SOMK is a community service opportunity for OMK State Teams to train military and non-military youth to establish Speakers Bureaus to advocate for military-connected youth affected by deployment.

The expected outcomes for SOMK are:

• Raise community awareness of issues faced by geographically dispersed military children and youth
  
  
• Foster community support for the sacrifices military Families make
  
  
• Youth acquire knowledge and skills in developing creative and informative presentations using a variety of different media
  
  
• Youth gain leadership, research, organization,& public speaking skills

One of the issues facing military youth and families is the lack of community awareness of the unique stressors and challenges they face during times of conflict and war. This lack of understanding by the general public can make military youth feel isolated and misunderstood.

Speak Out for Military Kids (SOMK) is an educational program designed to raise the awareness of issues facing military families. Through youth-led simulations, interviews, and research participants find out first hand what military families go through. Based on their experiences, SOMK participants become members of speakers' bureaus and develop lectures, public service announcements, videos, and other materials to share their experiences with others in the community. In addition to building public awareness about issues facing military families during mobilization and deployment, SOMK provides its youth participants with the opportunity to gain valuable leadership, research, organization, technology, and public speaking skills.

To view the Speak Out for Military Kids presentations, click on a link below:
*Best viewed with MS Powerpoint 2003 or later*

• Aliamanu Boys & Girls Club

• AMR Teen Center

• Wahiawa Boys & Girls Club

• Schofield Teen Center

*Note* Some of the presentations require fonts which may not be present on your system.
To install these fonts, click on the links below and save the fonts to the C:\Windows\Fonts\
folder on your PC or the /Library/Fonts/ folder on your Mac.

Batavia.ttf
Trendy.ttf