96 take part in Military Day

A total of 96 children took part in the Military Day of the weeklong Army Enrichment Camp held Wednesday at Marianas Trekking.

Coordinator Tara Dixon, of the Army Reserve Child & Youth School Service, said this was the third time they held the Army Enrichment Camp on Saipan.

This week, however, was particularly special because their activities were devoted to children of servicemen and servicewomen or what they call “military youth.”

“Ten soldiers volunteered their time today and ran various activities with the kids to help them with a better understanding of what their mom or dad does in the military,” said Dixon.

Among the Military Day activities they undertook include camouflage face-painting, tasting Meal Ready to Eat or MREs, obstacles course and relays, and learning cadence or marching with military songs.

“The camp does a great job in keeping the kids busy. The counselors are really friendly and social with the kids. We had a lot of activities and a lot of fun time,” she said.

U.S. Army Sgt. Jonas Barcinas, of Echo Company 100 Battalion, for his part, said he and his men were more than happy to volunteer their free time for the Army Enrichment Camp, especially on Military Day.

“The kids are happy to have this type of activities working with professional individuals as well as volunteers. We come here and volunteer our time to create some activities with them and enjoy and have fun physically and mentally,” he said.

Barcinas, who is also the principal of Hopwood Junior High School, said he hopes Army Enrichment Camp expands from a summer-time activity to a year-round program.

“It’s an enrichment program to engage our kids to be involved with different activities and socialize with the other kids. Hopefully they can build a stronger program not only for the summer but throughout the year for kids because sometimes they have parents who are being deployed and they don’t know who to turn to. They have their mother, father, uncle deployed in the military,” he said.

The Army Reserve Enrichment Camp is a one-week day camp for Army Reserve youth ages 4-12. The camp is available to dependents and extended family of an Army Reserve soldiers.

The camp is an excellent opportunity for children to have fun, make new friends while learning important life skills. The camp includes, among other activities, swimming lessons, go karts, kayaking, snorkeling, volleyball, mountain biking, movie-making, horseback riding, ocean safety, golf, field trips, and arts and crafts.