"I learned I can work in groups and be more positive.”
“I learned how to work with others when challenges arise and how to use my skills.”
"I learned leadership in myself.”
These reflections came from Boys Town Education Center (BTEC) student council members after participating in Inner Compass, a leadership development project that took place over four 2 ½-hour sessions over the summer.
The comments captured what Patricia Cardellini de Almeida, a UNL Ph.D. student and Boys Town research volunteer, hoped to achieve.
“So many times kids struggle to identify what their strengths are and what they are good at,” she said.
Cardellini de Almeida created the unique project in collaboration with the Boys Town Child and Family Translational Research Center (TRC).
“I wanted to focus on how we can help the kids know more about themselves and develop themselves in a healthier way, empowering them to value their ideas, especially when they face adversity,” she said.
Just as meaningful, according to Boys Town research scientist Kristin Duppong Hurley, Ph.D., are the goals the students identified as a result of the project:
- To increase student belonging.
- To decrease student substance use.
Dr. Duppong Hurley said both are topics already being explored by the team at Boys Town’s TRC.
“It's so validating that some of the work that we're already doing was aligned with what the students came up with,” she said. “These kids were putting their all into their Inner Compass projects and doing a great job.”
The project also demonstrated one of the TRC’s defining strengths: connecting research to real-world needs by responding to issues identified not only by staff, but also by the youth and families they serve.
“It's wonderful to be responsive to staff, but it's extra nice to be responsive to things that are coming from the kids, and that we can get them involved as well,” Dr. Duppong Hurley said.
From Brazil to Boys Town
The origin story for the Inner Compass project began years earlier and thousands of miles away.
A former therapist, Cardellini de Almeida has a background in educational neuroscience, social work, transpersonal psychology and human development coaching. Much of her professional work focused on adolescents, families and community-based social projects.
“I also have a background in coaching and human development, so bringing that to education has always been my goal,” she said.
While working in schools in Florianópolis, Brazil, Cardellini de Almeida developed a semester-long project to help students build self-awareness and leadership skills. This is the project which would ultimately be adapted into Inner Compass at Boys Town.
An aspect that makes it unique is how Cardellini de Almeida drew on the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) framework developed by the United Nations. The framework identified personal and interpersonal skills needed to address complex social challenges faced worldwide — skills like critical thinking, empathy, collaboration and perseverance. These skills all aligned with the Boys Town Social Skills that students are learning at school and at home with their Family-Teachers.
“For me, it was always about bringing personal development skills to the kids,” she said. “How do we prepare kids, especially considering all the uncertainty in the world and the mental health perspective. How do we help them?”
A desire to build on her experience took Cardellini de Almeida to Malawi to work with teachers and families at the Ubuntu Nation School through Fraternity Without Borders, and more recently to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to pursue a doctorate in educational psychology.
At UNL, Cardellini de Almeida teaches Adolescent Development while studying resilience, self-compassion, mindfulness and emotion regulation. Working as a research volunteer at the Boys Town TRC was an ideal fit for her background and the questions she sought to explore.
“What I think the TRC does beautifully is take science and all the information we get from research and turn it into something that can be a foundation for programs or to make a change and have an impact on people’s lives,” Cardellini de Almeida said.
Building Inner Compass
While the concept originated in Brazil, Inner Compass was carefully adapted for Boys Town through a team effort among Cardellini de Almeida and TRC researchers, including research associates Ashlee Mitchell and Ivy Neihart, and BTEC and Summer Enrichment Program staff.
“I also received a student award from my doctoral program that was also important in making the project possible,” Cardellini de Almeida said.
Nearly a year of planning was needed as the group worked through everything from student scheduling challenges to program design to research requirements.
A top priority was keeping the experience active and engaging for the incoming 2026-2027 BTEC Student Council members who participated.
“Because it’s summer, we didn’t want it to be something like a lecture,” Cardellini de Almeida said. “We wanted something more practical, that could be fun, that they could bring into their daily lives.”
Activities were designed to encourage students to examine leadership characteristics, starting with examples of inspirational leaders like Boys Town Founder Father Edward J. Flanagan, Martin Luther King Jr. and others. Then they focused on the strengths and behaviors the students admired in those leaders. The goal was to identify personal strengths while reflecting on the kind of leaders the students wanted to become.
Supporting Future Leaders
The team is now analyzing the program data and considering its potential for future applications. Early feedback has been encouraging.
“One of the students said that they learned that they can be a better leader at home, because they feel that they could be a good role model for the younger ones in their family,” Cardellini de Almeida said.
“We see this process as a proof of concept that this can work, that students can buy into it and find it useful and helpful,” Dr. Duppong Hurley said.
Future potential applications could include other Boys Town programs, residential care settings and the juvenile justice system.
For Cardellini de Almeida, one of the most meaningful moments came when students presented the ideas they had developed together.
“It resonated with their personal stories, but they were also thinking about how it could help their friends and their community” she said. “Seeing them put that effort into something that could make a difference was beautiful. It gives voice to them and helps them to be part of the solution.”
