Our History
The inspiration for ICAR-US sprang out of a two-and-a-half-year sabbatical when I made a Guinness Book of World Records attempt to be part of the first married couple to tandem bike the Western Hemisphere. During the trip I was able to see the connections between the many theoretical frameworks, philosophies, and programs designed to uphold youth.
My experience comes from the work I did: at St. Olaf College in Campus Ecology and Wellness; at Northern Arizona as the hall director of Multi-Cultural Student Housing; at Prescott College and its extraordinary student-centered educational environment; and at Sheldon Jackson College as the vice president of student services. Each of these experiences gave me insight into how environments affect students and student learning, and I created ICAR-US, which has a primary objective of supporting the work of Integrative Youth Development™around the world.
During my tenure in Alaska as a child/youth advocate in public schools, I was able to translate my knowledge into practical applications, thereby changing the world that surrounds individual children and youth. That is where I refined the approach, under the tutelage of many brilliant people.
After leaving Alaska and taking a sabbatical as a ranch hand in northern Idaho, I began to put together all that I had been taught by leaders in the field of resiliency, youth development, and human development. That is where the Full Spectrum Approach to youth development was born. It comes from timeless, common-sense principles of what every kid on Earth needs to succeed.
All of us have a part to play in the development of children and youth, and I urge you to embrace your role!
Why ICAR-US.Com?
Icar-us.com is a play on words. It is actually Icarus. Common sense. Icarus was the boy whose father fashioned wings of wax, for him to soar to freedom. Icarus story would have been different, had he listened to his father.
I have long been inspired by mythology and its ability to tell us important things about our lives and the principles to live by. The Nordic mythology of my ancestry, with Odin, Thor, and Loki and the American Indian stories of Coyote, Spider Woman, and Raven or the African stories of hyena, lion, and crocodile – have common themes that can guide each of us to look to our common humanity; our common experiences.
In college, I learned the stories of Ancient Greece and Rome. I enjoyed them all, but one story has served as the foundation for my youth work for the past 30 years. It is the story of a loving father, wanting to give his son opportunities in the world. A loving father who gave his son the means to see the world from an entirely new perspective, be free to play, and be free to test his limits. This father instructed his son to trust the world and observe its natural laws.
I could visualize Daedalus, like today's fathers, giving his son the keys to the car. Like today's mother giving her daughter the permission to spend the night at a school retreat. These loving parents had to let their teen out of their reach, and beyond their control, and could only hope that the youth had learned their lessons well, and would follow the principled instructions offered by the parents.
Most of know the story of Icarus ended in tragedy and sorrow. My work is an effort to NOT have the story of Icarus continue to be repeated, every minute of every day, around the world. My work is an effort to have teens understand the full spectrum of how their life has been made.
And I hope will guide them in creating an interesting, and fulfilling life.
—Derek Peterson, ICAR-US Founder and CEO
