Youth Center hosts first-ever woodworking camp

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Janelle Patiño
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The Fairchild Youth Center hosted its first ever week-long woodworking camp Aug. 7-11, giving military kids the opportunity to work on projects with help from the Fairchild Wood Craft Center.

The camp welcomed Team Fairchild’s younger family members between the ages of 11 to 18 years old.

The Youth Center’s mission is to provide recreational outlets for military children. The woodworking camp is a new event the program put on this year.

“The Air Force makes some funding available to Youth Programs typically every summer so we can conduct local camps and run activities for kids to augment their summer,” said John Smith, 92nd Force Support Squadron Youth Programs director. “The goal is to offer the community opportunities for kids that may not be otherwise available.”

Anybody who has base access can join; whether it’s a civilian dependent, active duty, reservist or guardsman.

“The classes offered to kids are similar to the adult classes, where they make wood pens and cutting boards,” Smith said. “They made pens on the first day of camp and then worked on cutting boards the rest of the week. It’s a success on our part when we can offer these kind of classes to kids.”

These classes had a maximum of seven participants. The Youth Center partnered with the Wood Craft Center to host a total of two, week-long woodworking camps.

“The best part of the camp was the enthusiasm of the group,” said Kevin Watt, 92nd FSS Wood Craft Center manager. “This is the first time we’ve tried something like this with this age group and I think we learned some things that will help us to improve the services we offer moving forward."

The hope is that children will encourage their parents to take classes and utilize the center. I want the children themselves to want to explore more woodworking opportunities as they continue to grow, Watt added

For more information about Youth Center events, call (509) 247-5601.