Christina Plumley, 14, left, Joshua Horne, 14, center, and Colin Razinha, 16, use a computer program Tuesday to control a small robot connected to the computer. They were among 15 students from U.S. military bases in South Korea who attended a Youth Leadership Forum. (Teri Weaver / S&S)
YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Fifteen teens spent their last week of freedom this summer waking up early, completing assignments, writing essays and exercising.
But the work for this year’s Youth Leadership Forum veered a little off course from regular classroom assignments. Instead, the teens bought and prepared care packages for troops in Iraq, built and programmed robots and, for exercise, went to a water park.
The forum is sponsored by Morale, Welfare and Recreation and invites students from eighth to 10th grades to spend a week at Yongsan Garrison doing scientific, civic and fun projects, according to Heidi Lee Haugen, a youth development and technology specialist who runs the Army’s 4-H program in South Korea.
Colin Razinha, 16, and Joshua Horne, 14, said a favorite part of their week was building their robot. They worked in a team with Christina Plumley, 14, to make the two-wheeled machine roll across the table and say hello to another student.
“It’s been fun, really neat,” said Joshua, a student at Seoul American High School.
The teens came from U.S. military bases throughout South Korea, including Yongsan Garrison, Osan Air Base, Camp Walker and Chinhae Naval Base, Haugen said.
The teens also shopped for care-package items for medical units stationed in Iraq. They got $325 to spend on each unit, and they spent part of Aug. 21 shopping at the Post Exchange store on Yongsan.
Christina, who goes to Taegu American High School, quickly rattled off her shopping list. “Food, games, candy, baby wipes, lots of hand sanitizer.”
During the five-day forum, the teens also used a global positioning system to participate in a scavenger hunt and brainstormed a list of on-base improvements, Haugen said.
Some of the suggestions included adding more teen clothing selections at on-base stores, offering more nutritional options during school lunches and attracting more college scouts to sporting events. The suggestions will be passed on to Army Community Services.
