Hines, C., Mull, C., Jordan, J., Edwards, H.C., Enroughty, S., Bender,G., Lewis,E.C., & Harris, C. (May 2010).

Southern Hospitality- Camping with Operation: Military Kids. Workshop presented at CYFAR 2010 Conference, San Francisco, CA.

Southern Hospitality-

Camping with Operation:

Military Kids

Is your responder working?

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Queue your clicker:Select “GO” buttonSelect 2 then 6 buttonSelect “GO” button- as green light should appear

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Did you go to camp as a youth?

Do you work with military families in your state?

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26 1. Yes

2. No

3. I don’t know

Are you or a member of your family a member of the service?

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2. No

3. I don’t know

Tennessee Operation: Military Kids

Military Youth and the 4-H Camping Experience

4-H/ OMK Camp

Carrera Harris: OMK Coordinator

4-H/ Military “Survivor” Camp

• 5 day residential camp

• Camped with 4-H Junior Camp

• Divided into four Survivor “Tribes”

• Military youth created “OMK County”

• Participated in all 4-H activities– Partook in strictly OMK activities

Advantages of Camping at the 4-H Center

• Provide a civilian 4-H summer camp experience

• Infrastructure, staff, and procedures already in place

• Learn about 4-H by experience

Benefits to Military Youth

• Able to create support groups

• Enjoy a 4-H summer camp experience

Benefits to Civilian Youth• Learn about military life

• Experience the military

• Learn how to support military youth in their own community

Anecdotal Experiences

• Camp Director“This was the best summer camp we’ve had to date. OMK

really brought a lot to our 4-H Camp”

• Military Youth“I really enjoyed meeting other kids who

are going trough the same things that my family and I are

experiencing”

Reaching our Military Population

• Informal networks

• Schools

• Parenting magazines

• Newspapers

Georgia Operation: Military Kids

Military Camp

Jenny Jordan: Volunteer and Teen Specialist

Georgia Military Camps

• Integrating Military Experiences and Culture into the Camp Experience– Terminology– Volunteer Adult Leaders– Location-based Military Resources– Mobile Military resources

Terminology & Volunteer Leaders

• Use of acronyms

• Bag & Drag Registration and Check Out

• Parents of campers

• Installation Child & Youth Programs Staff Members

• Georgia National Guard Counterdrug Taskforce

Location Based Resources• Ranger Camp

• Coast Guard Station

• Tara Field

• Historical Military Installations

Mobile Military Resources

• Helicopters, Humvees and other vehicles

• Military Bands

• Honor Guards

• High ranking military speakers

Strategies for Success

• Begin Early

• Flexibility

• Military Members as Adult Leaders led to on-site problem-fixers

• Installation youth programs staff members use camp as a training experience

Alabama Operation: Military Kids

Camp for Military Youth with Special NeedsCamp Alexis

Charlene Morse Hines: Military Liaison and OMK Coordinator

Camp ASCCA is Alabama's Special Camp for Children and Adults. ASCCA is a nationally recognized leader in therapeutic recreation for children and adults with both physical and mental disabilities. Providing weekend and week long sessions, Camp ASCCA is open year-round.

Located in Alabama on Lake Martin, Camp ASCCA offers campers a wide variety of recreational and educational activities. Activities include horseback riding, fishing, tubing, swimming, environmental education, arts and crafts, canoeing, a "splash pad", outdoor adventure elements like the zip-line, and much more.

Camp ASCCA

Who Can Attend and Why?

• Military youth with special needs and their family members– Up to 8 members of the family – Encourages special needs youth– Shows siblings the special needs youth “can”

do anything– What determines “special needs”

EFMExceptional Family Members

• National Guard now has resources dedicated to Exceptional Family Members

• Military Garrison’s have EFM offices

• Perhaps one of the most underserved populations of military youth are special needs (EFM) youth

Registration for Camp

• Use the registration form of Camp ASCCA

• Very detailed– Takes a medical history of each camper– Includes a release for each camper

• All information is confidential

During Camp

• A picture speaks a thousand words

Parent’s Comments

• It was so nice to see my special needs

babies treated as normal for a change

• My son, after the zip line, told me “I am Tarzan”

• For three days our family enjoyed being a family

North Carolina Operation: Military

KidsYoungest Heroes Camp

Harriett Edwards: 4-H Military LiaisonScott Enroughty: OMK Project Manager

Locations of Installations, Camps/Conference Centers in

Counties

Youngest Heroes Camp• 5-8 year olds

• 4 days, 3 nights

• Traditional 4-H camping experience

• Millstone & Swannanoa 4-H Camps

Weekend Family Camp

• Weekend event involves individuals participating in the Wounded Warriors program

• creating a family-friendly environment • maximum of 15 families or 75 participants (youth and adults)

Plans for 2010

Florida Operation: Military Kids

Maximizing Technology Before, During and After the Camp

Experience

Georgene Bender: OMK Project Director

Camp WebinarsCamp Webinars 1 hour/each www.elluminate.com

Recorded session and posted on Blogspot

15 – 20 participants for each camp (3)

play_recording_confirmation.html (play_recording_confirmation.html.HTM)

Before Camp

• Who’s Who at Camp

• Camp Rules/Discipline/Medical

• Camp Schedule

• What to Bring /Cabins

• OMK Blog page

• Check in; Check out

• Questions

Agenda for Webinar

Camp Blog Wonderful, sensational, and phenomenal are but a few of the laudatory words used by parents to describe what our blogs did for their mental well-being while their children attended summer camp. This was especially meaningful to those who had never been separated from their child for an extended period before.

Nightly posting of camp activities along with hundreds of photographs for parents to viewhttp://campocalai.blogspot.com/http://campocala2.blogspot.com/http://camptimpoochee.blogspot.com/

During Camp

Mobile Tech Lab Projects1) Using the digital cameras, we uploaded the campers’ photos to a file they created. We then explained search engines and used this to locate pictures with .GIF, .BMP, and .JPG extensions

2) Used KidPix to create unique and/or unusual pictures from the photos they had saved or downloaded from Google.

3) Did Web Scavenger Hunts with kid-friendly websites including sites like FunBrain.com, Garfieldgames.com, and Kidtube.com

4) Used Microsoft Word to write letters to their loved ones

5) Teen Camp was devoted to creating their own blog

During Camp

Survey Monkey Parent EvaluationSurvey Monkey Parent Evaluation

After Camp

Survey Monkey Parent EvaluationSurvey Monkey Parent Evaluation

After Camp

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5. Awesome

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you learned today?

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3 1. I definitely will not be able to implement

2. I will maybe be able to implement

3. I don’t know if I will be able to implement

4. I will probably be able to implement

5. I will definitely be able to implement

Which state’s information did you find the most useful?

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0 1. Tennessee- military and civilian youth

2. Georgia- military camp

3. Alabama- camping with special needs

4. North Carolina- youngest heroes

5. Florida- technology

Why was this information most useful?

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21. Information will be easy to implement

2. I work with the population described

3. All of the above

4. None of the above

5. Other

Questions?

Contact UsTennessee: Carrera Harris- carrera@utk.edu, 865-974-9724

Georgia: Jenny Jordan- jwj4h@utk.edu, 706-542-4444

Alabama: Charlene Hynes- hinescm@auburn.edu, 334-734-2336

North Carolina: Scott Enroughty- scott_enroughty@ncsu.edu, 919.515.8500Harriett Edwards- Harriett_Edwards@ncsu.edu, 919-515-9548

Florida: Georgene Bender- gmbender@ufl.edu, 813-757-2184