~~Funding year 2016-2017 of the Kentucky Military Teen Adventure Camps (MTAC) has been yet another success! With a total of 9 camps from April 2016- August 2017.  The funding year end was originally going to be April of 2017, but FCS Extension via Kerri Ashurst and Tyrone Atkinson were able to secure an additional funding extension to go through the summer into August.  

Families including service members or spouses along with their teenage children were able to go high adventure trips such as whitewater rafting and canoeing, wilderness survival, Adventure Extreme Quests and much more.  This program has developed into an efficient and beloved program by all family members and  the staff who facilitate it. Some of the common themes from camp pre/post test show that parents think their kids thoroughly enjoyed being at camp as well as benefited from meeting and connecting with other military youth for their children.

In addition, the bonding time between the the parents and youth heavily increased since most technology (didn’t work at camp sites) and interruptions were minimal and that helped to maximize relationship building time.  It was also a common theme to see having that connection time with children meant a lot to the parents.

Participant quotes from camp

“My daughter was on her phone/social media very little this weekend, and I loved seeing her interact with other youth.”

“The best part of attending MTAC was just to spend quality time with my daughter, also being able to watch her accomplish difficult tasks with little to no stress.”

“MTAC helped remove barriers for my teen and helped with relating experiences to others military teens.  This camp also provided boost in confidence in overcoming fears (heights with regards to ropes course) ability to face challenges and overcome them.”

Kentucky MTAC served and supported over 200 youth and adults through 9 camps in funding year April 2016- August 2017.

Military Teen Adventure Camp Opportunities are the result of a partnership funded by the Department of Defense between the Office of Military Community and Family Policy and the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture through a grant/cooperative agreement with Purdue University. Funding made available via award numbers 2012-48756-20192 and 2012-48703-20123.