Sponsor Parent

mikki

mikki

Member
Joined
May 30, 2015
Messages
36
I just wanted to let all the members out there know that I am a sponsor parent, and I've had two classes graduate. I have dealt with a lot of situations, both good and bad. When I first came on this forum and signed up in May, I ended up having some other issues going on and completely went offline for a couple months. I am back on, & I apologize for taking some time off.

If you have any questions that deal with being a sponsor parent, I will do my best to answer any questions anyone has. Like I mentioned before, if I do not know the answer, I will research it, and find out the best answer to help you.

I love being a sponsor parent, and it is a very rewarding experience, not just for the cadet, but also for the sponsor parents.

I do keep private pages that I use only for my cadets, and I also keep a private page that only the parents can go on to. This is where I post information that I need to get to everybody at the same time, and it is the only place I will post any photos I take, to not only protect the cadets, but myself. I feel it is very important that I not post any private information or photos that can be seen by anyone on social media. Both my kids and their parents know that once the information or photos is on the private site, it become their property, and they can pull the pictures off, post them or do whatever they would like with them.

If I can be of any assistance, I will do my best to help anyone that asks me for help. And as I previously stated, if I do not know the answer, I will research it for you.

I'm very honored and very proud to be a sponsor parent, and I thank the parents for putting their trust in me to take care of their kids during their time at the Academy. Some of the parents have become some of my best friends. I'm also looking forward to the day when some of my kids get married, and start a family. I don't see being a sponsor parent as just something to get the kids through the 4 years, but a lifetime commitment. There are so many wonderful sponsor families out there, and I'm honored to be one. :)
 
Our C4C doesn't have a sponsor family yet - is that common at this point in the year?


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Godandcountry said:
Our C4C doesn't have a sponsor family yet - is that common at this point in the year?
Click to expand...
It is not uncommon. It is also common for cadets to hang with their roommate or squadmate's sponsor family as some cadets never get assigned a family or don't click with the one they do get assigned. DS spends his time at his roommate's family.
 
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If a person wants a sponsor family, they have to ask for one. They aren't automatically given one. You say you have a C4C. Did s/he request a sponsor family when they were doing all the paperwork.

As has been said, it's not uncommon to not have a sponsor family. It's totally up to the individual. Many of the IC athlete cadets have their own little family. During BCT when my son had his "Doolie Day Out", where many of the cadets go to their sponsor family's house, the kids who were football players, went to the coach's house. Also, there's a lot of kids who's families don't live that far away, and they didn't need a sponsor family. We live 2 hours from the academy, and brought our son home for long weekends and holidays. He usually had a few cadets tagging along.

So it all depends on the individual if they want one or not. All s/he has to do is ask for one and they'll get one.
 
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Christcorp said:
If a person wants a sponsor family, they have to ask for one. They aren't automatically given one. You say you have a C4C. Did s/he request a sponsor family when they were doing all the paperwork.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify, this isn't true. I know a few people who really wanted sponsors and weren't assigned them, and frankly, I can't remember explicitly requesting a sponsor, just putting in preferences.
 
I suppose it's possible that there weren't enough sponsor parents available for those who wanted one. I don't know of anyone who asked for one who didn't get one. But obviously you do, so I can only assume, they ran out of parents.
 
Our C4C DS indicates he signed up/requested a sponsor family. To date none has been assigned - they seem short on families - he says usafa asked he not inquire until next month presumably to give them some time to recruit additional sponsor families. No worries from him or us as he is very resilient / seems to be thriving so far. We're all excited for PW.


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Christcorp said:
If a person wants a sponsor family, they have to ask for one. They aren't automatically given one. You say you have a C4C. Did s/he request a sponsor family when they were doing all the paperwork.

As has been said, it's not uncommon to not have a sponsor family. It's totally up to the individual. Many of the IC athlete cadets have their own little family. During BCT when my son had his "Doolie Day Out", where many of the cadets go to their sponsor family's house, the kids who were football players, went to the coach's house. Also, there's a lot of kids who's families don't live that far away, and they didn't need a sponsor family. We live 2 hours from the academy, and brought our son home for long weekends and holidays. He usually had a few cadets tagging along.

So it all depends on the individual if they want one or not. All s/he has to do is ask for one and they'll get one.
Click to expand...

There was a problem last year with sponsor families. Some cadets didn't get assigned one as there weren't enough. Mine was lucky not to have that problem, but I know of others who did. Most of those unassigned had one by the end of September.

The cadets who don't have a sponsor family are told to follow up with person in charge of sponsor family assignments. The cadets have to do this themselves, not the parents.
 
My DD's sponsor family was asked to take 2 more cadets (a total of 5) last year because there aren't enough families that are sponsoring.

They're always looking for sponsor families, so if you want to be a part of that community, please sign up!
 
I was told last year that there were close to 100 kids that did not have a sponsor family. If a cadet who doesn't have a sponsor family, and he/she goes with another cadet to their sponsor's home, and the cadet and the parent click right away, the cadet would need to initiate the process of filling out the form to ask for this family that he/she has been visiting to become his formal sponsor parents..... as long as the sponsor family also would like that.

If you have a son or daughter that does not have a sponsor parent yet, they need to reach out to the family that they spent DDO with, and find out if that family is taking on more cadets, or were they just helping out for DDO.
I'm always available to take in more Dooleys, if they are unsuccessful in finding the correct family for them. I completely understand that not every cadet will feel comfortable with every sponsor parent. Sometimes it just takes a while to find the sponsor family that would be the best person for your son or daughter.

Again, I would be happy to talk to any parents whose son or daughter have not yet been assigned to a sponsor family.
 
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