2013 Dodea's The Chat Room with Guest Debbie Fink

[ Music ] Frank O'Gara: Author Debbie Fink discusses her recent USO tour and her work with military CHAMPS coming up next in "The Chat Room". [ Music ] Welcome to "The Chat Room". I'm your host, Frank O'Gara, and joining me today is author, educator, and performer Debbie Fink, who's written numerous books and scripts. She has entered over 50,000 people in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East and has recently returned from a USO tour in the Pacific working with our DoDEA students and communities on coping skills to help them better face their respective challenges. Debbie lives in Bethesda, Maryland and holds a master's degree in child protection and a bachelor's degree in psychology. Welcome to "The Chat Room", Debbie - Debbie Fink: Thank you, Frank. I'm thrilled to be here with you - Frank O'Gara: Well, it's absolutely our pleasure, and we have gotten some great reviews from the field. You were very well received there by our teachers and our students, and right up front, I want to tell you that I'm really grateful for the work that you've done with our schools - Debbie Fink: Well, thank you. I am grateful to have had this opportunity to meet your students and your educators over in the Pacific. It was a phenomenal experience - Frank O'Gara: Well, let's talk about what you did there, and, of course, it all centers around the book, "The Little CHAMPS". OK. So what's in a name? Tell me about "The Little CHAMPS". Tell me about the book. Debbie Fink: Oh, Frank, there's so much in a name, right. So the name of the book is "The Little CHAMPS. CHAMPS is an acronym that we coined that stands for Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel. All the kinds of learned the signing. The original title was "The Little Brats", and there was, the people in the military world either loved it or hated it, and the response was visceral. So we needed to find a new proper noun for these CHAMPS that would not only speak to who they are, but in the military world, but when they ventured out into the civilian world that it was a point of pride and honor to say I'm a CHAMP. Brats, by the way, is also an acronym - Frank O'Gara: Absolutely. You know, we're very familiar with it - Debbie Fink: Yeah - Frank O'Gara: So how did you do that research to switch the acronym, then, the name - Debbie Fink: Well, we, my co-author and I, my co-author is Jan Fink and daughter. We just struggled with it. We really had to think outside the box, and eventually, finally the epiphany came, and folks love it. So it was really just one of those, I would come back and say what the little patriots. What about the little heroes? What about the little, and nothing quite nailed it, but when we coined this, it was, like, ah, that's it. Frank O'Gara: Now, I've heard from the field, OK, that you had a very interesting way of giving a short summary before the, before each student body that you entertained out there of the book. I think it was a summary in 25 seconds. Do, can you do that summary for us - Debbie Fink: Well, sure, but I did it for the kids while standing on one foot in the yoga tree pose as I talked to them about the six golden questions as part of the writing process. Who, what, when, why, where, and how. So picture me standing in a yoga tree pose, and what I would say to them is this story is about five CHAMPS. Each champ represents a different branch of the military who live on the same base and who have finally found friends and teammates. Life is good until change happens, and things start to fall apart. Our five friends face a dilemma. Do they stay sad and mad, or do they find a positive way to deal with their situation? Can they turn a problem into a challenge? And then I tell them they will find the answer. So the six golden questions, who, what, when, why, where, and how. And when I went over 25 seconds, that was my opportunity to say the plot thickens, ba dum dum. Frank O'Gara: And I bet they loved that - Debbie Fink: They loved it. Frank O'Gara: They loved that - Debbie Fink: And I, but I said at full speed in the tree pose, and they were transfixed by that. Frank O'Gara: Well, obviously, you bring the issues that our military connected children deal with every single day to life through the characters that are in the book - Debbie Fink: Yes. Frank O'Gara: Talk a little bit about your tour there because you just returned from Okinawa in Japan - Debbie Fink: Right - Frank O'Gara: How many schools did you visit? Where did you go? How did it work out there, and what was your interaction like with our teachers and students - Debbie Fink: Oh, well, OK. So we were in mainland Japan in Okinawa over the course of nine performance days. It was a world wind tour. We conducted 26 edutainment events at 13 of you DoDEA schools for 6,000 of your most delightful, incredible, wonderful DoDEA students. We were so impressed with the DoDEA staff and educators there. Everyone shares a commitment to lift the spirits of the CHAMPS, which is the USO mission. So it was a huge honor. Is a huge honor to work with the USO as an Andrew Sisters wannabe. So anyway, to be able to reach, teach, and touch the lives of 6,000 CHAMPS and to help them lift their spirits and feel proud for what, of what they do and to understand the bigger context for all the sacrifices that they make on a daily basis for the rest of America. And it was such an honor, and particular shout out goes to the music educators in your DoDEA schools because they taught 6,000 CHAMPS the song that was written by my daughter and a friend of hers to go with the book called "The Little CHAMPS". We felt that they deserved not only their own proper noun, but they deserve their own anthem - Frank O'Gara: Oh, and I get the students Debbie Fink: So - Frank O'Gara: Loved it - Debbie Fink: They loved it. They loved it. Frank O'Gara: OK - Debbie Fink: Yeah. Frank O'Gara: Well, I think that recognition, you know, by, you know, by you as an outsider, coming in to the organization and recognizing our kids for the contributions that they do make. We always say that kids serve, too. Debbie Fink: Yes - Frank O'Gara: And in a very real way and in an entertaining way, you know, you were able to present that. Now, this is more than entertainment, though. You've worked, I think, with the USO to develop a curriculum around this - Debbie Fink: Yeah - Frank O'Gara: Do you want to talk a little bit about - Debbie Fink: Sure - Frank O'Gara: That and what it means? Debbie Fink: Sure. So being an educator and understanding how every moment is incredibly valued in a school day, the messaging that we are bringing had to work on many, many levels. So we needed to tie in curricular aspects to it. We tied in language arts by addressing issues relating to the writing process, and how reading and writing go hand in hand and the six golden questions. We tied in the math by doing a math activity where, when in the course of addressing the issue of moving around a lot, I invited them to be my junior researchers and ask them. We did a study to identify the mode for the number of times they had moved, and so it gave them that ability to sort of detach a little from all the emotions wrapped around the, being on the move, and for them to see in a bigger context that lots of, that all these kids are moving around a lot, and to, oh, so and so has moved more times than me. And, by the way, the mode among your DoDEA schools for the elementary school age is three to four times in the course of their lives. So they were able to look around and see it within a mathematics context, and we tie in, well, the music education. Kids are singing that, singing songs. I have my fiddle. So all the kids are singing or learning or being exposed to the different hymns for every branch. And so every Navy CHAMP stood up during the Navy hymn, and, I mean, it was fabulous. And then there was more music involved as well. We incorporate character education and counseling. We address the issues of emotions and talked about, you know, what those emotions are, and we had nine volunteers at each program holding up signs, holding up different facial expressions with the emotions. So kids can really relate to it that way, and talking about how to deal with emotions - Frank O'Gara: Absolutely - Debbie Fink: We did a lot of American sign language, you know, to bring in that foreign language aspect - Frank O'Gara: Yeah. Where did the sign language come from? Debbie Fink: Well, I, all the edutainment that I do, I'm a firm believer in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligencies, and being able to reach and teach every type of learner. So the sign language came about because it's a powerful way to reach that kinesthetic learner and also to keep kids engaged, and it's a visceral, it's a visceral element to what they're doing. So they all learned the different branches in ASL. This - Frank O'Gara: Great, great ambition, yeah - Debbie Fink: Marine, yeah, Navy, Army, Air Force, and I save the hardest for the last, which is the Coast Guard. Frank O'Gara: Coast Guard. Oh. Debbie Fink: So, anyway, it's all tied together, and we put together the curricular supplement with your DoDEA teacher of the year 2012, Angie Wilson. Frank O'Gara: I was going to ask you about that. I know that she played a role. Talk a little bit about that - Debbie Fink: Oh. Well, to know Angie is to love Angie, and - Frank O'Gara: We're big fans, you know - Debbie Fink: Yes. Yes. So I met Angie at an MSEC conference last year. She loved the book. She loved the initiative, and she then set to work to prepare and to come up with classroom extensions. And her classroom extensions, we then broke down by subject and incorporated it in a curricular supplement, which then we fine tuned and honed and worked with a guidance counselor from Fort Meade and had other input. I had feedback forms. Student activity packets. So it's all, and then the USO duplicated and made these curricular supplements and sent them to the principals ahead of time so that it's all there for educators to take it and do with it - Frank O'Gara: Right - Debbie Fink: Whatever they so choose - Frank O'Gara: Great. Great. And I'm sure you gave them some ideas of how they could use that even after you left - Debbie Fink: Yes. Yes. And after I left, there was so much, there was so much, there were several teachers who were saying how can we get the ASL signs because they loved the use of the American sign language. So we just sent out links to every, for every word that I incorporated because there were about 45 words incorporated. So there are links to that word so they can visually see it online. Frank O'Gara: Now do students, how do they identify with the characters that are in the book - Debbie Fink: Oh, that's so precious. Oh, so precious. So we introduce each character, and, again, there are, each character represents a different branch of the military, and that's not only so that every CHAMP has someone to connect with, a character to connect with. It's also to education the civilian classmates here in America because this, the second part of this whole mission and initiative is to educate and provide some civic literacy to their civilian classmates to help - Frank O'Gara: And it does that perfectly. I love the definitions that you put at the bottom - Debbie Fink: Aren't they precious - Frank O'Gara: For people who aren't - Debbie Fink: Yes - Frank O'Gara: Familiar - Debbie Fink: Yes - Frank O'Gara: With the military culture. It really is helpful - Debbie Fink: We call them the civie notes - Frank O'Gara: Civie notes, OK. Debbie Fink: Instead of footnotes. So, yeah, it's, it, the children love connecting with the different characters. We, during the course of the performance, I introduce each character not by their, not immediately by their branch, but by their activities, their interests, their background. Our next character's Gonzo. Gonzo's favorite subjects at school are history, social studies, and he speaks two languages. Who here loves history or social studies or speaks two languages? You have already connected with the character Gonzo. Gonzo is. Army. We want these kids to connect with the characters not only based on the branch that their parents are - Frank O'Gara: Of course - Debbie Fink: Serving in, but also in terms of the personalities - Frank O'Gara: Yeah, and their experience - Debbie Fink: Hardships, yeah. Yeah. Frank O'Gara: Because these are, I mean, these are real issues for our kids, and - Debbie Fink: Yeah - Frank O'Gara: And I think you've touched upon something with the book and with your work with the USO that our students can, obviously, connect to. Debbie Fink: Yes - Frank O'Gara: And relate to. Debbie Fink: Yeah, and we get into the heavy. But the heavy meaning addressing the issues of the emotions that surrounding moving around a lot or dealing with a wounded or injured parent coming home or the reintegration. I don't use that word with the kids, but, you know, the coming home in general. So we get into it enough so that they feel like they are, oh, not alone, but it's in the context of joy and happiness and music and love and pride so that it buoys them through grappling with the tough stuff. Frank O'Gara: Do you hear from students after they read your book? Debbie Fink: I do. Not enough. Not enough because they don't quite know how to find us, but I am, I saw the one of, on the YouTube video for the Little CHAMPS some student is saying, oh, I just listened to your song. I love your song, and, you know, so that kind of. But I hope to somehow figure out a way for the students to continue a conversation that we can sort of touch base and hear from them. Frank O'Gara: What were your impressions of our students? Their resiliency, the DoDEA students that you work with in the Pacific - Debbie Fink: Wow. Someone asked me, Debbie, what were the highlights of your trip, and to that, I responded there were 6,000 highlights. Every student was a highlight. Every student is a spark and is special, and that's what we reinforce with them is that they need to just hold on to how special they are and hold on to that spark. So they, their energy, their, they are resilient, and, you know, this, they need more to keep them buoyed and to keep them up and energized during the hard times. I think the most important message that we deliver that the students really took home and parents talked about it afterwards, kids talked about it is the emphasis on the fact that they are not alone, and it is their right as students, as children to ask for help. And I had them all doing that with me, to ask for help. That it is our responsibility as trusted adults to be there to respond to their pleas for help. So they don't have to go this alone - Frank O'Gara: That's right - Debbie Fink: And they understood, they walked away understanding the importance of communication and the understanding of the importance of community and focusing on all the amazing virtues that they have simply by being born a CHAMP. I say that they've learned and earned. Frank O'Gara: It's great - Debbie Fink: And the virtues that they have learned and earned I have them put them in, put these virtues inside their heart smart magnified lens when you read them, for those, you know, it's in the book. But those virtues, for example, are their worldliness, their understanding and the importance of honor, their understanding of the importance of loyalty, their understanding of the need to communicate and the need to rely on community, their patriotism, their, and with our visit, with our delivery, the USO donated 6,000 copies to these kids, and the gobs of gratitude that we brought, they understand the importance of gratitude, and that I explained to them that the more gratitude we feel and express, the happier we are. So they're putting all of these virtues inside their heart smart magnifying lens, and then they lock it, and put it in their pocket to take out when they need. Frank O'Gara: Now, is there a message for parents and for teachers in all of this as well? Debbie Fink: Yes. To help, to love them, to love them, to support them, to tell them that they are, you know, wonderful. To tell them that they have so much inside of them, to show them, you know, how much they can, they can not only rely on themselves and the goodness and the virtues inside of them but on the help of others. It's one Marine Corps and Air Force dad really focused on the importance in this book and in the messaging, again, that they're not alone. That they can ask for help, and that's critical for every parent to hear. I had another mother who I interviewed at the, after a program saying that this book and this program isn't just helpful for the kids, but it's helpful to her for her as a mother and as a spouse - Frank O'Gara: Absolutely - Debbie Fink: So, yes. It's all about giving these kids, helping them find their strengths. Frank O'Gara: And our teachers as well - Debbie Fink: And the teachers - Frank O'Gara: Yeah, sure - Debbie Fink: Yeah, the teachers are a constant for that period of time in their lives - Frank O'Gara: Now, you mentioned the USO, and we, of course, want to extend our gratitude as well to the USO. They are a great organization that has helped DoDEA in many ways over the years, but your work at the beginning, you said, was not your work rather us this time was not your first time you were with us - Debbie Fink: Right - Frank O'Gara: What was the first time you were - Debbie Fink: Right. The first time I had the privilege of working with the USO was on behalf of another project that we initiated back in 2007 or 2008 through AOSA Family Programs initially called Operation Thanksgiving Eagle, and with the support of corporations and AOSA and then the USO, we were able to take it to the next level, which was going on tour through Germany back in 2011, Thanksgiving. We visited, let me see. I think we did 13 programs or edutainment events at maybe seven or eight of your schools. I can't remember the numbers, but, again, what an honor. We reached over 4,000 CHAMPS, although they didn't have the proper noun CHAMPS at the time, but we reached over 4,000 with the message of gratitude for the selfless sacrifices that they make every day on behalf of all Americans - Frank O'Gara: Now, are there plans with the USO to bring the message to more CHAMPS in the future? Debbie Fink: We can only hope. We can only hope. You know, it all, it's, my bags are packed. Frank O'Gara: Well, we look forward to that. We hope that will be the case as well - Debbie Fink: Well, thank you - Frank O'Gara: Well, Debbie, we are so grateful to you for the time that you've invested through the courtesy of the USO in our schools. When you, you probably understand the message better than most people, and your ability to turn that into, you know, a story, OK, and a very meaningful and powerful message to our kids that they not only appreciate but enjoy hearing is valued by us and appreciated. So thank you so much - Debbie Fink: Thank you so much, Frank, and seeing all those children singing and dancing to their song at the end of each program. Thanks to my co-author and songwriter, Jen Fink. It was an honor and a thrill. They are doing the hard work and what we are doing is the easy work relatively speaking. Frank O'Gara: Well, on behalf of all of those CHAMPS, you know, not only the ones that you've entertained this time, but around the world, I say thank you. Debbie Fink: Thank you. Frank O'Gara: You can find more information about the little CHAMPS and Debbie's work with our students through the USO at the URL noted on your screen. I'm Frank O'Gara. Thank you for joining us in this edition of "The Chat Room".