Mildenhall officer uses passion for gaming, storytelling to engage with local children, families

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  As a child, Alette Smith grew up reading bedtime stories to her younger sisters. As a captain in the U.S. Air Force, she now uses her passion for storytelling to create tabletop and online gaming sessions for children.

Originally, Smith created the fantasy tabletop role-playing gaming sessions and workshops for children and their families around where she lives in Cambridge, as a way of introducing herself to the local community.

However, as the coronavirus pandemic spread, and off-base schools shut down for the rest of the school year, she has been writing and facilitating even more games than usual to keep children entertained and help build resiliency during these unprecedented times.

“It’s something I’ve been doing for quite some time now, and it helps me further explore my passion for creative writing,” said Smith, 100th Air Refueling Wing Plans and Programs wing information operations chief. “I wanted to work with children because this style of gaming has fantastic benefits regarding interpersonal and intrapersonal development, confidence, and communication skills.”

“I have a large interest in how games are used in therapy and education, so when the opportunity arose to do this kind of activity in Cambridge, I went for it,” she explained.

What started as a few introductory game sessions soon progressed into storytelling workshops, and Smith now regularly writes and designs original games, in addition to running monthly sessions for families.

“Since the lockdown began, I’ve continued to create game content for children, and have been able to continue running game sessions online. It’s been fantastically rewarding and fulfilling, especially during such a difficult time,” she added. “The children have really been missing their friends and usual routines, so it’s nice to see and know they are so excited and engaged when we play.”

While Smith originally created the games for those in her local community, she was able to bring it into her military community when she participated in the on-base Mil-D-Con event in 2019. She invited some of her fellow game creators on base to run games at the event, as well as conducted panels discussing topics such as mental health and gaming, and community building.

“I’ve always enjoyed working with children – I used to help out at my sister’s school, as well as teach lessons – so now, at this stage of my life, being able to use gaming and psychology to help children create stories of their own has been perfect,” she remarked.

While the games she runs are generally geared toward children between ages 6 and 14, she explained that she takes a multi-generational approach to them as parents often join in, and that getting ideas for the sessions is very similar to writing a story.

“I have an idea for a plot and different themes I would like to emphasize – which can change depending on the personalities of the children and families I work with – then I go from there. The difference between game writing and traditional story writing is that you have a captive audience when you’re simply writing a story,” Smith explained.

“For game writing and design, it’s a lot like plotting a military exercise – you have the plot structure balanced with plenty of ‘wiggle room,’ because the players have the power to influence the course of the story. You need to be engaging, but flexible,” she added.

Smith encourages Airmen, civilians and families who would like to get involved in the gaming sessions to reach out, and added she is open to running games for those who want to try something creative and new.

For more information or to get involved, email Smith at scriv@thebardcommune.com