Three days set aside for ‘Change’

Westside extension right-of-way land acquired
December 14, 2010
Thursday, Dec. 16
December 16, 2010
Westside extension right-of-way land acquired
December 14, 2010
Thursday, Dec. 16
December 16, 2010

There are days that are, simple stated, life-changing.


The day my 17-year-old arrived. The day my aunt died. My first homerun in softball. First love. There are a number of memorable days in my storage bin.


And then there are three days that brought love, enlightenment, sadness, excitement and understanding. It was last year when Rich and Yvonne Dutra-St. John brought their “Next Step” program to Houma.

“Next Step” is the follow-up program to “Challenge Day,” an anti-bullying program that’s been making the rounds at many public schools in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes and is the subject of an MTV production, “If You Really Knew Me.” The one-day session teams students of all colors, creeds and cliques, and challenges them to “get real” n to go below their surface image and share the true self they keep shielded from public scrutiny. By day’s end, most discover there are more issues that unite us than separate us.


I first had the opportunity two years ago to serve as an adult volunteer at Terrebonne High School during Challenge Day. My then-15-year-old daughter had gone through the program the day before at Houma Junior High. She came home that evening quiet, introspective and appreciative. The change was undeniable.


We’d agreed prior to Challenge Day to keep our experiences to ourselves until we’d both had a chance to go through the program.

Her day left me curious. My Challenge Day did just that: Challenged me. And it was eye opening.


Every generation, I suppose, is convinced theirs is the toughest. Our parents were stricter. Technology was more archaic. We didn’t have the opportunities today’s youth take for granted. You know the drill n we walked uphill both ways in the snow EVERYWHERE! With southern winds in our face! And our waists chained to our front porches. It was tough.

But sitting in Terrebonne’s gymnasium listening to youngsters accept the Dutra-St. Johns’ challenge and dive below the waterline gave me a new-found respect for the difficulties my child and yours face as they try to make their way in the big world.

When the opportunity to work personally with Yvonne and Rich rose the following year, my daughter and I agreed.

Over the next three days, we laughed, cried and shared details of our lives that had long been kept locked away. It proved to honestly be a life-changing opportunity.

And now the opportunity is available again to the Tri-parish region. The Dutra-St. Johns will return to Houma Jan. 14 through Jan. 16. The three-day workshop will be held at Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joe Waitz’s new office near Southland Mall (the old Kirschman’s building).

Open to 60 people n one-third of the session includes students, while the rest is comprised of teachers, parents, professionals n the workshop tackles many of the same issues as Challenge day: social oppression, bullying, racism, violence, teasing, substance abuse and the like. It also focuses on providing the tools to change and, as the couple’s book is titled, “Be the Hero You’ve Been Waiting For.”

The cost of the workshop is $350 for adults and $100 for teens. The opportunity to reconnect with your teen and the you you wished you’d become is well worth it.

For more information, contact the South Louisiana Circle of Change at (985) 868-9881 or nextstep@solabethechange.org.