Many kids come to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch wearing their toughest attitudes and with challenging behaviors. They have worked so hard to survive their trauma and trauma environments that they have lost touch with their own core. They struggle to see their true selves.…
Kid Stories
I love Christmas trees. I think they are a bold proclamation that we are celebrating the birth of our Lord. I think of them as a really big Birthday candle! You just can’t hide the fact that you’re celebrating Jesus' birth when you have a 4 or 6 or 8-foot reminder in the middle of your house.…
It is a pretty irrefutable statement that we all communicate differently. We send and receive messages in the context they make sense to us, based on our experiences. I would guess that you, and certainly I, have occasionally had to say, “That’s not at all what I meant. What I was trying to say is….”…
The staff who work directly with the children at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch will probably never know the great impact they have had on children’s lives. When our children leave the care of the Ranch, unless they choose to reach back, we may never hear from them again. That’s a good thing. They move on with their lives.…
It’s Friday afternoon, and I am in my office replaying the time I spent with the surprise visitor who stopped by this morning. About 9 a.m. I heard Karen, one of the women I work with, greeting someone at her office door. Karen is a sincerely kind person who is always gracious to everyone, but I could hear something special in her voice. I eavesdropped a little, and it was soon evident she was talking to a past resident. “Are you working now?” “So, you have your own apartment?” “You look really good!”…
The mission of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch always has been, and I believe always will be, “to help at-risk children and their families succeed in the name of Christ.” Very simple and straightforward. Right? Well, maybe not. Success is defined by many different variables: money, education, career, marital status, family, sobriety, healthy living, etc.…
I write a lot. I write reports and emails and presentations and columns. However, my favorite writing is personal notes on cards designed by our kids.…
The relationships our staff build with children are what allow the care we provide and our Christ-centered focus to do their work. It all starts with relationships that build trust. It starts with shared and new experiences.…
A little girl, 11 years old, came into the dining room for breakfast one day last week. She had tears running down her cheeks, and her face was red. Christy, a phenomenal cook with a kind spirit, saw one of our Ranch employees trying to comfort her while making sure the other kids got their breakfast.…
“Kids don’t really think about suicide, do they?” or “Kids just want attention, they can’t really want to die.” Even with all the media coverage of children’s mental health, I'm still asked questions like these.…
I am not an athlete. Oh, I work out. That’s not the same as being an athlete. An athlete has grace, stamina, field awareness, and coordination. Those I don’t have. I can lift heavy things, but that’s about as far as it goes.…
Jeremiah* yells a lot. He deserves to. Jeremiah came to us with a history of horrendous, unspeakable trauma at the hands of his biological parents. He was too little to do anything to protect himself except cry and yell.…
No matter how difficult things are at home, driving away from the Ranch without your child is not easy. "It was scary taking that leap of faith. We didn't know what to expect, and as we drove away, my mom heart was just sad and apprehensive," said Meredith, mother of former Ranch resident, Blaise.…
This is the season of graduations, and that is true at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch as well. Our on-site school, Dakota Memorial School, celebrates our graduates in style! Most of the children who come to the Ranch return to their home school districts when they leave our care. Some continue their education here through graduation. Others come here only for Day School, never being in residential care. Each one works incredibly hard to graduate. They are smart, but most learn differently than other schools teach. Here they can find success.…
I bought a really crazy red coat. People donate wonderful things to the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Thrift Stores. The Thrift Stores have a two-pronged purpose. First and foremost, each year the thrift stores generate income for Ranch programs which provide hope and healing for troubled, complicated, and amazing kids.…
He just about knocked me over. I was going into the front door of our school on our Bismarck Campus and struggling to get my keys organized when a strong, athletic 15-year-old body slammed into my side and wrapped me in a bear hug. In high heels and a heavy winter coat, I almost lost my balance, much less my breath.…
As she graduated from Dakota Memorial School in May 2022, Stacy used her graduation speech to address current and future Ranch residents. Her words speak for themselves.…
In the last quarter of the 20-21 school year, Principal Tina DeGree asked the teachers if they saw any gaps in the curriculum at Dakota Memorial School, Minot. And, if they did see gaps, to present ideas that would fill those gaps. Teachers Josh Hvidsten and Daniel Fagerlund presented a proposal for a new Leadership class, and it was added to this fall's curriculum. The Leadership class gives kids the chance to learn and practice real-life skills by finding projects that fill a need in the community.…
Karen Engelter is the Executive Assistant who works with me and tries desperately to keep me in the right place at the right time. She is fearless and kind and approachable and many of the children at the Ranch seek her out. She looks each child in the eye and sees a hero. They trust her.…
“Where did you grow up, Joy?” The question came from a 13-year-old boy I was talking with on our Minot Campus. Really cute child. Curly, mop-like hair. Eyes that sparkle. He runs away from wherever he is. There is a lot to the “why” he does that. That’s another story.…
Marcia Bartok, VP of Education and Superintendent of our on-campus school is a lifelong learner. She is an avid curator of knowledge about brain development, self-care, leadership, and of course, education, and shares articles of particular interest when she comes across them.…
When I met Clay* six years ago, he gave me a tour of his classroom at Dakota Memorial School on the Minot Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch campus. Because of his autism and other challenges, his movements were jerky and he made no eye contact. His words came out in a flat, staccato pattern. He showed me the baby chicks, where he sat when the teacher read, and a fireplace made out of construction paper next to which he liked to put his work table.…
Robert grew up with his dad. "My mom couldn't handle all of us at once, so she put me with my dad. I've lived with him since I was born," he said. Robert said his dad has always worked hard and has helped him through a lot of rough times. But no amount of hard work could equip his dad to help him deal with the challenges resulting from Robert's psychiatric issues and autism.…
Paytin was a 5th grader when he started attending Dakota Memorial School, the on-campus school of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. "It got to the point where essentially my [home] school couldn't deal with me anymore. So, I came here."…
Shanaye didn't experience much safety in her childhood—either at home or at school. "Until my dad moved out, home was a really hostile and scary place," Shanaye said. "I was abused by my father for a good portion of my life. It was just horrible."…