FORT JACKSON, S.C. (April 9, 2015) -- More than 100 teens between the ages of 10 and 19 attended the second annual leadership development summit at the Solomon Center Friday. Vendors, local professionals and a motivational speaker were on hand to provide the teens with resources and education geared toward leadership.
In September, Shaneen Corujo with the Army Community Service Family Advocacy Program conducted a needs assessment in conjunction with Child, Youth and School Services to find out what teens wanted and needed to learn about. The resulting focus groups conducted surveys and came up with a comprehensive program for the summit that catered to the specific needs identified by the teens. Corujo led the summit.
"The summit is designed to highlight leadership in the teen community," Corujo said. "Our goal is to help the teens be able to step out and take that leadership to the next level in their own communities."
Barbara Martin, ACS Employment Readiness Program manager, provided information to teens on various careers and how to write resumes, discussed avenues used to search for jobs, and told them about current job opportunities available through the teen employment program. Brandon Jackson, Destiny Kinsler, Taylor and Ravyn Cunningham from the Fort Jackson Keystone Club piggy-backed off Martin's class and held mock job interviews.
"We want to help teens prepare to enter the workforce," Corujo said. "The vendors give them a lot of resources and options."
Tim Bowers, a motivational speaker for teens, spoke to the whole group during lunch in an effort to inspire and encourage them to be more proactive in life.
"We want to be able to see kids from the military, rural communities, kids from everywhere be more active and take on those leadership roles," Corujo said.
Shirley Anne Flowers Martin, with the Chaplain Family Life Center, talked about goal setting with the teens. She had the teens prepare vision boards, identifying where they saw themselves in five years and how they planned to achieve those goals.
"I try to be a liaison between our generation and theirs," Corujo said. "How do you get that energy and that wisdom combined if we don't communicate?"
Natasha Pauling, an attorney with the Richland County Labor Department, spoke with teens about their rights and how to safely exercise those rights.
Joe Ryan from the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, talked in depth with teens about Internet safety and social media. Social workers with the Family Advocacy Program held sessions focused on teen dating and violence.
"We want to spend more on the prevention side and less on the intervention side," Corujo said.
Melody Dees from the United Way Diamonds Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program spoke with teens about parenthood, babies and teen pregnancy and Sandra Barnes from the Army Substance Abuse Program discussed the significant ramifications of substance abuse and available resources for getting help.
Rodney Burgess and Sidney Crawford from South Carolina Youth Challenges provided information to teens on health and fitness; and Cheryl Leysath, Felecia Johnson, and Brandy Palmer from the Exceptional Family Members Program advised the teens on what resources are available to support teens with special needs.
Kevin Lawrence and Terrence Crawford, from the Richland County Sheriff's Department, and Frederick Johnson, with Fort Jackson's Directorate of Emergency Services, held open dialogue with the teens in an effort to help bolster relationships between teens and law enforcement. They also informed the teens about volunteer opportunities in the law enforcement community.
Corujo said the reason the summit was focused on military teens is that their voice seems to be missing in the civilian population.
"They have unique aspects about being military kids," Corujo said. "We wanted to help them hone in on those skills and teach people who they are and help them get to the level where they will go out in the community and do great things."
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