BETZ Youth Development Center
The Betz Youth Development Center is a program designed to strengthen and guide young males (currently) to be healthy future leaders. The program uses the disciplines of martial arts, cognitive engagement, and mentorship in order to sharpen, guide, and support young men during their high school years.
The program is designed to build young people from the inside out in three separate arenas:
Intrapersonally – Within Self
- Responsibility — Taking care of one’s own struggles first, so as not to burden others. Accepting that one is accountable and responsible for ALL individual thoughts, words, and actions.
- Humility — Maintaining a position that one is not above another and that one’s struggles and weaknesses are not lesser than another’s.
- Integrity — One must adhere to a moral and ethical standard with honesty and truth holding a high value. A man is only as good as his word (or actions).
Interpersonally – Relationships Between Persons
- Respect — Holding value to all human life regardless of position and letting that value be seen by others through actions and words. Using humanity as lowest common denominator to build from.
- Solidarity — Responsibilities held by a common group. One’s thoughts, words, and actions reflect upon the common group (family, friends, etc), and the group holds each other accountable.
- Support — Strengthening those around you through words and actions and seeking outside wisdom to mentor oneself. Building a chain of relationship so that old wisdom connects with younger men; example: grandfather-father-son or mentor-oneself-mentee.
Communally – Relationships Within the Common Collective
- Leadership — Guiding and influencing those around you through words and actions.
- Paragon — Modeling excellence and setting a standard for thoughts, words, and actions.
- Civic Duty — Being responsible to the community. Sacrificing time, funds, and effort in order to build an avenue for others to grow.
Pilot Program
This summer we are running a pilot program for high school males focusing on these nine principles, using three tools: Physical disciplines, Cognitive engagement, mentoring. Each session will include a physical workout portion and martial arts skill development, an open dialogue revolving around the principle of the week, and outside mentoring/engagement between facilitator and student.
Who:
High school aged males looking to develop and mature mentally, socially, and physically
When:
Tuesdays and Thursdays 8-10am (4 hours a week)
June 11th through August 29th (there will be no program the week of the 4th of July)
Cost:
$80/wk, collected on Mondays
A limited amount of scholarships are available to qualifying students. We are looking for donors to sponsor students with scholarships; contact Luke for details.
June 2013 a pilot for the program will be launched and we are currently looking for participants as well as volunteers. The program will consist of a physical exercise portion as well as a mental learning portion. Program schedule is as follows:
8:00am – 8:10am: check in and roll call
8:10am – 8:40am: disciplined warm up (running most days)
8:40am – 9:10am: Skill/technique development
9:10am – 9:40am: Exercise portion using new skills
9:40am – 10am: Cognitive/Character Development
This program pilot we hope will grow into a year round program and, if there is sufficient interest, a female program as well. Female program will be led by Alisa Cohen; LADC, LGSW. Alisa has trained with Luke a lot over the years, fighting under him and also learning and growing beside him on how to best address the struggles of the youth of today.
The Betz Youth Development Center is named after my friend and brother, Jake Betz. Jake was a great man and martial artist who through the martial arts learned to conquer many fears and struggles he faced in life, many of which are faced by young men regularly. The Betz Center hopes that other young men can be supported, guided, and built into men able to function and withstand the trials and temptations of life.
If you know of any high school male students who you think would benefit from such a program, or have any questions, please contact: