Documenting a student’s progress during high school years looks a bit different for military-connected students than for their more stationery peers, says experienced military mom and financial coach Kate Horrell.

“If they’ve moved, they can’t count on their current high school or community to have records of their accomplishments, awards, and community involvement,” says Kate. “That makes it more important that students keep their own folder or binder tracking volunteer hours, awards, and letters of recommendation.”

Start Early

Planning ahead can avoid a mad scramble in the weeks before an application is due. Students and parents can begin as early as middle school to consider accomplishments and involvements that provide positive preparation for the future. The Education Binder is the ideal place to file certificates, school honors, letters of appreciation, and document volunteer work. When it’s time to fill out an application or build a student resume, the binder becomes a valuable reference.

“Most college applications ask for information from your high school years, so definitely start keeping track once you start high school,” Kate advises students.

As far as what to save and record, the more the better, she says. Records of honor societies, athletics, clubs, faith group involvement, and community, charity, and volunteer work can all be helpful.

“Better to have too much information and the luxury of choosing than to be scrambling to find things at the last minute,” says Kate.

Be Intentional

Starting early to document activities also allows students to be more intentional about their involvements and achievements throughout their high school years. Students can review the binder occasionally to evaluate whether their grades and activities match up with their career and education goals. Regular reviews can reveal ways the resume could be bolstered and remind the student of their accomplishments.

Reviewing the binder is a good activity in the Season of Thriving, encouraging students to set goals and determine what they will do to meet them. Military kids, particularly if they move during high school, may need to be more proactive to show a pattern of involvement and personal development for future applications.

“Some military kids struggle because it can be hard to break into sports teams and leadership positions, so that’s a definite challenge,” says Kate. “If you can’t find something at school, perhaps look to the community. Things like scouts are great, because they’re typically available almost anywhere, so you can build some continuity there. You also might consider volunteering at the food bank, or local hospital, or animal shelter.”

Another consideration for students in a military community is that educators and other adults might also move away. Either way, Kate advises being proactive about requesting letters of communication, rather than waiting until it’s time to fill out applications.

“It may be hard to track down a letter of recommendation from the person who supervised a camp where you volunteered last year if that person has moved,” she says. “Ask those adults for letters of recommendation just after the event, or the award. And keep in touch with them. You never know when that connection will come in handy. Maintain those relationships.”

Use the Resume

If a student needs letters of recommendation when they are new to a school or community, having a solid Education Binder is helpful here too. The student can make an appointment to discuss their request for a letter and provide the letter writer with the student’s resume with relevant accomplishments at previous schools. It’s probably not necessary to bring along the whole Education Binder, but the student can provide certificates or documents as needed.

“Create a resume highlighting key points and interesting facts to help recommenders,” says Kate. “Include educational, community, and personal information, especially if it is unique or explains oddities in a student’s official record. Maybe your child moved from an international school to a standard US high school, and their transcript looks wonky, or they took a bunch of freshman classes their senior year to meet their new school’s graduation requirements. Make it an asset—this is a flexible kid—instead of a liability that they took freshman classes as a senior.”

Emphasize the Positive

Kate also suggests drawing on the experiences of military life when crafting essays for college applications. Military students may need some help to realize the way they grew up is unique, because it was simply normal life to them. Parents and educators can help students see what is unique about their experiences and offer positive perspectives.

The challenges of military life often have a positive flip side, offering opportunities for growth and learning. Some of those lessons are difficult to capture in the Education Binder, but an ongoing record of a student’s education provides a solid foundation for telling the unique story of life as a military-connected student.

Kate Horrell is an expert in military family finances, a military spouse and mother of two. She blogs at katehorrell.com and is also a contributor to the Paycheck Chronicles on Military.com.

Read More:

• Creating an Education Binder
• Student Resume: Collecting Skills and Materials
• Proactive Communication for Students in Every Season
• Advice from Kate Horrell on college finances and using the GI Bill

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Resume-writing is a skill young adults often encounter for the first time when applying for college, scholarships, or perhaps their first jobs. Military-connected students can benefit from learning this skill much earlier, creating resumes as way to record and track their volunteer work, leadership roles, and other involvement in and out of the classroom.

When a student moves to a new school, the student resume becomes a platform to introduce the student to clubs, teams, and other activities the student hopes to join. A resume can also help military-connected students find networks at a new school, discovering others with similar interests.

My daughter started her student resume in fourth grade, as a fun way to document and remember all the activities and accomplishments at all the schools she attended as a military child. In middle school, she wondered if her record would stand up to other, less mobile applicants. Putting everything on one page on a student resume consolidated her experiences into a cohesive whole.

When a student moves to a new school, the student resume becomes a platform to introduce the student to clubs, teams, and other activities the student hopes to join.

In seventh grade, she used her resume for two distinct purposes. First, she applied for an International Leadership Training Seminar, submitting her application and her resume, listing her two years leading buddy programs and other extensive volunteer work. Second, she used her resume to apply to be in her school’s robotics class. In her student-written resume, she listed her three years of robotics at another school and her time as the team captain from a church-sponsored robotics team.

As a high school teacher, I encourage my students’ resume-writing skills by having them first create resumes for literary characters. Then the students are ready to build their own resumes and take them to interviews at their school’s college or career fair.

Student resumes become especially important for students who move mid-year. I think of the resume as a one-page Education Binder, because the resume holds some of the same information in an abbreviated form.

The Education Binder holds extensive information about a student, personal documentation, test scores, work samples, and other data. The student resume is an account of accomplishments, awards, and experience documented in a single page. While the teachers and school counselor review a new student’s Education Binder for class placement and academic support or enrichment, the resume can become a kick-starter for acceptance into clubs, sports, and specialized activities.

The resume can’t replace tryouts or activity applications but bolsters an application. Military-connected students can use their resume to introduce themselves to club advisors, coaches, and extra-curricular teachers. The resume may also be used for students who move mid-year joining a school outside the window for team and class selections.

The resume will look different for all grade levels and will grow as the student matures. All resumes should include:

Academics

This could include an overall grade-point average or might focus on class grades for a particular subject where the student is strong. This section can also list awards such as the honor roll, reading awards, and recognition for effort, achievement, and citizenship.

Leadership

Leadership roles take many forms and are not limited to class president or team captain. Some students may not think of themselves as leaders, but parents and teachers can help students recognize all the opportunities the student is afforded. Consider leadership roles outside of school, such as church youth or scouts.

Volunteer and Work

This category shows the character of the student as well as demonstrating skills. Many helping activities provide work experience: serving at a community picnic or holiday meal for single service members. Include typical jobs like babysitting, mowing lawns, or pet sitting, cleaning up after church services, or cleaning microwaves in the school lunch room.

Group Involvement

Military moves may curtail a student’s longevity in a particular club, team, or sport. Listing all a student’s group involvements on a resume shows continuity in spite of moves. For example, a student’s resume shows that she played a team sport for three years. Perhaps it was a different team, a different sport, and a different school each year, but the resume indicates continuity and dedication. The possibilities for group involvement are endless, depending on where a student is stationed. List any groups a student participates at school, church, or in the community.

Objectives

Either at the top or the bottom of the resume, a student should include what activities he hopes to continue at a new school or what new activities he would like to try. Military-connected students bring a breadth of experience and energy to a new school.

A student’s resume should grow and mature with the student; regular updates are a good idea in any season, even when the student isn’t moving. The Season of Thriving, when a student is well-established and growing, is an excellent time to consider additions to the resume. Year by year, activities from elementary school will be replaced by middle and high school adventures and accomplishments. Well before high school graduation, the student will have gained plenty of experience and material to create a solid resume.

Amanda Trimillos, EdD, is the coauthor with Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman of Seasons of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers. Amanda is a teacher, a military spouse, and mother of four military-connected students.

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Think of the Education Binder as a portable teachers’ lounge. One way teachers gain insights about incoming students is through informal conversations with other teachers. With frequent school changes, a military-connected student won’t always have the benefit of this kind of communication. Their past teachers are not available to chat over a cup of coffee.

The Education Binder replaces this function of the teachers’ lounge for a military-connected student. The binder tells the story of the student. It’s a place where teachers can receive useful background information about a student, including communication from past educators, information about multiple moves, insight into social habits, strengths, needed improvements, and even a bit about family dynamics.

The complete picture

Every new student comes with a transcript, but an official transcript can’t begin to describe the resiliency and unique life style of a military-connected student. Official transcripts record grades, but they tell very little about the student as a peer or a learner. An Education Binder completes the picture of the student and his or her past courses of study.

Soon after my son began classes at a new school, I scheduled a parent-teacher conference with his homeroom teacher. I dropped off his Education Binder with his lead teacher a full week ahead to give the teacher an opportunity to review it before our conference.

On the day of our conference, the teacher brought the Education Binder. She told me that based on the information in the binder, which included past curriculum, report cards, and work samples, that my son would probably need additional help in writing and possibly math.

The teacher knew from the information in the binder that although writing was important at his last school, it was not at the same course rigor as the new school district. She also recognized that my son’s previous school was on a different track for math. Based on a letter from my son’s previous teacher, the new teacher believed he would be a good candidate for the accelerated track.

There is little doubt the Education Binder shortened the getting-to-know-you time for my son and his teachers by several weeks, saving frustration, and changes in class placement.

Teachers want to be able to meet their students where they are and challenge them where they can. Parents can help teachers get to know their students at a new school by providing complete background information found in a well-stocked Education Binder.

Using the Education Binder at registration

* Prepare the binder with information to show a full picture of the student. Include homework samples, notes from previous teachers, and more.

* When a student enters a new school, choose the right time and person to receive the binder: a counselor at registration or teacher during the first few weeks of classes, or both. Make copies of documents as needed for multiple recipients.

* Include a polite note to ask that the binder material be used as a supplement to the official registration packet when placing a student in appropriate classes.

* Give the teacher a week or two to review the binder, then request a parent-teacher conference. Waiting until the six or nine-week mark when conferences are usually scheduled may be too long to wait for a new student. The first few weeks of school are crucial to a child’s adjustment to a new school.

* Maintain the binder. Parents, teachers, and students can add new material regularly to keep the binder up to date. No need to wait for a move. PCS orders can come at any time, so the portable teachers’ lounge should be as prepared and up-to-date as possible.

Helping the student and the school

Even though the binder is not official information, it is useful to the school and helpful for the student. The binder is an essential form of personal communication between the parent and counselor, or parent and teacher.

As a parent, I never let my children’s official transcripts be the only link connecting their academic experiences from one school to the next. My son and daughter are much more than their transcripts, and it’s up to me as their parent to complete the picture by creating and maintaining our portable teachers’ lounge.

Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman is a military spouse, mother, and advocate for military-connected students. She is coauthor of Seasons of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers and Stories Around the Table: Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life. Stacy uses an Education Binder to create smooth transitions for her son and daughter with every move.

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A portable Education Binder can supplement official records that–on their own–may not provide a complete picture of a student. The binder is a portable repository of important information, a record of a student’s strengths and needs. It can hold any information parents, teachers, and the student consider necessary. An Education Binder is also useful to maintain a detailed record of education completed at home or online.

To build an Education Binder, begin with vital documents often needed at enrollment, such as:

• Birth certificate
• Shot record
• Unofficial transcripts
• Proof of residence

The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Students includes a provision to allow sending schools to provide unofficial transcripts for military students as necessary. The compact also allows receiving schools to accept unofficial transcripts for conditional enrollment until official transcripts are available. A copy of the compact is another important addition to the binder.

Other documentation in the Education Binder can provide more information about a student and assist in accurate placement in classes, clubs, and specialized programs. These items are often helpful:

• Schoolwork samples
• List of textbooks or workbooks used in class
• Standardized assessment results
• Documentation of needs for special services
• Report cards from previous school years
• List of activities and awards

Creating an Education Binder can begin with a parent, teacher, or student. However, a binder will be most complete and helpful when all work together to create, maintain, and use the binder. The binder helps receiving schools know and integrate the new student, and helps the student to transition more easily from school to school.

Adapted from Seasons of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers by Amanda Trimillos, EdD, and Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman.

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