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February 2010

ABCs of military kids in school: Liaisons help families ease transitions
By Chris Roberts / El Paso Times EL PASO
-- For children of military families, making friends at new schools doesn't seem to get easier.

"There's a lot of moving," said Monique Wells, a fifth-grader at Colin Powell Elementary School whose father is a retired Air Force recruiter. "We always have to make new friends, and sometimes you don't get along with people." The 11-year-old has a genial, engaging personality. But breaking into established groups of friends can be daunting. Parents face their own challenges, said Joy Wheaton, the school's military family liaison. New rules, regulations, laws and attitudes shape their sons' and daughters' education.

Wheaton is one of 10 people in the El Paso Independent School District assigned to help ease the transition for military parents and students. The groundbreaking program was started in 2005, said Carlos Martinez, the district's director of community and governmental relations. Wheaton was among the first hired.

"It's to explain the Texas way of doing education," Martinez said. "A lot of times the Texas system is a strange animal." The liaisons help ensure that high-school credits are transferred. They explain why a student who was successful in the previous school must learn a new way to do math or adopt a new reading routine.