ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
Cynthia Nunes-Taijeron is working on a pilot program that addresses challenges faced by military-connected students at Stephen Decatur Middle School in Clinton, Md.
"As a result of last year's town hall meeting on education, we had a lot of folks who raised concerns about what schools are doing for military-connected children," said Ms. Nunes-Taijeron, 316th Mission Support Squadron School Liaison officer. "Our goal is to partner and assist faculty in understanding the challenges military-connected children face. It's a program that we'd like to take to all schools in Prince Georges County."
According to Ms. Nunes-Taijeron middle school is the prime age to address the issues faced by military-connected students.
"Normally the middle-school aged children are right there in that critical transition period between elementary and high school," she said. "There are challenges that our military-connected children face that the typical student doesn't -- including challenges found in the military lifestyle, they're at the stage where they've moved several times, they have gone through their mom's and dad's deployments, and there are mobility and transition issues they face, in addition to everything else. These are all real areas of concern for our military-connected children."
She added that military-connected children not only have to deal with the challenges at school, but those found at home. "There are a lot of challenges waiting for these kids at home, like additional responsibilities, since parents are deployed -- there are a lot of challenges non-military children just don't have."
Ms. Nunes-Taijeron said that for the pilot program, there is a P-team, or representatives from the Prince George's County Public School System, in place and ready to help military-connected children. The P-team includes a parent liaison, school counselors, psychologists, nurses, and educators. "This team of professionals look out for a child's well-being outside of academics and look to nurture them. We've been meeting and forming long-term initiatives to better address the challenges that military-connected children face on a daily basis."
For more information on the Stephen Decatur Middle School pilot program, contact Ms. Nunes-Taijeron at 301-981-0057.