A group of concerned adult leaders within the Polk County community in Florida saw a need to offer youth an alternative activity that would encourage them to excel in all areas of their lives.
Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion helps youth by providing:
Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion - Polk County, Florida, United States
Assess: Youth is the barometer of the health of a community and youth determines the success of a community in the future. With this in mind, a dedicated group of adult leaders formed a working team in conjunction with the United States Sea Cadet Corps, where a safe and drug-free environment could be created to bring in youth of the community to teach them life leadership skills. Believing that instruction is best instilled and learned by actively doing, Seabee Battalion Community Leadership Program seeks to provide youth community service opportunities.
Plan: The mission of the Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion is to provide youth of Polk County, Florida a drug-free environment where they can learn life leadership skills and at the same time help their community.
Leaders from the Battalion regularly coordinate with community service project leaders to determine where the cadets can help, and then carefully evaluate which projects will be most effective. The objective is to first teach cadets leadership skills and then provide opportunities to develop these skills while strengthening the community.
Act:
Cadets with Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion work with several local community leaders on projects such as feeding the hungry, packing care boxes for the troops, and helping with Habitat for Humanity. The cadets also provide color guards and honor guards for community events on a regular basis.
Evaluate: With any project or program, it is essential that efforts be tracked to best see what works and what does not. The Battalion feels that communication is the key, both with adult leadership and with youth cadets. The MSB Staff meets regularly to discuss potential community projects, the impact of such efforts, and make decisions on which projects to accept.
Projects are chosen based on criteria such as the following:
At the conclusion of each project, event, or training, the MSB staff discusses the strengths and weaknesses, and ways to improve or adapt the project in the future.
Sustain: The Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion began in 2008 and now has over thirty dedicated cadets who are actively involved and fifteen adult leaders from diverse backgrounds who share a committed attitude to the cadets.
The Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion is one of the fastest growing Sea Cadet Youth units in the nation as recognized by National Headquarters, and cadets are added on a monthly basis to the program. Information about the program is available through several mediums, including the Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion website, their Facebook Page, and word of mouth in the Polk County, Florida community.
A good measure of the success of the USNSCC Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion’s efforts is the number of community efforts that they have been involved in. For instance, the youth of the MSB have been actively involved with Habitat for Humanity, where they assisted with the general construction of homes for less unfortunate families that would otherwise be homeless.
The impact of their work is also apparent when the cadets are personally thanked by the recipients of the home that they were working on. As one of the cadets stated, “It makes me feel so good about myself to know that I am helping others.”
Additionally, Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion has had recognition from local community newspapers, other media publications, and television. Local public television and other reporters have spoken to the cadets about what they are doing within the community and the impact they are having. The United States Sea Cadet Corps Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion is an established youth program with proven results.
Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion Website: http://www.wix.com/nsccwebsites/msb
Marvin Shields Seabee Battalion on Facebook
