The Beartooth MT Ascent Staff

The staff at Beartooth Mt Ascent are all committed to one goal, and that is helping every young man reach his full potential to lead a healthy productive life. Our young adult drug rehab and transitions life skill program is headed by gifted individuals whose main objective is to guide young men to the right path through positive behavior improvement, developing a sound work ethic, character building through "Real Life Therapy" and life enriching activities.

Tom George

Executive Director Thomas George, M.A.

• Master of Arts Degree in Education
• Bachelor of Arts Degree in Physiology
• Certified Marriage Mentor
• Certified Love and Logic Facilitator on raising kids responsibly
• Served the Catholic Church in Missionary Society SOLT as a lay missionary member for over twenty years.
• Tom has also served as the SOLT Director of Formation for families preparing them for service in foreign missions.
• Tom has been director of a family life apostolate outreach for the Catholic community.
• Served at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as a strength coach for the Olympic athletes.
• Assistant coach at the University of Wyoming in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field.
• Coached in the areas of boxing, judo, twenty six mile marathon, and lugar.
• Tom also taught school at St. Joseph School in Beeville, Texas.

Tom is often a featured speaker at youth seminars and retreats. Speaking to young people from a Christian faith base, he talks about character formation, healthy relationships, substance abuse, and abstinence. Tom imparts moral truths in a way that teens can understand and relate to easily. The gift he brings to our troubled teen program is his example as a husband and father, and as a man of God. In this way he is able to give the boys in our Program a powerful example of Christian manhood. Through honest hard ranch work, Tom leads the boys in establishing a work ethic that has helped many of the troubled teens discover their true potential. The troubled teens on the ranch really look up to Tom and view him as a role model of a man who truly lives his faith in God.

Susan George

Director Susan George

Certified Christian Counselor, Certified Life Coach (in training), Family Life & Abstinence Educator, PSSP Certified Love and Logic Parenting Instructor, Certified Marriage Mentor, Home schooling mother of eleven children.

Like her husband Tom George, Susan is dedicated to living and teaching her Christian-Catholic faith. She is a trained Family Life, Abstinence, Breakthrough Parenting, Relationship & Communication skills instructor. Susan is gifted at imparting a deeper understanding and respect for the gift of his sexuality to each of the young men who come to Mount Carmel Youth Ranch. Susan teaches the credited Life Skills courses every Friday to all of the young men who come to Mount Carmel Youth Ranch. Her classes are eagerly attended and respected by the teens.

Previously Tom and Susan worked for over eight years as lay formators for a religious community. Tom and Susan were responsible for the training of the laity to prepare them to go out into mission. They were also responsible for the formation of families and the family life apostolate outreach for the religious community. Tom and Susan are also Certified Marriage Mentors and Breakthrough Parenting Instructors.

Cheri Kreitzmann

Counselor Cheri Kreitzmann, MS, LPC, PAT
Mental Health and Addiction Therapist

Cheri has 20 years and a wealth of experience, in working with individuals who struggle with chronic and persistent mental illness, substance abuse, anxiety, depression, family conflicts, at-risk adolescents, self-esteem, relationship, and abuse issues.

She holds a Master's Degree in Rehbilitation Counseling from the University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1993. She practiced in Community Support Programs for 6 years, then a administration position for the County learning that direct service is her calling. She has owned and provided direct services for Soar Counseling since 1993.

She has recently moved from Shell Lake WI to Cody Wy with her family. She is owner of SOAR Counseling Srevices Inc. which she is expanding to Wyoming and to the world through on-line counseling. She has a strong spiritual and cognitive and behavioral approach to her counseling. She believes in being direct and solution focused yet embrasing and working through emotional wounds.

Derrick Moorman

Counselor Derrick Moorman

Masters Degree in Counseling from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Bachelor of Arts from St. Thomas, Provisional Professional Counseling License from the State of Wyoming Mental Health Professions Licensing Board

Derrick Moorman is a recent graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville's Masters Counseling program. Derrick received his Bachelor of Arts from St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota in Catholic Studies with a minor in Philosophy. It was at St. Thomas where Derrick first studied psychology and was so attracted that he thought he could spend the rest of his life working in the field. He received his Provisional Professional Counseling License from the State of Wyoming Mental Health Professions Licensing Board. He is supervised under Mrs. Sandy Holland.

Derrick feels that Our Lord has been preparing him to work with young men for years now. Derrick is passionate about helping the boys discover their God-given inner citadel; the true strength of manhood that lies within the heart; the strength that will enable them to stand when there is no reason for them to. He wants to help the boys discover with God's grace, who they are and understand themselves better. He believes that it is this wrestling match that empowers one to move through the muck and the mire to new heights of virtue and character.

Derrick believes that the young men of Mt. Carmel and Beartooth Mountain Ascent are the leaders, protectors and providers of the near future because they are at present wrestling with God and themselves. Derrick truly believes that life is worth living and he longs for the boys to grab a hold of it with all they have.

Thanks to his Counseling degree at Franciscan, he now has the opportunity to help form the young men in a professional counseling setting. Derrick will primarily be practicing Cognitive Therapy. He believes that changing one's negative thoughts will influence and eventually change one's behaviors and emotions. Derrick is very interested in getting to the deepest lies that Satan has sown, uprooting them by the grace of Jesus, and then allowing the program to nourish and heal.

"I chose to work at Mt. Carmel because I could not pass up an opportunity to fulfill so many of my long time desires of working with young men. I also believe wholeheartedly in the 'reality therapy' that is offered here allowing the young men opportunity for autonomy and empowerment. There is also so much beauty in the geography and in the farm life that the heart gets 'won over.' Mr. Jerry the founder, his family who run the ranch, and all of the faithful staff are very inspirational in their love for the young men; and Love is the greatest healer of all."

Barbara Blaney

Academics Teacher Barbara Blaney

Ms Barbara comes to MTC with 30 + years of teaching experience. She brings extensive skills in working with at risk youth after working on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for fifteen years. Barb also comes to Mt Carmel after completing a year as a VISTA volunteer.

For several years, Barbara worked with Foxfire Fund Inc. a national program of teacher training and support (the Foxfire Approach to Teaching and Learning). Through her work with Foxfire, teachers were trained to develop individual learning plans for students through experiential learning and integrated lessons. The result of this work was the understanding that students need to become life long learners by learning how to learn. She has written several articles for the Foxfire magazine, Foxfire News, and she presented her teaching strategies at national conferences in Preston, NJ, Atlanta, GA and many other locations.

Barbara graduated from Chadron State College, and attended Princeton University. She is currently a certified teacher in South Dakota and Nebraska. Her philosophy of facilitating youth to learn how to learn goes hand in hand with Mt Camel's philosophy. Ms Barbara brings a blend of humor with Love and Logic to connect with the youth she serves wherever the Lord places her.

Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson

Bachelor of Science in Church Ministry

Desiring to be the hands of Christ reaching out , His patient and reflective questions help our residents think about who they are, how they are thinking, where that kind of thinking will take them in life, and how much God desires to know them. Dustin enjoys getting the boys outside, doing things that need to be done, doing them well, and having a good time while doing them. This time of working the ranch creates opportunities for conversations that help the residents learn: about themselves, how God showed him how to live a life of peace and how they can experience peace in God.

Mark Schneider

Ranch Manager &Vocational Educator Mark Schneider

Experienced mountain cowboy, farmer, and business owner/operator.

Mark is truly the vocational "rock" of Beartooth MT Ascent. His experience comes both from the classroom and from the field. Born and raised on the ranch, it is in his blood. From early morning feeding to late nights on a tractor, Mark knows how to work. He has to, as the success of the ranch is on his shoulders, and he humbly carries the load. He quietly and patiently teaches the young men that come to Beartooth MT Ascent how to work, and they see through him that work will make them happy. They learn the value of a job completed, and find that a job is only done when it is done right.

After the ranch type work is completed, Mark might be found coaching the young men in boxing, which he has been doing since the age of eight. He is the proud father of two, and devotes himself to his family. Mark's vocational knowledge reaches beyond the ranch and he is able to teach the young men many more trades. Having owned and operated a successful drywall business, Mark understands construction and the inner workings of a business. Through him, the young men have this knowledge and experience available to them as they make their career choices.

Nancy Woolard

Office Administrative Assistant Nancy Woolard

Nancy brings her experience from owning her own business and working as a secretary for a fabric company to Beartooth MT Ascent. Nancy and her husband started their own successful trucking business and were on the road together for thirteen years before deciding they were ready to stay in one place.

Nancy really loves being able to do such a variety of things for the ranch. She enjoys working in the office and talking to parents, as well as being around the young men and seeing them improve on a daily basis. Nancy says, "God has really opened up doors for me to be able to work at BTMA. It is like it was meant to be and really a dream come true for me."

A Life Changing Experience for struggling young men, parents and the entire family.

Please note: Our program is located on a remote rural ranch in back to basics, frontier style buildings without any frills. If you are looking for luxurious accommodations for your son in a resort like setting this is not the place to send him!

If you want your son to appreciate and not take for granted what has been provided for him by you, then our Ranch is the place to help him grow in appreciation and thanksgiving for all that he has received in his life. Young men that engage in our program leave here with a deeper respect for authority, self-discipline, and a new work ethic that will help them be successful in holding down a job or going to college.

If your son is 12-17 years old, please visit Mt. Carmel Youth Ranch.