"Strength of spirit" boys' program to help build community values

Maleah Wenzel said that she is not a stranger to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Growing up in Wrangell, she said she had an abusive father and a mother with a drug addiction. Her mother abandoned them when she was 11, and she and her sister left her father when she was 15.

"In terms of adverse childhood experiences, I've got the hands-on experience, I guess you could say," Wenzel said.

Spurred on by these experiences, Wezel said she has a strong urge to help other

children in less than ideal circumstances. She left Alaska to pursue a degree in psychology, with an emphasis on childhood trauma. She recently received some funding from her university to come back to Alaska to volunteer with BRAVE, a group working to better community relationships. She has also written on child abuse and neglect in the Juneau Empire, worked to get more funding for schools from the state legislature, and starting October 15 will be a coach in a boys' running program to help teach community values among children.

"I found that helping kids who in situations like me is the only thing that I've been passionate about and intellectually curious about at the same time," she said. "This is the one intersect where I've been like, 'Man, I just can't not do this."

The running program is called Boys' Run "I Towuu Klatseen," which is Tlingit for "strength of spirit." The 10-week program will meet twice a week, where boys from third through fifth-grade will run and also learn traditional Tlingit values. The program was originally created by another Southeast Alaska organization, Sitkans Against Family Violence, but now runs in several other places across the region.

"It has two purposes. One, to teach Southeast Alaskan Native values and culture, and two, to teach boys how to be respectful and be a part of the community," Wenzel said.

Wenzel said the program is open to both native and non-native children, but they need to be registered by Oct. 5, which can be turned in at the elementary school office or to Wenzel directly. There is a registration fee of $100, she said, but there are scholarships available to help cover the cost. The entire program will conclude in December with a 5K and a community service project. The program is very community-oriented, Wenzel said. She and the other coaches are all people who live and work in Wrangell, and she added that she has seen lots of community support for the program.

"Only about half of the curriculum is running itself," Wenzel said. "We're going to be doing things like reading the story of the raven stealing the sun, you know, and we're going to be learning things like how to control your emotions and how to recognize your emotions."