Military children on the move get helping hand

Military Child Education Coalition members smooth the many transitions involved in switching to a new school.

[Times photo: Toni Sandys] Katherine, 16, and Michael Trautman, 18, moved to Tampa last year and go to Robinson High School, where 30 percent of the 1,250 students have parents in the military.

By PAUL DE LA GARZA, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 31, 2003

TAMPA -- After attending eight schools in this country and overseas, Michael Trautman did not want to move again.

The 18-year-old balked when his father, George Trautman, a brigadier general in the Marines, was ordered last April to transfer to the U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base. But Michael failed to persuade his parents to let him stay behind in San Diego, where he had made good friends.

Last fall, Michael enrolled at Robinson High School, which serves a large population of students from MacDill.

For the children of military personnel, moving every few years is a mixed blessing. They travel to new and exotic places, but they always seem to be the new kid in school.

To help smooth the transition for students like Michael, volunteers established the Military Child Education Coalition about five years ago. In November 2001, the Hillsborough County school district agreed to participate in the worldwide program.

"The military child is not a member of an underprivileged group," the coalition says, "but is subjected to a variety of education challenges not experienced by the general population."

Among other things, the Texas organization tries to educate school districts, including Department of Defense-affiliated schools, about military life. For example, one of the pressing questions the group tries to tackle now is what it means for military children when their parents go to war.

MCEC also connects school districts via the Internet and video conferencing so that teachers and administrators from a student's former school can communicate with the new school.

"Differences in curriculum or academic requirements can be foreseen and resolved prior to the student's transfer," the coalition says.

It says red tape and the mishandling of education records often can make a troubling experience even worse.

The coalition also encourages school districts to allow military children to participate in extracurricular activities, even if they enroll mid year.

"We try to level the playing field," says MCEC board member Cathy Franks, a teacher and the wife of Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the Tampa commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf.

Mrs. Franks said she became involved with MCEC because she cared about military families.

"Since I raised my daughter, Jacqy, I understand, and I want to do whatever I can to make things better," she said.

Several weeks ago, Mrs. Franks and Mary Keller, executive director of MCEC, briefed first lady Laura Bush's chief of staff, Andrea Ball, about the program. They told Mrs. Bush they wanted to raise awareness of military issues, Mrs. Franks said, because "our children also serve."

Retired Lt. Gen. Pete Taylor, the coalition chairman, was among the volunteers who helped to establish the coalition. Taylor, who has three children, said he wanted to do something after seeing what his children went through each time the family moved.

On average, his children attended 10 different schools. "No one was really focusing on our kids, on that transition process," Taylor said. "It's hard enough to move soldiers from place to place."

Today, MCEC has signed memorandums of agreement with about 120 school superintendents nationally and worldwide, Taylor said.

"They agree in principle to look at the issue of mobility among all kids," Taylor said, "and to make it a little bit easier during the transition process."

In Hillsborough County, officials say Mrs. Franks was instrumental in getting them to participate in the program. About 3,200 of the districts 175,000 students are from military families assigned to MacDill.

Kevin McCarthy, the principal at Robinson High School, agreed that when it comes to military children, "there's a hardship there."

In addition to questions about whether certain classes transfer from one school district to another and about requirements for extracurricular activities, students also want to feel comfortable in their new school.

"When you transfer, there's always going to be some bumps," McCarthy said. "If we can lower those bumps . . . we try to work that in."

About 30 percent of Robinson's 1,250 students are military children.

Among them are Michael, a senior, and his 16-year-old sister, Katherine, a junior.

Because of Robinson's participation in the MCEC program, they managed to transfer their records from their school in San Diego via the Internet before relocating.

Like Michael, Katherine said the hardest part of moving is making friends, then having to leave them.

At the same time, she said, she has friends around the world, including Japan. "I would have hated to have lived in one place all my life," she said, "and not getting all the experience."

Michael, for example, studied Japanese in Okinawa. Maureen Dubia, another board member, said her children saw the Berlin Wall come down. At the same time, Dubia said, "The hardest thing is being new all the time."

Katherine agreed.

But, she said, "You're only the new kid for a week."

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