Direct Line

Adam D’Amico, Child and Youth Program Director

Hi Sigonella! My name is Adam D’Amico and I am the new Child and Youth Program (CYP) Director for Naval Air Station Sigonella. I will be leading the Child Development Center, School Age Care, the Youth Complex, and Youth Sports and Fitness, all of which fall under the MWR umbrella. Many of you may have worked with me during the past two years at School Age Care when I was the Youth Director. I love supporting children and families here at Sig and am excited for this new opportunity.

I wanted to take a minute to let everyone know that we at CYP are committed to providing quality care and programs for young people on base, even through all of the changes and prevention strategies we have implemented in the past year. COVID-19 has brought a number of modifications to how we operate our childcare programs and facilities, to include enhanced health screenings, extra cleaning and sanitizing, limits on group sizes, the Youth Complex closure, and the cancellation of the Youth Sports Program. I can assure you that even amidst these additional challenges, our staff has worked tirelessly to maintain high quality programming and the overall accountability and supervision of the children in our care. I want to personally thank all of our families for supporting us through the uncertainties.

Our two main childcare programs at CYP are the Child Development Center (CDC, not to be confused with the Centers for Disease Control!) and School Age Care (SAC). The CDC supports families with care for children ages six weeks to five years old and not in kindergarten, and is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). SAC provides after-school and summer care for students ages five and in kindergarten through 12 years old and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA). Our staff have been working hard to try and meet the childcare demand here at NAS Sigonella, and both of these programs have continued to function at reduced capacity through most of the past year. We know there are still families on our waitlist, and we are doing everything we can to meet the needs of our families.

Many of you may have noticed that CYP is actively hiring more staff. During the past year, we have lost a high number of experienced childcare employees, which has limited what we are able to provide. We are working to find qualified individuals for our programs, which will help us expand what we are currently offering. If you are interested in applying for a full-time, part-time, or flex position, please contact the NAF HR office at 624-0522.

As we celebrate Month of the Military Child in our facilities, we are also currently working on a plan to reopen our Youth Sports and Fitness Programs as well as the Youth Complex in Marinai. In the past, we were able to offer various sports programs for children and youth age three to 18 throughout the year. Some of these programs included soccer, run club, wrestling, flag football, cheerleading, basketball and baseball. These have been well-loved and highly attended programs, and we are eager to resume as soon as we can.

The Youth Complex is a free facility for children ages 11 and in sixth grade through 18 and in high school. In the past, teenagers could visit the Youth Complex and play video games, pool, foosball, and air hockey, as well as watch TV and play keyboard, drums, and electric guitars. The Youth Complex also hosted trips to different local attractions, as well as go-karting, paintballing, hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, and much more.

We know that both the Youth Center and Youth Sports are important programs and facilities for our young people onboard Sigonella, and we want to offer them as soon as we are able. The changing CNIC and host nation COVID guidance makes this challenging, but it is our sincere hope to offer new programming soon. Be on the lookout for more information on what these programs will look like in the future.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at adam.damico@eu.navy. mil or 624-3736.