Most boys are ready for the Green phase by the end of their first month. They earn additional freedoms of movement and conversation around campus, and they begin participating in work crews. They have new goals for memory work and physical fitness improvement. Phone privileges to call parents are given. The Green shirt is the level of the general population at the ranch. It is during the Green Shirt phase that boys make a marked improvement in their attitude, work ethic, and behavior. The Master’s Ranch Christian Academy’s emphasis is on true manhood, shown by integrity, honesty, hard work, hard play, trust, and leadership. There is no competition against anyone else; boys compete only against themselves.

Boys in the Green Shirt accept work responsibilities on campus; they learn vocational and agricultural skills through voluntary extra work projects; they make progress academically toward a high school diploma or GED; they become physically fit, strong and active; and they experience personal transformation as the lessons of manhood and the love of God sink in.

Earning the Burgundy Shirt is an honor that about a third of the boys achieve. After a minimum of six months at the ranch, boys who excel in personal responsibility may apply for this shirt. This privilege is not in name only: it is hard to earn and easy to lose. With the approval of the entire staff, boys can promote the Burgundy Shirt. They gain a great deal of additional freedom, including significantly more phone time with their parents. They start exercising peer leadership and enjoy a certain amount of authority. Boys in the Burgundy Shirt take leadership classes and study leadership books by renowned authors. They are treated like men.

A large percentage of adolescent boys who turn age 18 while at the ranch decide to stay on as junior staff, transitioning from a Burgundy phase student to a blue shirt until they are ready to transition back to home or move on to the next step in life. Many of these boys end up earning a decent paycheck for their efforts. We try to partner with their parents to get them their first car and see to it that they have all their adult stuff done.