Beyond the yellow ribbon
Minnesota Military Teen Panel 
Quarterly News  

 

 

 

Summer 2012 

 

In This Issue
Greetings!
Brainerd Military Group
Teen Opportunities
Being a military teen
Join Our Mailing List

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Want to join the Minnesota Military Teen Panel?

Contact the Youth

Programs Coordinator,

Laura Groeneweg 

612-327- 4730

or email

 

Contact the Minnesota Operation: Military Kids Program Specialist,

Amber Runke

612-624-8198

or email

 

Or, find information about the Teen Panel here

 

We're on Facebook!

Be sure to visit the Minnesota Military Teen Panel on Facebook!

Teen Spotlight
Megan Schmidt
Military Teen Panel

Military Affiliation

Megan's dad is a staff sergeant in the Army Reserve who just recently returned from his second deployment in Afghanistan.

 

Why She Joined the Teen Panel

Megan saw the Teen Panel as a great opportunity for many things, such as being a voice for other teens, doing community service projects and including the group affiliation on her resume.

 

Other Interests

Megan likes to play soccer, draw, listen to music and ski.

 

Megan's Unique Attribute

She loves the mountains and all the wildlife in Alaska and someday hopes to attend college there to become a veterinarian.

Dario Orr
Military Teen Panel

Military Affiliation

Dario's dad is in the Minnesota National Guard and drills in Rosemount. His dad joined when he was 18 years old and is in a line of many generations of ancestors being in the military.

 

Why He Joined the Teen Panel

Dario joined because he wanted to do more for his community and for kids and teens who have a parent in the military. He relates to other military youth because his dad has been to Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

Besides his friends and family, nobody helped Dario during times of deployment. There weren't any groups that helped military kids, so he felt stranded with no extra help from organizations.

 

Other Interests

Dario is interested in sports, card games, reading and electronics. He plays hockey, golf, baseball and soccer. Dario's favorite card game is speed, and his favorite books are "The Hunger Games" series.

 

Dario's Unique Attribute

He is very good at math, science and social studies. While the easiest subject for Dario is science, his favorite is social studies.

Teen Events
Laketrails at night
Youth Camps

We're gearing up for summer, and with summer comes camps and retreats for military kids!

 

We hope you take advantage of one of these great events. All registration forms can be found by clicking here.

2012 Summit

"Price of Peace"

When: June 24-26, 2012

Where: Holiday Inn, St. Cloud

About: Military teens make a lot of sacrifices when their loved ones are deployed, so that's the price of peace. The Minnesota Military Teen Panel invites teens ages 13-18 years old to take a break and have some fun by attending leadership workshops and connecting with other military teens.

More Info: Website

Youth Speaking

Speak Out for Military Kids Retreat

When: July 22-24. 2012

Where: Radisson Hotel, Bloomington

About: For military youth that have completed grades 6-11, this weekend retreat is designed to help youth meet other young people and help tell others about what military families go through during mobilization and deployment. Youth will learn about technology to help tell the family story and spend time at the waterpark!

More Info: Website

OMK Camp

When: Aug. 12-16, 2012

Where: Camp Voyageur, Mound

About: Operation: Military Kids invites military youth ages 8-14 to this four-night, five-day camp. The camp includes canoeing, kayaking, archery, arts and crafts, nature study, waterfront activities and much more. The $15 camp fee can be waived upon request.

More Info: Website

Teen Panel at national 4-H conference

In March, Kiana Kelii attended the National 4-H conference as a representative of the Minnesota Military Teen Panel. Kiana was accepted to become part of the National Guard Teen Panel in January and she now represents region 5.

 

At the 4-H conference, five teens were asked to attend. There were several different focus groups that the 4-H conference consisted of. A few, for example, were America's Next Scientist, Department of Agriculture and Integration of Military Families and Veterans. Kiana was part of the Integration of Military Families and Veterans, or IMFV. She was the only National Guard teen who was in this group and was able to help 10 other 4-H members understand what being in a military family is like.

 

Over the week, the teens put a presentation together to present to the Board of Directors of the Yellow Ribbon Program at the Pentagon! The IMFV group also had a surprise visit from a very special guest - Mrs. Biden! Biden spent a morning giving a speech at the conference and then allowed the IMFV group to have a one-on-one session with her - an amazing experience for Kiana!

Brainerd school starts military group

In February of 2012, my school started a group for military teens. I've always known that there were people in my grade that have a loved one in the military, but I didn't know all of them.

 

Throughout the last few weeks, our group leader, Ashley Rutman, has been so amazing running the group, especially because she doesn't know very much about a military teen's life. 

 

The military group has taught me that there are many teens in the same position as me. I hope this group continues next year, so we continue to grow closer because of our similarities!

 

- Written by Alivia Rardin, Minnesota Military Teen Panel

 

 

Recently at Brainerd High School a new program was developed for military teens. The group currently consists of six teens with a loved one in the military and our group leader, Mrs. Rutman.

 

Ashley Rutman is currently working on an internship so she can become a counselor. She decided to become a counselor because she loves working with people. She's a really amazing person and she helps us through a lot of our problems. Even though she doesn't know what it's like to have a loved one in the military, she still understands.

 

I love being in the military group because it lets me know that I'm not alone and people know what I'm going through. Throughout the last few months I have grown closer to the people in my school who are in the same position as me. In my opinion, every high school should make awareness for the military teens in their school.

 

- Written by Eden Powers, Minnesota Military Teen Panel

Teen Opportunities

Fill out an application today to be part of the MN Military Teen Panel, applications due July 3, 2012.

What is the MN Military Teen Panel, MMTP, and how do I sign up? The MMTP is a group of teens who want to be a voice for other military connected teens throughout the state. The teens are able to share their ideas and opinions about what teens want and be included in the decision making process.  Some of the responsibilities of being on the teen panel include participating in community service projects as a group and on your own, planning, organizing, and implementing the Teen Summit and attending four meetings per year along with monthly conference calls.  The teens also gain life skills by being part of the Teen Panel. There are topics covered at meeting such as financial literacy, learning different personalities, communication, resume building, and more.  Teens who are eligible to apply must be 13-17, have a parent in the military, and interested in being a leader in the community.

 

To sign up go to: www.beyondtheyellowribbon.org and download your application and send to [email protected].

What is it like to be a military teen?

Being a military teen is many things.

 

When your parent is deployed, you have to help do the chores around the house. If you have younger siblings, you might have to be responsible for them, too. You might have to learn how to cook, drive, clean and do yardwork.

 

There is also an emotional side to being a military teen. When you don't talk to your mom or dad for a long time, even if you email every day, you will still miss them a lot. It does, however, improve your relationship with your parent at home. You realize how much they mean to you, and how much you love them. It is also challenging when your friends talk about what they did with their mom and dad over the weekend, and you don't even know where your mom or dad is.

 

But being a military teen is also really cool! You know that your mom or dad is doing something important for our country. You also get to mee new people at Family Readiness Groups and other military groups and camps.

 

- Written by Claire Zenzen, Minnesota Military Teen Panel

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