Bubble

Joy Ryan, President/CEO

I was eating lunch at my desk – I know, it’s not the best way to work, but I was – and Principal Shayla Leinen came bubbling into my office with her phone.

“I have to show you,” she said.

I say “bubbling” because that is who Principal Leinen is. Even after nearly two decades of leading one of our on-campus schools and working with challenging, at-risk students, she “bubbles.” Her enthusiasm for each child, learning, and small daily wins is infectious.

I saw one of our past residents in the dining center earlier. He was standing in his sharp Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) uniform, talking to our Facilities Director. He greeted me, and I told him how cool it was to see him. I asked about his job. He said he loved it. I told him I was just so darn proud of him. He giggled and said he was glad.

That handsome young man, who spends his days helping people in the most dire of life-threatening situations, came to us as a pre-teen. His school had thrown up its hands. He was sure he was stupid, so he spent all day disrupting school and being bullied or bullying others. When Principal Leinen first met him, he said, “This isn’t going to work.”

Three years ago, he graduated from high school. He met all the regular rigorous standards for a full diploma. He excelled because he had learned how he learned.

Now he was back just to “check in.”

Principal Leinen showed me a picture she had taken of him eating lunch in the dining center with our facilities staff and a few teachers. She couldn’t wipe the grin off her face.

Without you, he would have had nowhere to go. No one who would take the time to learn how he learned. No one who would help him understand his trauma. But your prayers and support and encouragement, along with God’s help and lots of work, built a young, proud, successful hero of a man.

That should make you bubble, too.

Please keep the children and staff of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in your prayers. We need them.