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KAPOLEI, Hawaii--The 18th Medical Command (Deployment Support) Chaplain, Lt. Col. Steven Jones, supported the Hawaii Army National Guard Youth Challenge Program at Barbers Point by teaching the cadre and staff about different approaches to leadership development, January 12-16, 2015.
Jones volunteered to give this training as a way to support the local community and ensure the development of the leaders working within the Army National Guard.
"Because of my units support and loyalty to the Army National Guard and the local community, I was able to volunteer and give this program [Youth Challenge] the training they desired, so they can empower their employees and cadets," said Jones.
Jones recognizes that his organization, the 18th MEDCOM (DS), is just as committed as he is to the success of the children within the community and this Army National Guard program.
"I appreciate the command investment in a community effort to help set the condition for the success of the teenagers in the community," said Jones.
The teenagers in the Youth Challenge program, who will receive this training at a later date, are participating in a preventive, rather than remedial, at-risk youth program, that targets participants who are unemployed, drug-free and law-free high-school dropouts, 16 to 18 years of age.
The purpose of teaching the cadre and staff this curriculum first is to give them a way to increase their ability to look at each person and situation with a reasonable and objective perspective. These tools are intended to provide them with a new set of capabilities to handle situations while engraining them with new life skills.
"As cadre, you influence the community," said Jones. "Each student represents a family with different cultures, beliefs and struggles."
The leadership development curriculum focused on creating a supportive environment where there is a common culture, purpose, language and set of values. The fundamentals taught in these lessons are designed to be easily implemented into daily living.
"Almost everyone desires the highest quality of life possible for themselves, their families and those they care about," said Jones. "Giving the cadets new life skills that they can incorporate into everyday life is vital to a successful future."
Although it is intended to be easily applied, the concern Jones has is this environment is only for a limited time and the cadets go back to the same pressures they left. In an attempt to remedy this concern, he offered to come back to teach the student's family members.
"Knowing the chaplain wants to speak with the family members is really good because families have the paradigm and structure where they are," said the programs government and law teacher. "The cadets are coming out of this program's structure and going back into that structure in about five to six months. They are only kids and they have only been on the earth for 16 or 17 years. It is going to be a challenge for them."
The cadets have taken the first step in trying not to become a product of their environment by enrolling in Youth Challenge.
"Somewhere there is a balance between discipline and survival mode," said Jones. "This training introduces them to an alternative operating system for life. They are exposed to the benefits of embracing a new mindset, a new toolset and practicing a new skill set in facing life decisions. We need them to break old destructive habits of living for the day and have them start planning for their future."
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