4863 and say "Thrivent Choice," after the prompt. Thank you for your continued support of our ministry!

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"Everything is figureoutable!"