MCEC Press Archives
December 2, 2003
Sprint Gives Large Donation To MCEC
A $25,000 donation from Sprint will "go a long way in helping mobile military children in their frequent moves from one school to another," Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Pete Taylor told officials from the telephone company Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Taylor, chairman of the board of directors for the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC), accepted the check on behalf of (MCEC) at the organization's headquarters in Harker Heights, Texas. Making the presentation from Sprint were Mike Hunsucker, state executive director for legislative and governmental affairs for Sprint in Texas; Charlie Carlton, senior governmental accounts executive; Richard Walters, Sprint's senior public affairs manager, and Linda Green, public affairs manager for Sprint-Central Texas. "We are very, very happy to be able to do this for your," Hunsucker told Taylor as he presented the board chairman the $25,000 check. Hunsucker also praised Green's work in coordinating the collection of the gift from various Sprint regions that serve military installations.
Taylor told the Sprint officials and members of the media present during the presentation that the funds will be used to enhance a variety of projects which MCEC has initiated to help with the transitions of the more than 800,000 school-age military children.
Following the presentation ceremony, Taylor showed the group one MCEC project, the Interactive Counseling Center, that is receiving high acclaim from military officials and from educators in school districts that serve military children. The ICC allows counselors, students and parents to sit in a virtual counseling center and exchange information electronically from the sending school to the receiving school. A total of 49 of the ICC's already are in operation and the goal is to have at least one ICC in each of the school districts that serve military installations.
Taylor also told the group that Dr. Mary Keller, the executive director of MCEC, could not be present at the check presentation because she was in Washington state conducting a Transition Counselor Institute, a program designed to teach school counselors and other educators the best practices for assisting transient military children.
MCEC, which is funded strictly by donations, also has two other major projects: Parental Workshops, designed to assist parents in becoming professional advocates for their child's education, and the Assessment Resource Center, which keeps parents and educators updated on various education requirements in all 50 states. MCEC also keeps a constantly updated website, www.MilitaryChild.org, and publishes numerous brochures, newsletters and a quarterly magazine.
The organization also has received many accolades for its various research projects relating to military children.
