Submit your artwork in the comments or email directly at [email protected] to be featured in next month's newsletter!  The Georgia National Guard Youth Teen Panel and Keystone Club attended the 2025 Let's Connect Summit, hosted by Kennesaw State University and the Georgia Department of Veterans Service, which was held at the Savannah Convention Center in downtown Savannah, Georgia. The summit serves to unite military service members, veterans, their families (SMVF), and mental health professionals to raise awareness about suicide prevention and bullying. The summit also doubled as a quarterly State Youth Council in-person session.
Day one included a variety of sessions including: An Introduction to the 'Spoken Word', Dealing with Small Group Dynamics, Navigating High School with Mentors, Signs and Youth Statistics, and finished with an Amazing Race scavenger hunt in downtown Savannah.
'Day two included sessions with the Parker Gordon Fox Foundation, 'Ending the Silence for Youth' Presentation, MRT Trainings on Emotion Management, and a visit to the Telfair Museum where participants were given a private tour before taking a clay pottery class.
Day three began with a session on Navigating College and Mental Wellness before youth participants prepared to present their Keystone National Project on bullying. The National Project combined arts and crafts and the spoken word to help Youth members express how bullying has impacted them based on the feelings movie 'Inside Out'. Each member presented a mask... the outside, what people see; the inside, their internal reality. Each youth participant 'spoke' to more than 50 audience members about their feelings on mental health and bullying and how they hope to positively impact other youth in their community.
To close out the conference, Youth Program Director Mark Richards was able to present the 2025 Month of the Military Child Painting (painted by various military children across the state of GA) to Patricia Ross, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service, to be placed in a Veteran Hospital in the state of Georgia.
Event Slide Show Operation Home Front, Sysco Foods, and Georgia Military Family Readiness Specialists teamed up to bring Holiday Meals to qualified Military personnel in Regions 7 & 8 of the state. Staff and volunteers hosted the Holiday Meal Event at Oglethorpe Armory in Ellenwood, GA from 10am – 1pm on Saturday, November 23rd. Participants were able to ‘drive-through’ multiple stations to get everything they needed to host a holiday dinner. Sponsors included Sysco Foods, who donated over 100 turkeys, Proctor and Gamble, Goldyn Networks, The VFW, Boys Scouts, and the National Charity League. Operation Home Front, Carnival Cruise Lines, Sysco, and the VFW also boasted over 35 volunteers for the event. Staff members on site from the Family Programs Branch included Military Family Readiness Specialists, Youth Programs, Work for Warriors, Transition Assistance, and Military One Source.  The Georgia National Guard Youth Program held the yearly State Youth Symposium at the Jekyll Island 4H Center right on the North Atlantic Ocean's coast in Jekyll Island, GA.
Over 40 participants enjoyed activities like enjoying the Splash in the Boro Waterpark and doing a "Beach Ecology" session with 4H on the coast. This year's beach task included participants building the highest and most sturdy sand-dunes before the high tide came in wash them out. The team with the most sturdy dune won.
The Symposium was filled with classes and workshops including topics like Budgeting, Leadership & MRT Trainings, Social Media, Goal Setting, and Healthy Eating. "Say it With Music" hosted the Keynote Speaker Session which was informative and also included a fun team competition for both youth and adults.
Our evenings ended with group networking and discussions surrounding current issues, and, future events and activities for our State Youth Council teen panel. |
MissionThe mission of Georgia National Guard State Youth Program is to prepare Georgia #MilKids for success in a dynamic global society by providing leadership responsive to the unique needs of our military youth. Archives
June 2026
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