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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.
The purpose of teaching the cadre and staff this curriculum 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.
"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.
"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."
The cadets in the youth challenge program 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.
"As cadre, you influence the community," said Jones. "Each student represents a family with different cultures, beliefs and struggles."
The curriculum focuses 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.
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 purpose of this training was not just to train the staff but to create a positive environment and set the tone for the cadets to receive and embody the training.
"I think they [the cadets] would see stuff from a different perspective," said a cadre member. "All they know is what they have been taught. They are still stuck in survival mode."
The cadets have taken the first step in trying not to become a product of their environment by enrolling in this voluntary program.
"Somewhere there is a balance between discipline and survival mode," said Jones. "All I can do is set the conditions but they have a choice."
These techniques could help modify the staff and cadre's perspectives and allow them to realize that each child is unique and comes from different lifestyles; but the real test is setting the example and getting the students to buy into the lessons the program offers.
"It will help the students; it will help the teachers; and it will help the cadre, said the teacher. "But as in any organization, our biggest challenge is coming together as one nucleus."
Jones recognized that his organization, the 18th MEDCOM (DS), is just as committed to the success of the children within the community and this 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. Because of their support and partnership, I was able to volunteer to give this program the training they desired in order to empower their employees and cadets.
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