MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Approximately 100 students gathered outside Matthew C. Perry High School here Saturday as they prepared to board a bus that would take them to Hachagamine Park for a leadership retreat.
The Youth and Teen Center, adolescent substance abuse counselor and Marine Memorial Chapel provided this opportunity to teens from 7th through 12th grade.
Marines and sailors from Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 and Combat Logistics Company 36 also volunteered for the event to act as mentors for the students and to make sure that the correct safety precautions were taken.
“Today we’re working with our Marine Corps teen center along with the high school and our ASACs counselor to bring together our kids and give them a healthy alternative to teach them the skills necessary to say no and make some wise decisions,” said Morgan Nugent, the M.C. Perry High School Principal.
The day consisted of an obstacle course that students went through in teams of about six or seven. Each team also had at least two Marines or sailors.
The course was a timed event. Each team raced to the obstacles trying to get through each one as quickly as possible.
It may have seemed pretty easy the first time around, but there was a catch.
“The second time we had to do it with an injured person,” said Staff Sgt. Nanddy Hernandez, a volunteer for the event. “They had a broken arm, and it required a little bit more team work than the first time when we were just going through the course.”
Each group did whatever they could to get their injured member through the course and made sure they finished each obstacle as a team.
“Right now the kids have the opportunity to learn a lot of leadership skills, teamwork, cooperation and also motivation,” said Nugent. “Anything we do within our lives we have to have all those parts of it. Individuals who are not motivated and don’t know how to work together are going to struggle in their lives in every form and fashion.”
Teams rushed through the last portion of the course, pushing to make it through with the fastest time.
Students leapfrogged over logs, walked across a balance beam with their wounded team member on their shoulders, raced through the last few obstacles and sprinted to the finish line.
“We’re trying to teach these kids that you have to be a good follower to be a good leader, and a good follower can also take over leadership at any time,” said Midge White, the ASACs counselor for the school. “Once they learn these valuable lessons, they will be able to stand up for themselves and say no when someone offers them drugs or alcohol.”
After the event finished, students expressed that they learned a lot from the experience.
“I was extremely proud of my team for helping out our wounded person and really working as a team,” said Aramis Alexander, a seventh grader at M.C. Perry. “I think that’s probably what helped us get through so quickly.”
Marines and sailors also expressed that the students did a great job and worked together to solve each problem.
“They were so eager to want to work it out on their own and to come up with their own solution to things that I really didn’t have to do a whole lot,” said Hernandez.
After discussing how they performed throughout the course, the students were dismissed to enjoy the rest of their day at the park.