FORT SILL, Okla. -- Vacation, summer camp, summer school, and swimming and tennis lessons are all activities that come to mind once school ends, but there are still a lot of hours and opportunities for families to interact and become closer during those two summer months. How do you fill that time?
Well, 97 Soldiers and family members learned new ways to bond and interact with each other and build resiliency in the process Saturday at the Resiliency Center Training Support Campus.
The 214th Fires Brigade and the Fort Sill Family Advocacy program partnered together to present "Cherish the Gift of Summer," an FAP wellness program, that offered participants different options for spending time this summer. Participants learned the basics of budgeting, gardening, camping, family fitness, as well as geo-caching, a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geo-caches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online.
"The military lifestyle is not an easy one, and every day, whether you're in the military or love someone who is in the military, there are challenges we face and choices we have to make about handling those challenges," said Lisa Jansen-Rees, the Fort Sill Family Advocacy Program manager.
"This event gives families the ability to look at the upcoming summer vacation as an opportunity to connect as a family in a positive way. Sharing experiences with each other will build stronger relationships," said Col. Mike Cabrey, the 214th Fires Brigade commander. "There is no set of instructions that comes with a family. You grow and develop over time. No cookie cutter approach exists for a successful family, but exposure to these programs gives a family options to chose what will work best for them.
"I would highly recommend this to all military families. If you are just starting a family, or you just want to find something new to build the family bonds stronger, Cherish the Gift offers all the assistance and advice a family could use," said Cabrey.
The goal of the program, and classes like these, are to give people as much information as possible to increase their own coping mechanisms and to make choices which have positive consequences, said Jansen-Rees.
"This was a great opportunity for families to learn different ways to interact with each other," said Elizabeth Knight, the 214th FiB Family Readiness support assistant. "It teaches prevention skills so people can be prepared for life's challenges and in turn makes them more resilient when those challenges occur."
For the participants, skills were learned that were never thought of.
Planning a vacation to Colorado in October, Spc. Johnny Wyatt said the budgeting for a vacation class provided him with more insight into budgeting like sitting down and writing out financial plans.
"Writing down financial goals- I do it in my mind, but I never thought to write it down," said one participant.
For preteens Madeline Muse, 10, and Niq Jones, 11, the budgeting class for teenagers provided them an opportunity to start planning ahead.
"They did a really great job," said Jones. "Now I know what I need to know and how to save my money. I know to put half of my money in the bank."
"I would like to have longer classes to learn more," he said. "There are many teenagers that struggle with jobs.
"This is the best thing I could have gone to," he concluded.
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