The faint smell of wood smoke drifts from the smoldering campfire that has burned throughout the night. The early morning sun casts a shadow across the Medicine Wheel in the center of camp, and floods through the doors of the tipis where the children are sleeping. Outside, the counselors gather in a knot to "set up the day" (to share events of the past evening, to discuss any special needs a child might have, to receive updates on the participants' progress and to outline the day's plan).

When we hear the wake up call from our counselors, we've got exactly five minutes to get up, stuff our sleeping bags, roll up the ground pad, dress and "circle up" outside the tipis. There's no way you can keep sleeping after wake up call. Then the counselors inspect the tipis, and us, to make sure everything's in order. If somebody has their shirt hanging out, or their shoes untied, everything stops until it gets fixed. Once we've met the morning agreements, we "check out" with a big yell. Girls yell their group name, "Otters," boys yell "Tatonkas" (Tatonka is a native American word meaning Buffalo). After morning checkout, it's over to the bathroom to wash up and fill our water bottles. We each have our own water bottle that we fill whenever we need to. (All of the staff make sure that the youth stay well hydrated throughout the day).

There is always fresh fruit and juice for breakfast with a choice of cereals. In cold weather there's hot oatmeal, too, which fills you up fast. We can have up to three bowls of cereal and almost everybody goes for three (there are also hard boiled eggs and bagles with peanut butter).

Usually we have a physical workout (PT) after breakfast. This morning the sun was shining and we went for a hike in the woods around the camp. Other mornings we might jog, do sit-ups or a few other aerobic exercises.

After breakfast, we brush our teeth and then meet in groups. There are three different groups that meet together. Orientation group is for kids that have been at ASCENT for a week or less. They usually do work detail after breakfast. Today there was landscaping to do--other days it's sawing or chopping wood, hauling water, cleaning up--stuff like that. Some kids have a problem with that at first because they've never worked real hard before.

If you're in Pre-Course group, you do "prep" after breakfast. Prep workshops prepare us to go on course. That's the two weeks we spend in the backcountry with our peers and counselors. In prep, we usually work on trust and communication issues. Team building and cooperation are a real big focus in workshops, too.

Students in the Transition group are just back from course, and usually spend the morning debriefing. That means taking a hard look at the stuff that came up out there and doing some work about it. (Debriefing is also the time the children reflect on how well they were able to use the tools they have learned.) They also finish the letters and journal assignments they started on course. Since kids in transition are going home or moving on to another school, they work on their "success plans" and for life.

We line up just before lunch, wash up, and check-out again with a good yell, "Otters, Tatonkas!" Then it's time to chow down. The food is good and there's always plenty for everyone. Lunch is usually soup, salad and sandwiches. The cooks at Northwest Academy make the food and we carry it down to the ASCENT mess hall. There's also fresh fruit, no sweets, but every now and then a bonus like hot cinnamon rolls or banana bread. (Desserts, soda pop and candy are not included in the meals at ASCENT). We drink a lot of water at lunch. Kids who are vegetarian, or on special diets, get specially prepared meals every day. After lunch we brush our teeth again. (Students wash their hands before meals and brush their teeth after every meal.)

Twice a week everyone goes into a rap(peer group counseling session) for the afternoon. Raps are pretty intense, sitting in a big circle, peer to peer, talking out problems and other stuff that comes up. Often there's a lot of anger and painful feelings flying around. Raps can take a lot out of you, but they're the best place to vent and let stuff go. (Raps are a strong component of the emotional growth program at ASCENT--a place where students are supported and encouraged to freely express their feelings and "do their work" within agreed boundaries. Often what a child doesn't say in a rap is just as important as what he/she does say.)

When we aren't in rap, we're either carrying out certain tasks or attending workshops all afternoon. Today was Wednesday, mail day, so before we got down to work, we met at the picnic tables to read our mail. If we need to, we can talk about what's in the letter with our Case Manager and staff. Everyone here really looks forward to getting mail from home.

This is slow down and unwind time. Every other afternoon we get a shower. (While hygiene is closely monitored, part of the outdoor experience is doing without certain luxuries.) But it isn't like we can just turn the water on full blast and leave it on. We have only limited time to shower. Nobody who's been through ASCENT can ever take hot, relaxing showers for granted again. We usually get some more talking in before dinner. Somebody might say "I need a circle" because they've got something on their chest they need to get rid of, so we'll circle up and deal with it then and there.

At dinner we fill up on casseroles, chicken, or meat. We usually have potatoes, vegetables, salad, fruit, and milk to drink. The food is pretty good so nobody leaves much on their plate, which makes the dishwashing go faster.

After dinner, we have some kind of outdoor activity or journal time. Sometimes we do problem-solving games that are pretty challenging. Right now, we're reading tales of the Plains Indians out loud. Each story has a lesson or a moral that goes along with what we're learning here.

Silent checkout before bed means we don't yell, we whisper, "Otters, Tatonkas." Girls are always much better at whispering than the guys are. After silent checkout, we go in the tipis, get ready for bed, then circle up inside with our counselor. Usually we talk about the high and the low points of the day. This is our last contact with staff at night. Then we crawl into our bags, no talking allowed. If anyone does feel like talking, they usually don't get much of a response, since most of us fall asleep the minute our head hits the pillow. Twelve hours later, the day starts all over again. (After 12 hours of physical and emotional work in the outdoors, students at ASCENT spend 12 hours out of every 24 sleeping. Many children arrive here in a complete state of exhaustion. Some have not had a good night's sleep in ages.)