Family Orientation

“Friendship is born the moment one person says to another,
‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’”

– C.S. Lewis

Orientation is your official welcome into the Cherokee Creek family. Orientations are incorporated into our Family Seminars. This overview of the school includes the story of starting Cherokee Creek Boys School, founding principles and history. You’ll also meet CCBS staff and get additional insight into your son’s journey and the CCBS program.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the session is meeting and sharing with other new families to Cherokee Creek. Parenting a struggling child can be a very lonely ordeal. Unless they have walked a mile in your shoes, friends and even family have no idea the challenges you face and the heartbreak of placing your child outside your home. It is comforting and a great relief to find a group of fellow journeyers who are also saying, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” Long-term friendships are forged this day and you may have the first real laugh you have had in a very long time!

Family Seminars

“The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life
sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo,
borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and
kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending,
and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.”

– Erma Bombeck

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to
remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

– Mohandas K. Gandhi

Four times a year, families gather near campus for two days of parent education and family therapy with their son’s therapist and teachers. Seminars include discussions about the Medicine Wheel — COURAGE, LOVE, TRUTH and WISDOM — and the lessons that the boys are learning: general parenting skills on setting boundaries, cooperation and problem solving; sessions for siblings; and Parent Passages… a program for graduating families.

We also host guest speakers on a variety of subjects. Past guests have included best-selling author Michael Gurian talking about the brain differences between boys and girls; Search Institute’s Jim Conway discussing the 40 Developmental Assets and “Sparks”… those activities and interests that truly engage kids to be their best; Consultant Susie Pecuch revealing our True Colors, and author / storyteller Rick Stone talking about the Healing Art of Storytelling.

The purpose of these special family weekends is to offer you:

1.	Time with your son for love, fun, and personal and family growth.
2.	Parent-teacher conferences, family therapy sessions, and meetings with your son’s Primary Counselor to get updates on your son's care and development.
3.	Support and fellowship with other Cherokee Creek parents… and making new friends who can last for a lifetime!
4.	Family education and parenting skills.