We survived an action filled summer. The Tribal youth will be attending an end of year trip to Arlington, Texas where they visit Six Flags over Texas and Hurricane Harbor. They’ll also take a tour of the Dallas Cowboys football
facilities.
With summer ending and school beginning though, it’s down to business.
To get the school year off right, each Tribal youth will meet with our staff to put together a game plan for academic and personal success.Called “My Success Plan,” it will help the youth identify their needs from staff and set some long term goals. It’s based off a three part focus:
- Intellectual and academics
- Social and emotional
- Physical and health
One of the new aspects of the FireLodge program is that Tribal youth will be asked to step up more in helping in their communities. Community service hours have increased to 40 hours, where as last year it was only 20.
The Tribal youth start their community service hours by working the FireLake Arena Championship Boxing show by helping usher and keeping the arena clean. Each month there is an opportunity to earn community service points for the youth. They will also join up with the local Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club and The Oklahoma Department of Human Services to help assemble back-to-school backpacks for other students in need this year.
Our Tribal youth young ladies held a cheer camp, which was a big success, each camper was taught several cheers and a dance. We’ll also be hosting a Back-to- School Bash, which involves a number of games and activities, including the ever popular extreme inflatables, free food and refreshments. If you would like to learn more about FireLodge Tribal Youth Program or the P.L.A.C.E., please contact me at dgreene@potawatomi.org.