Great River Energy awarded $1,000 to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch to underwrite the cost of new flooring for Dakota Memorial School (DMS), Bismarck. DMS, the on-campus school of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, educates residents at the Ranch’s psychiatric treatment facility and day students (students who live at home but come to DMS for school). The flooring will create a quieter learning space for children who are highly sensitive to noise and other distractions.
In Bismarck, the Ranch provides the highest level of psychiatric care available to children in North Dakota. Our residents have numerous psychiatric diagnoses and/or backgrounds of severe trauma. DMS provides a unique educational experience for these residential students, as well as day students. Smaller classrooms, balanced learning environments, special lighting, teachers/staff trained in trauma-sensitive learning, and access to occupational and behavioral health therapy all contribute to creating an atmosphere conducive to learning.
Most DMS students have experienced little to no success in school—the trauma-sensitive environment and unique teaching strategies at DMS give them a chance to learn, discover their unique talents and abilities, build their self-confidence, and successfully move back into their community and/or home school.
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch is a Christian residential treatment and educational center for children. At the Bismarck facility, fifty-five employees work together to help the most troubled, complicated and amazing kids by providing best-in-class psychiatric therapy and trauma-informed care, where we look kids in the eye, walk with them, and help them become their best selves. Our on-campus school, Dakota Memorial School (DMS), provides a personalized education for kids who have psychiatric, behavioral, and trauma issues.
Great River Energy, based in Maple Grove, Minn., provides wholesale electric service to 28 distribution cooperatives, which distribute electricity to approximately 665,000 members across Minnesota.