John Baisden Focuses on Talented Staff at Turning Winds

John Baisden works as the Senior Executive Vice-President of Turning Winds Academic Institute. He wholeheartedly believes in the work that Turning Winds does on a day-to-day basis. Turning Winds was founded in 2002 to help troubled teens aged 12 to 18 from all over the country. Their motto is "making this world a better place to live one life at a time."

That's why getting up every day to work with the teens at Turning Winds is one of the best motivations for John Baisden. Helping teens realize that they are capable, intelligent, and impressive people feels great. In order to do this, though, Turning Winds has to employ the right people to get the job done.

John Baisden places great importance on hiring the right people to work and teach at Turning Winds Academic Institute. Without a quality staff, the teens there would have a much harder time developing and maturing.

In support of Turning Winds Academic Institute, Baisden recently hired a new Program Director. The person in this position is responsible for deciding and planning the direction of all of the programs at Turning Winds so that they make sense as a whole. It includes everything outside of the students’ schooling as well as any trips, activities, or other events that may occur. The new Program Manager is highly qualified; he was a top graduate from the Harvard Business School and has worked in various other program management positions in the education field.

The other employee that John Baisden has helped Turning Winds hire is their new Academic Director. This position is very important to Turning Winds Academic Institute because education is a focal point of their program. Turning Winds believes that all students can learn, given the right environment. Part of the academic program is designed to develop the students’ confidence, critical thinking, decision making, and communication skills to propel them in their futures. This new Academic Director has a master's degree in special education as well as over 20 years of experience in the field.

John Baisden assists youth in achieving The Eagle Scout Award

John Baisden has worked with youth for over 30 years and one of his passions has been to help youth obtain The Eagle Scout Award.  John has assisted approximately one youth each year for the past seven years obtain the rank of Eagle Scout.  Working with youth in this capacity has become one of Johns' legacies.  Youth who have been through this process with John are forever grateful for his unwavering committment and support in achieving the highest honor that a young man can recieve from the Boy Scouts of America. 

John just recently helped out another young man who's hopes and dreams had always been to enter into the Airforce and become an Eagle Scout.  But, because of some unhealthy decisions that this young man had made, he no longer thought either one was possible.  This young man had lost a sense of self worth and direction in his life.  But upon entering into Turning Winds Academic Institute, Matt became engaged and began to have a greater hope again for his future.  He approached John with his desire to become an Eagle Scout and the two worked together for the next 12 months to see this desire come to fruition.  There is a great deal of work that goes into completing an Eagle project that would qualify one to sit before an Eagle Scout Board of Review.

Last week, Matt met in front of seven individuals to determine his ability to achieve such an amazing honor.  The hard work paid off and Matt was awarded the highest honor that any young man could ever achieve through the Boy Scouts of America.  Matt we are proud of your for your committment to changing your life in a great way!  John, thank you for all that you do in caring for youth who could not have accomplished such great work without your vision, support and experience.

John Baisden Loves the Outdoors!

John Baisden thinks that more people should get out to enjoy the majestic and diverse scenery that can be found throughout the United States. Every state has some amazing areas that should be appreciated by more people. There are state parks, national parks, and all sorts of regions that have their own beauty to them. We're so caught up in work, making money, and "being busy" that we miss out on a lot that our areas have to offer.

John is definitely an outdoorsmen. He has enjoyed hiking, backpacking, and camping his entire life. He loves the fact that he can go out into the wilderness and tackle whatever challenges he comes across. It's a rewarding and confidence building activity even as he gets older. Nothing feels more satisfying than taking care of yourself in a challenging situation!

John Baisden's other passion is helping out troubled youth. He runs the Turning Winds Academic Institute in Montana. Part of the work he does with some of the students involves the outdoors. He loves to take groups of students out to amazing places like the Grand Canyon, Hells Canyon, West Fork Lake, Seven Devil’s Peaks and many other wonderful places.

He finds these backpacking trips to be very useful for the students that he takes along. A lot of them do not appreciate what being in nature is all about. John Baisden has seen a lot of the students perspective and mood change for the better after exposure to such beautiful places as Hell's Canyon, Glacier National Park and the Selkirk Mountains. It's very rewarding to get through one of those adventures. Plus, you get to see some of the most beautiful terrain in the entire country.

John Baisden can see himself camping, hiking, and backpacking for years to come. He'll never get bored with it. Every trip and every hike is unique in itself. It's always a great experience. He is grateful that he is now able to share those special places of retreat with his grandchildren.

John Baisden Supports Clean Energy

In today's day and age, it's easy to be amazed by the technological development that we've accomplished. We have computers, the internet, smartphones, tablet PCs, and more. Every day scientists and inventors are coming up with more and more interesting advancements. John Baisden likes to keep an eye on these things, but he knows that nothing matters if we don't have the energy to power our technology!

Currently a lot of the world operates on fossil fuel power. We get electricity from oil, natural gas, and coal. These will eventually run out, plus they are often heavy polluters of the environment. John Baisden is a huge outdoorsman and hates to see any part of nature polluted. That's why he supports clean and green energy.

Some of the oldest clean energy is Nuclear and Hydropower. Nuclear can provide a lot of energy but it has its drawbacks. Nuclear energy generates a lot of radioactive waste and we have to find somewhere to put it so that it doesn't affect us. In addition to that, meltdowns and other physical problems can be catastrophic if managed poorly. Just look at Chernobyl!

Hydropower is definitely a lot cleaner than nuclear but it has its problems as well. A large dam can totally wreck the ecosystem of a river and kill off species that relied on a flowing river. Maintenance is expensive as well. There are new technologies to generate hydropower non-invasively, and John Baisden hopes they gain traction sooner rather than later.

John Baisden's favorite clean energy is solar. The sun shines down much more energy than we use in a day, it's just a matter of capturing and storing it. John Baisden hopes to see a continued investment into clean technology at Turning Winds Academic Institute.