FORT GORDON, Ga. (Sept. 19, 2014) - Tatiana Mason, Akaela Marshall, and Sara Sonnier prepare their own chef salads after school during the Culinary Arts class hosted by the installation Schools of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration and Skills (SKIES...
FORT GORDON, Ga. (Sept. 19, 2014) - Area children are back in school again. While some school systems offer a wide variety of extracurricular activities, many schools cannot offer art classes, music, sports, woodworking and homemaking classes because of budget cuts.
Fort Gordon offers a year-round program for youngsters of all ages to learn valuable life skills while making friends and having fun. It's called SKIES Unlimited, which stands for Schools of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration and Skills.
The United States Army Installation Management Command created and launched SKIES Unlimited in 2005.
"In their wisdom, the creators of the SKIES program established these school guidelines," said Grace Smith, SKIES Unlimited director and instructional program specialist. "As a result, each post can create its own program based upon the interests of the participants and the talent that is available locally to teach the classes."
The mission of the SKIES Unlimited is to provide children and youth with a variety of classes taught by qualified, imaginative and dedicated instructors who will create education and/or self-discovery experiences, according to Smith. "SKIES classes are instructional," Smith emphasized "The goal is for the young children, preteens and teens to learn while they are having fun. Unlike inflatable bounce houses or arcade games, SKIES classes have learning goals."
"My personal goal for the program is to offer classes, which will allow our youth to discover who they are," Smith said. "Since enrollment is for only four-weeks at a time, I feel that every enrollment for a SKIES class results in success. If a child takes a class and finds a new interest, that's success."
During one of the SKIES classes, chef and instructor Phyllis Bryant, whom her students refer to as 'Miss Phyllis,' showed some second graders how to make tomato vegetable soup and chef salad during the second week of culinary arts classes held Sept. 10, at the installation Child Development Center West, near the Gordon Conference and Catering Center. The 90-minute, four-week class is designed so that participants learn how to prepare a family meal. The class format is the same every month, but different foods are featured.
"This will be the first month that SKIES Unlimited has partnered with the Gordon Club in offering this class," Smith said. "Chef or 'Miss Phyllis' has 37 years of experience in food preparation. She also knows a great deal about children since she has 14 grandchildren and loves to spend time with them."
As Miss Phyllis prepared the soup in the kitchen at CDC West before the children, steam and a wonderful aroma rose from the pot on the stove. Tatiana Mason, Sara Sonnier and AKaela Marshall, each equipped with a butter knife, sliced fresh cucumbers, celery, tomatoes, lettuce, hard boiled eggs and added sliced ham and turkey to a chef salad they each prepared to their own liking. They made enough to eat at the center and some extra to take home to their families to try.
After the soup and salads were made, Miss Phyllis and the girls set the table with a white tablecloth, napkins, dishes and silverware. Miss Phyllis asked the girls a math question: "How many knives, forks and spoons do you think we will need for four people?"
"Four," said Tatiana.
Then Miss Phyllis continued to quiz the children even as they ate the meal they prepared.
Before the girls left with their parents, Miss Phyllis gave the youngsters the recipe for the tomato vegetable soup and sent them home with left over chef salad.
"I plan to make this meal this weekend for my parents," Tatiana said.
Sara's mom, Patricia Sonnier, who works at the Parent Central Services, praised the SKIES program. "My daughter started eating more fresh vegetables because of this class," Patricia Sonnier said. "I plan to sign Sara up for another culinary class in October to learn how to prepare additional dishes."
"Children cannot fail a SKIES class; they can only grow from it," Smith said. "CDC West is a safe haven. We like to encourage that this is family time, as parents and siblings often sit in the cafe area of the kitchen, as the participants in the class prepare the food."
"I have little girls teach their moms how to sew after attending our sewing classes," explained Smith, who is a certified teacher in pre-K through 12th grade in special education. "We also have quite a few military spouses teach classes in the SKIES Unlimited program."
SKIES classes are open to children as young as 3 years old, preteens and teenagers whose sponsors (parents and guardians) are active duty service members and Fort Gordon Department of Defense federal employees, contractors and nonappropriated fund employees.
Children must be registered with the Fort Gordon Child, Youth and School Services to participate in SKIES Unlimited classes. Registration through the installation Parent Central Service is valid for one year and may be used for all CYSS programming, including SKIES classes.
Once registration is completed, enrollment for classes can be completed at any CYSS location, Parental Central Services, or WEBTRAC, at webtrac .mwr.army.mil/webtrac/ gordoncyms.html.
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