Hillsborough schools working to help military kids adjust to new surroundings

  • Published
  • By Nick Stubbs
  • Thunderbolt editor
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Frequent moves to new assignments mean the children of Airmen are perpetual "new kids" at school, often struggling to adapt to strange surroundings and new systems, with no friends to support them.

The often difficult adjustment may get a lot easier for the middle school students of MacDill military members beginning this school year, however, with the new Junior Student 2 Student program that will be implemented at four area middle schools.

A new-student welcoming and familiarization process conducted by trained students at each school, S2S aims to ease the process of adjusting to a new environment for children of military families transferring into Monroe, Madison, Coleman and Burns Middle Schools.

Last week, teams of students and adult school staff members from each school met at MacDill for two days of training by members of the Military Child Education Coalition, a Texas-based non-profit organization established in 1998 to help military children meet the challenges of frequent transitions to new environments.

The summer session is unusual, said Joyce Hudson, the student initiative program manager for MCEC, in that it is often difficult to find students and school staff willing to give up their summer vacation time for training.

"It speaks highly of those who give their time for this project," said Hudson, who added that the program also is unique in that it is funded by private donations.

The training and associated costs are covered by a $20,000 community donation through a foundation established by area civic leaders, said Nelly Richards, MacDill's school liaison officer.

Richards said the S2S program addresses the problem of there being "no formal way" the four middle schools involved have handled orientation of new students, be they military or otherwise. While the new system can be structured by each school's S2S student team to meet needs, each program must adhere to standards and practices presented during the training session at MacDill, said Hudson. Her team has trained members from some 285 schools.

"We received a lot of good feedback, and have heard stories from students and families like the one from an 8th-grader who said they had moved five times and that this (a transfer to a S2S school) was the first time a school made them feel welcomed," said Hudson.
The program is designed to be self-perpetuating, said Hudson. Students trained at MacDill will pass on that training to other students who will serve on their school's orientation team, with each school's supervising staffers overseeing and training other supervisors if needed.

"The counselors, students and principals have to 'buy in' to keep it going," said Hudson. "It's a group effort and ongoing commitment."

The S2S program also will benefit non-military students, as it will be used for any new arriving student. That makes it just that more attractive for the Hillsborough County public school system, said Richards.

In the weeks and months ahead, other schools will be adding the program. Robinson High School members will be traveling to Texas to undergo training, and other schools will likely follow, said Hudson.

"It's a great opportunity for schools," she said. "It's not just for military students, but any student who might move often."