THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020479
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JASON HIDALGO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Leshen Green is having a summer experience unlike that of most kids.
In one day alone, the 11-year-old girl from Norfolk saw how towering fires and gushing leaks inside submarines are contained, and she even got to drive a sub - well, sort of.
At 10 a.m. Tuesday, Green sent 19 other girls shrieking and screaming as they hung on for dear life inside a Navy submarine simulator. The sub performed steep dives and ascents, compliments of Green's somewhat aggressive steering.
``It was dizzying,'' Green said.
The submarine exercise is just one of several activities in Norfolk Naval Base's summer youth program, ``Yes We Can.'' The program's second session, from July 29 to August 4, is composed of an all-girl audience. An earlier session, held the week of June 30, was attended by 33 boys.
The children are selected by the agencies that co-sponsor the youth camp - the Navy, the Norfolk Parks and Recreation Department, the Urban League of Hampton Roads, NAACP, Baby Steps Inc., PACE in Norfolk, Hunton YMCA and the United Way.
``What we've done is provide facilities where people can come and hold their workshops,'' said Cmdr. Don Flowers, Navy coordinator for the program. ``We want to provide kids with an environment that's conducive to learning.''
The program has nothing to do with possible Navy recruitment, Flowers said. Instead, it aims to make the kids think about what they want to do in the future.
Having the program in the naval base helps, Flowers said, because it has several facilities for fields such as meteorology, electronics and avionics - fields that also happen to have commercial applications.
``We just want to provide them the opportunity to see other things that might spark their interest,'' Flowers said.
In addition to showing kids the facilities, the program also includes workshops for goal-setting, health and hygiene and how to win scholarships, to emphasize the importance of staying in school.
The children, whose ages range from 11 to 15, said they already knew the part about school.
``If you don't go to school, you don't get a job,'' Green said.
Ursula Lincoln, 12, of Virginia Beach, said staying in school is one of the biggest challenges kids face.
``It's hard,'' Lincoln said. ``My friends tell me it gets easier after the seventh grade, so I guess I shouldn't worry as much.''
But serious goal setting and career planning aren't the only things on the kids' minds.
``I had fun going on board the big ships,'' Greene said. ``My friends and I walked up and down and sometimes, we'd get confused.''
The girls have several opportunities to make new friends. They stay on the base for one week, sleeping in the barracks during the evenings.
``The kids develop self-esteem and self-motivation,'' said Allen Young, one of the program's counselors. ``But you also have kids in a different setting, with people they've never met before.''
``We hope that this teaches them how to bond and work with other people.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
At the helm of a submarine simulator, Tiffany Epps, 13, sends
Lizette Wright, 11, center, and Ursula Lincoln, 12, scrambling with
a sharp turn.
by CNB