OUR BELIEF

Middle school is a crossing. A formative time for both children and families that often doesn’t receive the attention it deserves.

We don’t see middle school as a problem to solve, but rather a season to steward.

Every child deserves a TYRVING Year.

THE TYRVING YEAR

A TYRVING Year is one school year intentionally set apart to mark the transition from childhood to adolescence.

TYRVING provides the structure, your family or group creates the meaning.

A TYRVING year creates space for families to pay attention to what matters most—and in doing so, helps transform one ordinary school year into a meaningful part of their family's story.

FROM OUR FOUNDER

As my own children grew closer to the middle school years, I found myself looking for an intentional way to move through this season—one that brought families together.

Working in public education and clinical counseling gave me the opportunity to see what helps young people thrive. TYRVING gradually evolved as a way to bring the best of those worlds into something families could actually share.

It is our hope that your family experiences a TYRVING Year that becomes a meaningful part of your story—one you'll look back on with gratitude for years to come.

Tommy Anderson
Director, TYRVING

A man and two children in life jackets on a yellow raft in a river under a partly cloudy sky, with trees and hills in the background.

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FAQs

  • TYRVING is pronounced “TIER-ving.”

    The name begins with Tyr, a figure from Norse mythology associated with courage, justice, responsibility, and the willingness to act for the good of others.

    The name also pays homage to cultures that have recognized the transition from childhood toward adulthood as a season worthy of attention. TYRVING sounds less like a program a child enrolls in and more like an experience a family undertakes: This was the year we did TYRVING.

  • Families can participate independently at home or alongside a small group of families.

    Every family receives the printed TYRVING Guidebook and weekly TYRVING Times emails. Most weeks involve about 15–20 minutes of conversation, reflection, or a shared challenge.

    Families participating as a group can also use the Group Guide to gather for optional monthly experiences. The structure is flexible: families can follow the year privately, share it with friends, or participate through a school, faith community, parent group, or other local organization.

  • TYRVING is an independent Colorado nonprofit organization. It is not affiliated with any religious, political, or civic organization.

    The experience is designed to be broadly accessible to families with different backgrounds, beliefs, and traditions. Schools, faith communities, parent groups, and community organizations may use TYRVING, but each family determines the values, conversations, and meaning that shape its year.

  • The nine Roots of Well-Being identify areas of life that help young people grow into grounded, connected, and capable adults: relationships, values, gratitude, mindfulness, body, resilience, creativity, character, and goals.

    The Roots are informed by research in adolescent development and well-being, but they are not a set of beliefs or predetermined answers. Instead, each Root gives families a starting place for meaningful conversation and shared experience.

    Together, the nine Roots provide a broad foundation that families and groups of many backgrounds can make their own.