Voice For The Military Child

The MCEC is a Featured Partner on America’s Promise Alliance Website

The Military Child Education Coalition recently became a partner of America’s Promise Alliance, the nation’s largest partnership alliance dedicated to improving the lives of young people.  Founded by General Colin Powell and chaired by his wife Alma, America’s Promise Alliance is addressing this country’s dropout crisis by providing young people with the key supports they need to lead happy, healthy, more productive lives. 

Recently, America’s Promise Alliance partnered with Gallup Organization to launch the Gallup Student Poll - a nationwide survey of 5^th through 12^th graders measuring hope, engagement, and well being.  With the permission of school officials such as superintendents and principals, the poll will be administered in schools across the country to capture the voices of our youth – an often overlooked resource in our quest to provide better learning and living experiences for our young people.  Available in English or Spanish, and free of charge to participating districts, the Gallup Student Poll will provide schools and communities with results within two weeks of the survey period.  In addition to quick results, a Solutions Center will provide suggestions on how to provide community solutions that change outcomes for youth.   

Keeping with our commitment to America’s Promise Alliance, the MCEC is working with selected military-connected schools to ensure these populations are adequately represented in the Gallup Poll.

For more information on the Gallup Poll, the America’s Promise Alliance, please visit www.americaspromise.org.

 

The MCEC Blogs - Not Just for Parents Any More!

Too often, as mobile military and former military parents, we tend to craft our children’s lives without involving them in the process.  Our excuses include, “they don’t have all the information we have,” or “they don’t know where to find the answers.”  Well, not anymore!

The MCEC offers more resources than you can shake an IPOD at!  Mom and Dad, you’re sitting there doing ALL the research for your teenager when they fairly invented web surfing.  Encourage your teenager, “tween” and, yes, even your elementary surfer to explore the many answers to the military child’s burning questions.  “What will my new school be like?”  “How will I find my way around?”  “How do I know if all my credits will transfer?”  “Do they have a great playground at my new school?”  The MCEC web site is your one-stop shopping to all the hot-topic questions about your move.

Need to know who you can sit with at lunch?  Go on line and find out about a Student 2 Student or Junior Student 2 Student program at the new school. 

“Will that hour of British Literature be accepted?”  Ask Aunt Peggie. 

Want a chance to go to Space Camp?  Fire up your mouse and learn how YOU can earn a scholarship to NASA Space Camp! 

And for the younger surfer, there is the chance to find a totally cool “Tell Me a Story” event.  The MCEC website has “uber” resources that will help you find the 411 on these questions and many more.

In the “Month of the Military Child” [April], we embrace the opportunity to support and encourage our mobile children to explore, investigate and reach out on their own.  The challenges they face can be “heinous” but when we equip them with the right tools, the answers they find will promote an “I can do this” attitude.  Yes, moving is tough, but when we nudge our children to be a part of the investigative process, become part of the solution, we have given them one more skill they will need as adults. 

So, point that child and their mouse in the MCEC direction and let them impress you and themselves at how much they can get ready for the move. 

- Joan Veiga, Professional Development Specialist for the Military Child Education Coalition

The Military Child Education Coalition meets with First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, and White House Advisers

Leaders discuss military children and education issues at the White House

HARKER HEIGHTS, TX, June 3, 2009 – On May 28, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden invited top leaders in education and military family issues to a meeting at the White House. Dr. Mary Keller, President and CEO of the Military Child Education Coalition, and Mrs. Patty Shinseki, Board Member, joined other senior leaders including National Security Advisor Gen James Jones (USMC-Ret) and Mrs. Jones, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen James Cartwright and leaders of other agencies including the American Red Cross, the National Military Family Association (NMFA), the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), and the United Services Organization (USO).

 

"In talking to military families and the difficulties they’re going through, it knocked me off my feet in a way I can’t articulate," said Mrs. Obama. "Burdens on regular American families are tough enough in today’s economic circumstances, but burdens on military families are overwhelming... Surveys show the vast majority of military spouses don’t feel supported by the country, and that's a shock. If I don’t do anything else, I want to change that."

 

“The Military Child Education Coalition is proud to be a part of such an important forum,” said Dr. Keller. “We have a long record of delivering training and support programs to the professionals and parents supporting our two million military children.”

-posted by Laura Campbell, the MCEC's Media Specialist

 

Prepping for Transition

Prepping for Transition

PCS season is upon us.  As a parent, all of our “to-do’s” run through the mind on a constant loop; sleep-over’s and play dates with special friends, one last lunch with that best friend that has helped you get through so much. And then there are the questions:  are all vaccines up-to-date? How about the dog’s vaccines and vet records?  Don’t forget school transcripts!  And so many more important entries on that never-ending list.

Moving is stressful on many fronts.  As parents, we’re concerned about specifics: housing, schools and doctors.  But for our kids, it is much more emotional.  They are leaving friends again.  They wonder if they will make new friends and fit in.  Will they have to prove themselves all over again?  Favorite sports and activities are important and our children may wonder if they will be able to participate in the new location.   Even something as simple as clothing is a stressor.  Different parts of the country may have different styles. Flip-flops are a year-round accessory in Texas, but what about further north where it snows, what is the trend there?  Our children have a different list in their heads, but it is no less important than the parents’ list.

SchoolQuest wants to help relieve some of that tension.  SchoolQuest researches those school districts around military installations to help students and parents find a good fit.  Our goal is to do the research for you and offer you an array of choices.   We compile data on elementary, middle and high schools.  Do you need school-sponsored after-school care?  We look into that.  JROTC, Honors classes, IB classes, band, choir, and athletics are just a few of the areas we check.  Many of us on the SchoolQuest team have children and have moved them multiple times.  We know what we found important to look for and we have tried to direct our data collection to answer those questions.

Our website www.schoolquest.org has an online library with topics of interest.  We have a link to the Educational Resource Center on www.militarychild.org and don’t forget, we have Aunt Peggie!  A real, live terrific lady who is ready and willing to answer your questions and help you track down answers.

Transition is challenging but you can be successful.  BEFORE you go, chat with both the current and the future schools so you can have everything in order, you’ll be glad you did. It will make school registration so much easier as you settle in to your new neighborhood.  Talk with your child and determine those issues that concern her.  This will help to direct you as to those areas which should get extra attention.   Schools have so many available options and are more than willing to assist your family but you must speak up!  We all have the same goal, successful transitions and happy families.

- posted by Amy Soupene, Program Manager for the MCEC's SchoolQuest

Learning from the Best and the Brightest

I wanted to write something profound about the art of transitioning as a military child.  You know: three succinct but information-loaded paragraphs that would provide just the perfect amount of wisdom for every military kid; a blog entry that would launch every child into the perfect PCS orbit!!!!

But something happened between here and there!  I re-read all the blog entries from April’s Month of the Military Child and realized that those profound words had already been written!  Each of those entries came from the heart of a military kid who was perfectly comfortable telling the world that his or her life has its challenges, its moments of grief, and its enduring frustrations.  But each and every child also spoke about the upside – the resilience – that comes from those hurdles.

In a nutshell, here’s what they wrote...and here’s where the profound advice resides:
1.    Military life offers tremendous adventure and opportunities.
2.    It’s true that military kids leave friends each time they move, but they also make a ton of new friends in every new location.  They also stay seamlessly connected with their old friends via technology.
3.    Military kids are exposed to diverse cultures, diverse people and diverse ideas, allowing them an opportunity to become true citizens of the world.
4.    Because they are immersed in the world of those who serve, military kids are inclined to also selflessly serve others, through their schools, churches and communities.
5.    Military kids don’t need to look far to find heroes; in most cases, they reside in the same house!  The overwhelming majority spoke with tremendous pride of their families: their service member parent(s), their parent who supports, and their siblings.

There are many sources for good transitioning advice (you ought to try schoolquest.org), but our April bloggers – without realizing it – truly pinpointed “Transition Step #1”: attitude and commitment!  They were able to identify that it is critical to look beyond the obvious challenges of repetitive moving and parental deployment, to discover the “silver lining”!  And, once they found it, they reached out to help us find it, too.  Thank you, April Bloggers.  Please, keep lifting us up!

- Posted by Joan Patterman Barrett, Program Manager for the MCEC

Month of the Military Child: Caitlin's Story

I am proud to be a Military Child because, as cliché as it sounds, it has helped me grow as a person.  It hasn’t been easy living the life as a military child but through the many experiences and looking back on it all as I’m about to graduate from college, I’ve realized that I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. 

The most challenging aspects of it, of course, were moving around every few years and having to lose those friends I made.  I always thought I was an expert at saying goodbyes to friends but sadly it gets harder every time, especially when you meet the ones you feel you’ve waited your whole life to meet.  I know I have met those friends who have changed me and that I never want to lose.  But at the end of a long drive to my new home, my family was always there for me and they still are as we’re spread out all over the US.  They were there to help me pick my emotions back up and dry those tears slipping down my cheeks as well as their own.  I wasn’t alone going through these emotions, but had my family going through the same ones with me.  I’ve been so fortunate that with the technology today, I haven’t lost contact with any of those friends.  There are so many ways nowadays to keep in contact with someone. 

Another way being a military child has helped me grow as a person is by building my character and for me to realize who I truly am.  At first that does sound kind of crazy but once you get to college you hear of so many people who want to soul search and find themselves.  You have an advantage that gets you closer to realizing who you are by being a military child through experimenting with different identities.  It’s true it’s not the best thing since in a way you are putting on different aliases each time to help yourself fit in more but in the long run you do actually benefit from it.  I have benefited from it.  I’ve gone through the many stages of being a girly girl, tom boy, athlete, choir geek, outcast, rebel, etc.   It’s helped me define who I am in this very diverse world.  And as a part of this diverse world I took my part as a leader.  I participated in the MCEC conference during High School.  I’ve taken part and have supported the fight to raise awareness of the military child by creating a Girl Scout Gold Award project to help raise awareness, create training, distribute books to libraries, and schools to help educate the community that the military child is just as important as the soldier himself/herself.  I defied the odds of my own community with this project and how far it reached.   It has reached out to everyone nationally and internationally to where they now have a review board that reviews books and selects and recommends the best books out there.  No child is powerless.  Just remember your voice can be heard.

 - by Caitlin, College Student

Month of the Military Child: Cayla

 

I’m Proud to be a Military Child because…

I’m proud to be a military child because it has made me realize the strength and love that my family shares.  I read a card one time that said, “family members are the friends you don’t choose.” That saying captured the best of my curiosity and I’ve thought about it for a long time.   I thought I’d always chosen my family as my friends - until of course, my brother annoyed me with the overuse of his new favorite California  word “hecka”; or my dad kept making dumb jokes that only he laughed at; or my mom continued to put different foods in front of me so I’d “acquire” a taste for ethnic flavors like tabulah, or green curry.  I don’t remember feeling the love then.  Unfriendly sentiments like annoyance and avoidance were the more common feelings.  I’d so rather hang out with my friends.

When my dad added a “you betcha” (i.e. common phrase from our wonderful days in North Dakota), we all laughed.  When I caught myself salivating at the thought of Thai lemon chicken or clam chowder in a bread bowl (my new favorite California taste sensations), I requested going out to dinner with my family.  When my brother sent a text with a recent picture of one of our friends paddle boating in the Tidal Basin, I could see the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom flanking the Jefferson Memorial.  I sighed with a longing to relive any our favorite Washington, DC memories.  I realized that the shared memories my family and I have are the greater part of my life’s story.  The lasting memories of my peers are vivid and warm my heart, but they pale in comparison to the power of the shared memories with family.  After all, they are the ones who’ve been with me before, during, and after a move – all 9 of them. 

It is my family that grounds me when I feel like I have a foot in one place and the other someplace else.  Recently, my dad got a new commander’s assignment to deploy for a year in the Middle East. We decided that it would be best for my mom, brother, and me to move closer to family during the deployment.  I felt mentally and emotionally dislodged because I thought I was going to graduate from my current high school.  Luckily we are going back to a place where we still have many friends.  I am so glad I’ve kept in touch with my childhood bff’s (best friends forever).  I pray that we will still like each other as much as we did when we were little. I wish I could physically take my current friends and favorite local places with me when we move.   My biggest prayer is that my dad can be stationed with us in Illinois when he returns so we don’t have to decide if I have to move my senior year or live without him for not just one, but two years right before I go off to college.  I will pray for that all year, but for now, I’ll settle for the assurance that my brother and I will fight for the computer; my mom will insist we stay busy every minute of the day; and my dad will ensure that every treasured keepsake we own will make it to the next home and then go take good care of his troops in the desert.   I trust he’ll have his web cam safely packed in his own luggage.  I’ll hand carry my web cam and video camera.  I’ll record my brother’s silly expressions and soccer games so my dad can watch from bleachers across the ocean.

By Cayla

Month of the Military Child: Andrea's Story

 

I'm proud to be a military child because we get to experience new and fun things. Even though I've lived in the same place for 11 years I've met people from all over the world. I get to hear about what different countries are like and what schools are like everywhere, and my only regret is that I never got to experience them myself. I think military families take for granted the valuable experience that they receive from moving a lot. The people you meet, the friends you make, the discipline you learn... these are all things that most non-military kids don't know and probably never will.

If anything I'd say be thankful for what you have. Military families are forced to be close because when moving from one place to another, for a while all you have is each other, but that's what makes you strong. You have a tight knit bond with your family that few people have with there’s and that's something that is not easily deterred.

 

~ post by Andrea

Month of the Military Child: Erickson

Move after move I hear the same thing, “Oh, so your family is in the military?” Some people think I am lucky to get to travel the world and move around, while others just can’t imagine it. The thing is, they are both right. I truly do feel blessed to be able to have been places that some adults only dream about visiting. The problem is, there are also negatives. I frequently hear my classmates talk about stories from when they were younger; I will never know that feeling. The only person I have really gotten to grow up with and recall old stories and memories with is my sister. Friends go by like months on a calendar, every twenty-four months it is time for a new batch because I am moving again. Yes, I do make some great friends when I move, but I also leave amazing ones too. As I get older, each move gets harder and harder, as I have gotten closer with the people I met last. Often, you will hear Army brats say, “I wouldn’t change it for the world!” I think I would. Yes, there are benefits, but the constant stress of trying to make new friends, trying to fit in and trying to establish yourself in a new school is a lot to handle...

- by Erickson

Month of the Military Child: Gavin

My Dad

Roses are red
violets are blue
my Dad is in the army
is yours in there too?

by Gavin, Grade 2