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New School Welcoming: Student Sponsorship Programs
By Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman Military-connected students adjusting to a new school commonly experience feelings of isolation, confusion, and searching for support. Students switching schools during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to experience these feelings even more intensely. In an online round table discussion, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona hosted a Zoom call…
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Back to School: Supporting Teachers Strengthens the Team
By Terri Barnes Building a strong student-advocacy team is essential for military-connected students. As the school year begins in a pandemic environment, now more than ever, the team-building strategy should include supporting teachers, as well as students. Military-connected students at new schools won’t be the only ones navigating a new…
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Student Resume: Collecting Skills and Materials
By Amanda Trimillos 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…
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Teacher Tips: Warm Welcome for Students Arriving Midyear
Being the new kid is difficult anytime. For military-connected students arriving midyear, when the academic year is in progress, the challenge is even greater. By the time they arrive at their new school, class routines are set, seats are assigned, and friends are made. No matter when they occur in…
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Interstate Compact Reduces Risk of Graduation Delays
By Amanda Trimillos Moving can be a difficult time for any military family. We say goodbye to our friends, our neighbors, our routines, and our support system. But for high school students, changing schools because of a military move—or permanent change of station (PCS)—could mean saying goodbye to much, much…
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Proactive Communication for Students in Every Season
By Amanda Trimillos In meet-the-teacher sessions at new schools with my children, time and time again I heard teachers use the term “proactive communication.” Teachers offer parents several ways to communicate – email addresses, phone numbers, and notation areas in student agendas. They emphasize the importance of proactive communication with…
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Back to School Advice: Look for the New Kid
Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman for Scary Mommy — “Look for the new kid.” A common saying I tell my children as I help zip up their backpacks, arrange their clothes and tie their shoes preparing for the first day of school. It’s a simple saying, but one that can change the trajectory…
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Five Ways Military Kids Clubs Help Students and Schools
A military kids club is a school organization especially for military-connected students. A military kids club helps military kids plug in quickly at a new school and community during the Season of Arriving, providing a venue for meeting other students with similar military-life experiences. “Although they come from different branches…
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Buddy Programs Connect Students in the Season of Arriving
When students enter a new school, they have many questions. One of the most pressing is often: Who will sit with me at lunch? Making friends and feeling welcome is an important part of a student’s healthy integration into a new community and home. Buddy and sponsor programs are often…
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New School: 5 Tips to Prepare Your Student
By Amanda Trimillos When a military family gets PCS orders, it’s time for military-connected students to say goodbye to one school and prepare to enter a new one. When farewell parties have come and gone, tears have been shed, and the car is packed, preparations for entering a new school…
