Building Teen Resilience: A Valley Guardian Event
By: Hailey Wesloski
In the ever-changing, blocky world of Minecraft, teens are quietly learning one of life’s most important lessons: resilience. Whether they’re rebuilding after a creeper destroys their base or starting over from scratch after falling into lava, they’re practicing how to bounce back from failure without even realizing it! In a game where failure is expected but never final, teens gain the confidence to keep trying, adapt strategies, and problem-solve in real time. These in-game challenges mirror real-life obstacles, giving teens a low-stakes environment to build mental toughness, patience, and perseverance.
As parents, it’s easy to overlook what’s happening behind the screen, but these virtual experiences can have a lasting real-world impact. Each time your teen rebuilds after a setback or leads a group to complete a complex task, they’re not just playing, they’re learning how to persist through frustration and lead through uncertainty. Resilience isn’t about avoiding failure; it’s about responding to it with strength and creativity. And sometimes, the most valuable growth happens not in a classroom or on a field, but in the quiet determination of a teen who refuses to give up even in a world made of pixels.
On April 19th The Valley Guardians Executive Leadership scholars watched the Minecraft movie. There were 28 students who attended the event, 18 of which were VG Scholars. Before the movie all of the students went on a scavenger hunt to find items that were portrayed in the movie and play social games like UNO and Charades. The students also tested their Minecraft knowledge while participating in trivia.
In the end, students discovered that resilience often emerges from unexpected places! The Valley Guardians Leadership Program is giving these underprivileged students the opportunity of a lifetime and impacting their lives in so many different ways! The scholar students appreciate the Valley Guardian donors for all of their efforts in making a difference in the community as well as in their individual lives!
The Valley Guardians Leadership Program
The Valley Guardian program is a multiyear coaching program for underserved students in the community. It was created by successful business people in the valley. They got together and formed a non-profit to find ways to fund developmental programs for kids in underserved communities. This program was aimed toward the underserved kids in the valley who have good hearts and have a desire to be successful and be mentored. The kids who are a part of this program have access to all different kinds of services like professional coaches, coaching calls, getaways, leadership education and training workshops, access to professionals in the valley, college and career readiness and more. The Valley Guardian program started with a single school of 6 students, and overtime has grown to 13 schools, 7 districts, and 49 active students. Overall there have been 120 students who have benefited from this program.
The Valley Guardians program offers over thirty online and in person workshops per year. We do many different types of workshops per year including things like arcades, parks, hikes, parties, and online leadership training. Many of the kids who come are not very social and are looking for a place to feel comfortable and be able to meet new people while being themselves. When they come to programs they have a great time. The way we set them up makes kids feel comfortable, whether we ask them what they are interested in doing or set them up to meet new people through social activities at the beginning of each event. The students find they feel connected and accepted through the program.