PENCE SPRINGS - Troubled girls from around the nation are making their way to the Summers County hills for a stay at a picturesque hotel built early in the 20th century. Their new mentors want to build their mind and spirit, and focus on the need for healthy relationships.
PENCE SPRINGS - Troubled girls from around the nation are making their way to the Summers County hills for a stay at a picturesque hotel built early in the 20th century. Their new mentors want to build their mind and spirit, and focus on the need for healthy relationships.
The Greenbrier Academy for Girls opened in September at the renovated Pence Springs Hotel. Eight teenage girls from places such as Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Chicago and Massachusetts receive counseling and undergo a rigorous college preparatory program, school officials say.
Staff members consider the academy an economic boost to the rural county. Its 35 employees include administrators, teachers, counselors, a headmaster and maintenance workers.
"My reflection is we couldn't ask for a better community to work with," said founder L. Jay Mitchell.
Vivian Conly, the director of admissions, said the academy blends counseling, education and the outdoors.
The hotel is a 38,000-square-foot brick structure. Its latest renovation began in 2005.
On a recent chilly afternoon, counselors and teachers held a session in a first-floor lounge, dressed up with new chairs, sofas and a grand fireplace.
Nearby office spaces have been renovated. A staffer's iMac monitor seemed to dwarf her desk. In the dining hall, the girls ate turkey salad with cranberries and raisins on whole wheat bread, Sun Chips and fresh peaches. Broccoli was on the table, too. Chef Jamie Wurm said the girls took to the veggie once they realized it was good for their complexion.
Later, the girls stretched and went for a jog around campus.
A healthy diet and daily exercise supplement counseling sessions and classes, Conly said.
Conly showed off a movie room downstairs where the girls watch films such as "Whale Rider," about a girl who struggles with her absent father and detached grandfather.
"They get to talk about [the movies] in ways that affect their own lives," Conly said.
Some of the girls, who she says will help pioneer the academy's mission, come from broken homes or are adopted. They've struggled with drugs, alcohol, sex and more.
The education building was once a casino and speakeasy in the hotel's heyday. Today, it features nine classrooms where teachers offer art, English, math, science, French and other classes.
Themes of experiential education weave into the curriculum. Academy leaders say with experiential learning, students pose questions, investigate, solve problems, take responsibility and construct meaning. They say the model helps students explore and examine their own values.
In a science classroom, an instructor posed questions such as: "How do I use conflict resolution?" In another room, a student wrote words on a poster to describe herself, such as, "redhead," "passionate," "movie buff" and "hardheaded."
Conly said this fall, the girls asked themselves the question, "Who am I?" They've followed that up by examining how others view the world.
"I think of it like this, but what does another person think?" Conly explained.
English and ethics teacher Tim Armentrout talks to students about beat writers. In ethics, he explores themes such as judgment, heroics and the Great Depression.
In an effort to take the material beyond a concept, he'll ask if judges should pass judgment where others should not. He tells his students that during the Depression, common people came together for one cause.
"I sort of have my own personal mission of having them look at things in a global way," added social studies and art teacher Karen Hurt.
For instance, they examine how different cultures and countries throughout history viewed slavery. The small class size allows for a deeper analysis.
"It's so personal that people get involved in the subjects," she said.
The academy is costly - $6,100 a month. Some families are offered scholarships that range from 25 percent to 50 percent of the cost. For now there are no students from West Virginia, Conly said.
In the next three years, she expects the academy to house up to 95 girls. The growth plan calls for three new girls a month, so today's students don't lose their identity or feel lost in the shuffle, Conly said.
A minimum length of stay is one year, Mitchell said. Girls in grades 9-12 can attend the academy, which the state Department of Education recognizes as a private boarding school.
On a provisional basis, the academy also is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools. They are members of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, Conly said.
Counselors keep in contact with parents
Conly said families become an important part of the process. Adopted girls or those with divorced parents often have attachment issues, she said.
Girls and their counselors talk to parents at least once a week.
"Usually, the families are able to make great, positive strides [or] at least be functional," Conly said.
PENCE SPRINGS - Troubled girls from around the nation are making their way to the Summers County hills for a stay at a picturesque hotel built early in the 20th century. Their new mentors want to build their mind and spirit, and focus on the need for healthy relationships.
The Greenbrier Academy for Girls opened in September at the renovated Pence Springs Hotel. Eight teenage girls from places such as Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Chicago and Massachusetts receive counseling and undergo a rigorous college preparatory program, school officials say.
Staff members consider the academy an economic boost to the rural county. Its 35 employees include administrators, teachers, counselors, a headmaster and maintenance workers.
"My reflection is we couldn't ask for a better community to work with," said founder L. Jay Mitchell.
Vivian Conly, the director of admissions, said the academy blends counseling, education and the outdoors.
The hotel is a 38,000-square-foot brick structure. Its latest renovation began in 2005.
On a recent chilly afternoon, counselors and teachers held a session in a first-floor lounge, dressed up with new chairs, sofas and a grand fireplace.
Nearby office spaces have been renovated. A staffer's iMac monitor seemed to dwarf her desk. In the dining hall, the girls ate turkey salad with cranberries and raisins on whole wheat bread, Sun Chips and fresh peaches. Broccoli was on the table, too. Chef Jamie Wurm said the girls took to the veggie once they realized it was good for their complexion.
Later, the girls stretched and went for a jog around campus.
A healthy diet and daily exercise supplement counseling sessions and classes, Conly said.
Conly showed off a movie room downstairs where the girls watch films such as "Whale Rider," about a girl who struggles with her absent father and detached grandfather.
"They get to talk about [the movies] in ways that affect their own lives," Conly said.
Some of the girls, who she says will help pioneer the academy's mission, come from broken homes or are adopted. They've struggled with drugs, alcohol, sex and more.
The education building was once a casino and speakeasy in the hotel's heyday. Today, it features nine classrooms where teachers offer art, English, math, science, French and other classes.
Themes of experiential education weave into the curriculum. Academy leaders say with experiential learning, students pose questions, investigate, solve problems, take responsibility and construct meaning. They say the model helps students explore and examine their own values.
In a science classroom, an instructor posed questions such as: "How do I use conflict resolution?" In another room, a student wrote words on a poster to describe herself, such as, "redhead," "passionate," "movie buff" and "hardheaded."
Conly said this fall, the girls asked themselves the question, "Who am I?" They've followed that up by examining how others view the world.
"I think of it like this, but what does another person think?" Conly explained.
English and ethics teacher Tim Armentrout talks to students about beat writers. In ethics, he explores themes such as judgment, heroics and the Great Depression.
In an effort to take the material beyond a concept, he'll ask if judges should pass judgment where others should not. He tells his students that during the Depression, common people came together for one cause.
"I sort of have my own personal mission of having them look at things in a global way," added social studies and art teacher Karen Hurt.
For instance, they examine how different cultures and countries throughout history viewed slavery. The small class size allows for a deeper analysis.
"It's so personal that people get involved in the subjects," she said.
The academy is costly - $6,100 a month. Some families are offered scholarships that range from 25 percent to 50 percent of the cost. For now there are no students from West Virginia, Conly said.
In the next three years, she expects the academy to house up to 95 girls. The growth plan calls for three new girls a month, so today's students don't lose their identity or feel lost in the shuffle, Conly said.
A minimum length of stay is one year, Mitchell said. Girls in grades 9-12 can attend the academy, which the state Department of Education recognizes as a private boarding school.
On a provisional basis, the academy also is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools. They are members of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, Conly said.
Counselors keep in contact with parents
Conly said families become an important part of the process. Adopted girls or those with divorced parents often have attachment issues, she said.
Girls and their counselors talk to parents at least once a week.
"Usually, the families are able to make great, positive strides [or] at least be functional," Conly said.
Ron Schwenkler, a certified counselor, said a therapy model that focuses on relationships brought him to the Greenbrier Academy.
"Virtue is what makes a difference in relationships," he said. Teachers and other staff at Greenbrier also practice what they preach, and treat each other well, he said.
Schwenkler, Armentrout and Hurt hold master's degrees, as do most Greenbrier teachers.
The academy includes 140 rolling acres, with land for mountain biking and trails. Earth has been moved for a soccer field. Conly shows where a permanent wooden teepee will be erected.
The academy also has ties to wilderness treatment programs. Girls are encouraged to attend such a program before they enroll at the academy.
"I think wilderness serves the purpose of pulling people out of their routines," said Armentrout, a former wilderness guide.
Wilderness treatment often involves three weeks to 60 days of camping and survival, Conly said. Teens are removed from a familiar environment, learn independence and how to survive in the outdoors, she said.
'We don't think we did anything wrong'
Mitchell once operated the Alldredge Academy in Tucker County, where 14-year-old Massachusetts teenager Ryan Lewis committed suicide by hanging himself with a tent cord in February 2001.
Mitchell is no longer involved with Alldredge, which was eventually sold to Solacium, a Texas-based company. After the boy's death, Mitchell faced a charge of child neglect resulting in death that was later dropped.
In 2006, Mitchell and other defendants settled a civil lawsuit for $1.2 million with Lewis' parents, according to The Associated Press. The suit had been filed in 2002 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
If parents ask Mitchell about the Lewis case, he will refer them to the rebuttal of a Government Accountability Office report released in October.
The report says Lewis attempted suicide twice before he went to Alldredge and pleaded with a counselor to take a pocketknife away after he cut himself, although the counselor gave it back. The program did not have procedures to address suicidal behavior, the GAO report states.
The rebuttal, commissioned by Solacium and released in November, disputes much of the GAO report and calls it incomplete, biased and of a shoddy nature.
Also, a psychiatric report provided by Lewis' parents did not mention that the boy was a suicide risk, according to the rebuttal.
Mitchell said Lewis' death may have been accidental. The rebuttal points out the same.
"It's horrible that a boy lost his life," Mitchell said. He said the teen's parents experienced a traumatic loss.
Mitchell, however, said some West Virginia media outlets did not attempt to contact him and printed incorrect information after Lewis died.
"We don't think we did anything wrong and have not admitted any wrongdoing," Mitchell said.
Later in 2001, some parents defended Alldredge in an online industry newsletter and said their children benefited greatly from the program.
Jim Lees, a Charleston attorney who represented the Lewises, said he does not judge the Greenbrier Academy.
"In the Alldredge Academy, before, I certainly was not impressed with Mr. Mitchell's track record," he said.
He said the state's lack of oversight of wilderness programs came to the forefront after Lewis died. "West Virginia is ripe for those kinds of schools. It's a wilderness area," Lees said.
John Law, a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Resources, said the agency expanded rules for wilderness programs after Lewis' death. In 2001, for instance, an emergency rule required sites like Alldredge to inform state officials if they offered mental-health treatment for youths.
Conly said the Greenbrier Academy has met the agency's expectations.
"What we do at Greenbrier is so different than wilderness," Mitchell said. "So I hope we don't confuse or bewilder anyone."
Mitchell said Greenbrier officials also work with a Lewisburg psychiatrist. He provides medication for those girls who need it.
Conly said the academy is good for the eight girls. She's seen a huge difference in their attitude and behavior since they first arrived.
"These girls are bright and they very much want to make something of their lives," she said. Conly has also heard students say, "We know now this is the best place we could possibly be."
To contact staff writer Davin White, use e-mail or call 348-1254.
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