I'm posting this kinda late for New Year's wishes, but none the less, I hope your year has started off with a bang. There is much to write about, but I know how hard it is for some of our young people to stay focused on reading. Ha ha. (Did I really just "laugh" in my blog?)
Most of the northern part of the great state of Mississippi have received some snow earlier in the month, and many missed school, as well as some Independent Living Skills Groups. Snow is something that is rarely seen in Mississippi, especially enough to make the schools close for a day or two. I wish these groups could have been rescheduled, but because of a limited number of days in each month and the load of groups already scheduled, it has not been possible. I realize that this knocks out 1 of the required 8 groups to complete the Abstinence Education section we are covering at this time. The "think tanks" are in operation to figure out how we can make up any missed groups. Unforeseen also was an SCSCY Agency Training that is scheduled for the month of February, as well as a holiday. This will limit the Calhoun, Tishomingo, and Union County groups to only one group during this month. I want to thank all of the youth who have come out for Independent Living so far this year, as well as thank the social workers for their efforts on getting the youth to group.
We held a retreat in month of December at Lake Tiak O'Khata Resort. By resort, it's not what most would think of as a vacation resort, but more of a state park-type facility that is privately owned and operated. It was beautiful none the less, even in December. We had forty youth participate in this Independent Living Retreat for 14-15 year olds. There were 16 females youth and 24 males. There were six SCSCY and DFCS staff facilitating, as well as some help from our Independent Living Staff from the State Office, Mario, Ashley, and Bobbye. Activities were centered around a holiday theme, as well as a visit from our special guest the "Just Wait" crew. They came and spoke to the youth about abstinence and healthy relationship education. We also had quite a nice "bonfire" with the roasting of hot dogs and smores. I will have to say, the biggest hit was the food. Lake Tiak O'Khata provides its guest with a buffet for all of its meals. This southern smorgasbord included a weekly seafood buffet on Friday night, which really can't be considered from the "sea", but more likely from our great state's fresh water lakes and catfish ponds. I even arrived early on Friday to get an "extra" meal in, and had lunch in front of a roaring fire place, filling my overstuffed belly with delicious peach cobbler. I have yet to post any pictures from that retreat, but will do so very soon.
The next Independent Living Retreat is scheduled for February the 5th and 6th at Paul B. Johnson State Park in Hattiesburg, MS. It is another one of our favorite retreat locations in southern Mississippi. We are expecting 40 youth to attend this retreat that is set for 16-20 year old foster youth. It will be our only weekend retreat for this age group. The next opportunity they will have to get together will be in June at the annual Youth Conference scheduled to be held at the University of Mississippi, or as some say "the school up north". I will post more on the upcoming youth conference in a later blog. If you have youth who want to go to this retreat in February, you better get to steppin'. Spots look to be filled fast, with this being the only weekend retreat for this age group.
We will continue with Abstinence and Healthy Relationship Education at least through the month of April. Our curriculum is titled Choosing the Best Journey, and seems to be taken well by the youth so far. I hope to see all our youth in groups the following months. Thanks for all your cooperation in making our Independent Living Program such a success.
