Personal Greatness Program

A core philosophy of Mountain Springs Preparatory Academy is that each one of us also has special gifts. Your gifts and talents are unique. No other person on earth has the special combination of strengths and gifts that you have. Yet, because we seldom tap into our inner greatness and abilities, we tend to forget that they’re there. Orison Swett Marden observed, “Deep within us dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish us, that we never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize our lives if aroused and put into action.” The Personal Greatness Program revolves around the MAPP (Master Academic and Personal Progress) plan. Each student at Mountain Springs receives an individualized program that outlines the goals and skills that he or she needs to accomplish in order to be successful at home.

Students coming into Mountain Springs typically have come to chronically see the cup as “half empty” as opposed to “half full.” They have developed patterns based on low self esteem of failure and the “I can’t do it” attitude. Experience in treatment settings has reinforced that just eliminating some of these self-doubts through therapy is not enough, however, to truly turn these students’ lives around. Brick by brick, the wall of each student’s individual personal greatness must be rebuilt strong enough to allow them to return home and thrive in spite of a negative and often difficult world. This gradual shaping, or in some cases, the total overhaul of their thought processes is critical to helping them achieve their personal greatness and finding true happiness.

As such, each student at Mountain Springs has a unique plan specifically designed to help them in their areas of struggle. This MAPP plan will have them doing many assignments on key issues, targeting key principles and skills on which they need to work, and challenging them in ways that are most appropriate. This important emotional growth work is complimented with outdoor leadership excursions that cause each student to reach outside their comfort zone and discover their courage zone, along with numerous other important elements (e.g. service, leadership, travel opportunities, etc.) that collectively cause our students to feel better about themselves than they have in years!