WINK helps kids in military moves

  • Published
  • By John Parker
  • 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

If you’re a military family moving to Tinker Air Force Base or saying goodbye for a new adventure elsewhere, it’s a good idea to think about WINK for your kids.

The Tinker Youth Center’s Welcoming In New Kids program helps to ease the transition for children 6 to 18 years old by pairing them with a pen pal/email buddy of or around their age. With lots of permanent changes of station taking place during the summer, it’s a good time to take advantage of it.

The parent of a child who will be moving to Tinker, for example, can go to the Tinker Living website to fill out a WINK form that asks about hobbies, favorite sports and other interests. Youth Center staff will find an appropriate youth volunteer to write the newcomer and tell them all about Tinker and the surrounding area.

It also works the other way around for kids leaving Tinker for another military base of any service branch.

“We can contact any base’s youth center and find them someone to talk to about where they’re going,” said Janice Dojcak, teen coordinator with Tinker AFB Youth Programs. “The advantage for the youth is to have a sponsor and a friend – someone they’ve already talked to, someone who knows that they’re coming – and they’re not just walking into a new place not knowing anyone.”

Athough many youth can use search engines and social media sites to interact with others, WINK is a safer alternative in an online world where anyone can pose as someone they’re not. Youth center professionals know and vet both of the kids involved in the correspondence.

The Tinker Youth Center typically selects teen and preteen leaders to pair up with incoming kids – youths who know all the options and activities available for young people on and off base, Dojcak said.

The program also helps Tinker Youth Center staff and their counterparts on other bases. Dojcak said one child who moved to Tinker had disabilities and WINK allowed them to understand more about his needs.

“We will know that they’re coming, know to look out for them and whether they are going to need special help,” Dojcak said. “When this youth came in, we knew all about him.”

The program also helps parents know ahead of time what each base offers. Program Coordinator Melissa Benson and her family have lived at Navy, Army and Air Force bases. Youth support programs can vary in a number of ways, including having separate programs in different buildings, what ages children must be to enjoy services, and more.

“Every military facility is different and so are the differences between branches of service,” Benson said.