MCEC Press Archives
August 12, 2003
Military Child Education Coalition General Press Release
The Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) has one goal: To level the playing field so that mobile military children, who may attend an average of six to nine schools during their K-12 years, will have a chance at a quality education.
Although the goal is simply stated, but, making sure that is attainable presents some complex problems. MCEC already has numerous programs in place to serve the military child and almost every day, new needs are brought to light and projects emerge to make the transition from school to school and community to community easier.
A small staff, many volunteers are working hard to make this happen under the motto: "... For the Sake of the Child!" MCEC was chartered as a non-profit, 501(3) (c) corporation in 1998. The organization grew out of a national conference held in 1997 that centered on ways to support military children. One of the main goals was to form an alliance among school systems, military installations and national organizations.
MCEC's membership has grown quickly to more than 800 members, composed of individuals, military installations, Department of Defense schools and school districts that serve military children.
MCEC has establish critical major projects to help the military - or mobile - child, primarily by training and informing counselors, administrators, legislators, and parents:
- Transition Counselor Institute - This is a program to train school counselors to understand the problems faced by mobile students and to assist in overcoming those problems. Almost 100 professionals have been trained in these MCEC-conducted workshops.
- Interactive Counseling Center - Through this program, students, counselors and parents, at the sending and receiving schools, can exchange information electronically through voice, video, data and image communications. A total of 38 of these virtual counseling centers are in place around the world.
- Parent Workshops - Believing that parents are the best advocates for their children, MCEC has recently begun holding parent workshops at various military installations. These workshops emphasize the importance of the parents being involved with their child's educational needs.
- Assessment Resource Center - This project is designed to help parents, students and educators understand different state testing requirements. This requires constant research to keep the information updated on the MCEC website.
- Research Projects - MCEC conducted the Secondary Education Transition Study (SETS) for the United States Army, which is an invaluable guide for military parents and students. MCEC continues to make SETS available to military families.
- Web Site - The MCEC website, www.militarychild.org, keeps parents, students and educators informed about the latest aids to military families with school-age children.
- Information - A quarterly magazine, On the Move, has a publication run of 4,000 and regular brochures and guides are printed and distributed to help meet the MCEC goals.
- Annual Conference -- MCEC holds an annual conference featuring outstanding speakers, workshops and special training opportunities. (The 5th annual conference, held in July, featured such speakers as GEN (Retired) Tommy Franks, who headed the military operation in Iraq; Admiral Walter F. Doran, commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Rear Admiral Robert C. Olsen Jr., superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy; Frank Schaeffer, noted author; and Cokie Roberts, award-winning political commentator for ABC News and former co-anchor of This Week.)
The organization serves more than 800,000 military-connected school age students throughout the world.
