Youth Frontiers Celebrates 25 Years of Building Respectful School Cultures

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For 25 years, Youth Frontiers, the leading character education organization in the Upper Midwest, has been teaching students how to incorporate the values of kindness, courage, respect and integrity into their personal and school lives. Youth Frontiers will celebrate its anniversary at 11:00 a.m., Sunday, February 10, 2013 at the Metropolitan Ballroom in Golden Valley, Minn.

“a leader in our nation’s effort to rescue America’s young people.”

Through its successful and highly regarded retreats, the Twin Cities-based organization aims to strengthen core values, confront negative behaviors and enable students to recognize the consequences of their actions. Last year, the nationally renowned nonprofit held more than 650 retreats for nearly 100,000 students and educators. Since its inception, Youth Frontiers has reached more than 1.2 million students.

Youth Frontiers staff clearly understand the challenges students face every day in their oftentimes complicated lives. They also know that at the root of one’s character lies values.

“We teach values unapologetically,” says Youth Frontiers Founder and CEO Joe Cavanaugh, who General Colin Powell has described as “a leader in our nation’s effort to rescue America’s young people.”

Youth Frontiers’ mission is to change the way students treat each other in every hallway, lunch line and classroom of every school in America. “We are not succeeding as a society if our children receive an ‘A’ in Math… and an ‘F’ in life,” says Cavanaugh.

Bullying remains prevalent challenge
Bullying remains a key issue and can have serious negative consequences for students not just while they’re in school, but also throughout their lives. Bullying is complicated by the lack of intervention from adults and peers. As Youth Frontiers strives to create a healthier school climate in which students can thrive academically, socially and emotionally, the organization engages the 80 percent of students who aren’t bullied or bully themselves – known as “bystanders” – to no longer stand by and watch others being bullied.

“For more than two decades, I’ve been listening to kids talk about physically threatening and emotionally scarring experiences at the hands of bullies,” says Cavanaugh. “At the same time, I have witnessed how strongly our youth respond to positive messages.”

For information about Youth Frontiers retreats or its 25^th anniversary event on February 10, call 952-922-0222 or visit www.youthfrontiers.org.