Our Holistic Approach
Zion Hills operates a fully accredited (AdvancED) education program that is integrated into the overall treatment planning for each young woman in the program. Many of the young women entering our program are significantly behind grade level often the result of their struggles with trauma and attachment. As a young woman works through her trauma and attachment issues, success in her educational advancement can become an important part of her treatment. Our education department participates in weekly treatment team meetings so that a young woman’s educational goals and progress can be coordinated with and made part of her ongoing treatment.
Zion Hills is expert in helping our young women remediate credit deficiencies and move towards graduation and even college. It is also very common, because of credit deficiencies for young women coming into the program, that even young women of similar ages are likely to be at very different grade levels. As a result, we utilize a combination of in-person and experiential learning combined with GradPoint online education which allows us to create a robust and challenging educational experience at each young woman’s starting point. GradPoint is a web-based and accredited system that delivers rigorous, standards-based instruction.
We recognize that it would be counterproductive to try and mimic the public school systems as many of our young women have struggled in that environment. We operate on an 12 student to 1 teacher ratio in order to create an intimate learning environment which allows our teachers to manage students who may be at different grade levels with different learning abilities. We also provide experiential opportunities including field trips, guest speakers and recreation in the beautiful scenery of southern Utah. We work to discover the learning styles, interests and aptitudes of all our young women and place them in the environment most likely to result in success.
Chase was very fortunate to start in this industry as a struggling 17 year old kid looking for a mentor and something to be passionate about. Wilderness therapy was Chase’s first stop in this industry and was truly a transcendental experience for him. Chase has an enormous love for this line of work and the power that it has in creating change in everyone involved. Chase’s biggest belief is the power a mentor, strong, healthy relationships, and accountability can have on anyone, especially youth. Taking a very relational approach to his work, Chase has always been very relatable to the students he works with. Being able to understand and relate to a vast variety of the same struggles as a lot of the students he works with has been able to help him continue to grow, learn, and teach. Chase believes that with great rapport and trust, he can use his experience to continue to coach and train new staff, and has the ability to find those staff with the passion for this industry, and help them grow. His love and passion can be felt the moment you talk with Chase about this industry and he passes that on to others he works with. In his spare time you will find Chase cheering for the Eagles, Yankees, and Mavericks, hanging out with his brother, learning more about Eastern Psychology, and continuing to grow and learn.
Eric Allred was born and raised in Rigby, Idaho. He grew up on a family farm where he learned the value of work. He graduated from Rigby High School and attended Rick’s College, now known as BYU-Idaho. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Utah State University, received a master’s degree in organizational behavior and human relations from the University of Phoenix and a second master’s degree in marital and family therapy from Phillips Graduate Institute. Eric has been involved in Rotary and was president of a local Rotary Club. He enjoys being with his family and doing outdoor activities such as fly fishing.
