Press Kit

Company Overview

Physical Address:
909 Mountain Lion Circle
Harker Heights, Texas 76548

Year Established: 1998
Year Incorporated: 1998 501 (c) 3
Full-time Employees: 150

Logo Files

• Download the Student 2 Student logo
• Download the web version of the Student 2 Student logo
• Download the Military Child Education Coalition Seal

Executive Biographies

Mary M. Keller, Ed.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Mary Keller serves as the President & CEO of the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC). She has been the organization’s executive leader since 1998. The MCEC was recognized by First Lady Laura Bush in 2004 as the Congressional Club Charity of the Year and in 2008, was certified America's Best Charity by Independent Charities of America.

Dr. Keller was one of the founders of the Military Child Education Coalition, the nation’s only non-profit organization that serves around the world as an advocate for military children as they strive to meet the challenges of frequent transitions, parental deployments, loss and trauma.

Mary has served as a teacher and school administrator in several Texas school districts for over 21 years. She served for eight years as assistant superintendent and area superintendent for education services for the Killeen Independent School District, which today serves over 20,000 military connected children and the nation’s largest military installation, Fort Hood.

Mary was born on the High Plains of Texas (Plainview) and graduated from Wayland Baptist University in 1979 with a degree in Elementary Education. She received a Master’s degree in Education with a specialization in curriculum and instruction from Wayland in 1984. She earned her doctorate, in Educational Administration with a special emphasis in supervision in 1990 at Texas Tech University. She holds professional certification in teaching elementary, as well as history, supervision, mid-management, and superintendency. She also holds a mediation certification from the Texas Bar Association.

She and her late husband Jerry have two adult children, Harrison Keller and Mary Emily Pardue, and six grandchildren.

Sandra (Sandy) L. Franklin, Ed.D.

Director of Programs and Services

Dr. Sandy Franklin serves as the Director of Programs and Services for the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) following a thirty one year career as an educator within the Killeen Independent School District, Killeen, Texas. Sandy’s professional, educational career included service as an elementary school teacher, assistant principal, principal, and instructional leader, most recently including supervision and responsibility for ten elementary schools and four middle schools within the district.

Sandy was born in Killeen, Texas where her father served in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Hood. She graduated from the University of Mary Hardin Baylor in 1979 with a degree in elementary education with a specialization in early childhood and English. She earned a Master’s degree in Educational Administration in 1984 from Tarlton State University’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. She holds professional certification in teaching elementary, as well as early childhood, supervision, mid-management, and superintendency.

COL Joan K. Vanderlaan, BSN, MN, USA (Ret)

Health Professionals Academy Program Manager

The Military Child Education Coalition

Joan Vanderlaan retired from the Army Nurse Corps may 1, 2011 with 30 years active federal service.  She has experienced military life as a daughter, wife, officer, and parent.  She is qualified as an instructor for Living in the New Normal (LINN).

During her military career, Joan progressed from staff nurse to head nurse, section supervisor, culminating in her assignment as the Deputy Commander for Nursing and patient Services at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, Ft Hood, TX.  She served as a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, working directly with families of critically ill and/or special needs children.  She has frequently worked as a grief counselor for parents experiencing the death of a child.  Working in the Neonatal Intensive Care, parent education was a key component of the job, preparing them with knowledge and resources to care for their child outside the hospital setting.  As the Chief Nurse, 4^th ROTC Region, Joan managed a $3.5 million nursing scholarship program for the western half of the US, working with 77 University based ROTC programs and 100 different Schools of Nursing.

Joan was born in Nurnberg, Germany and lived in seven states and three foreign countries based on her Father’s military service.  Graduating from high school in Augsburg, Germany, she completed her pre-nursing coursework at Baylor University, Texas and graduated from the University of Colorado with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in 1978.  After working at both Denver Children’s Hospital and Seattle Children’s Hospital in their Pediatric Intensive Care Units, she joined the US Army in 1981 as a Pediatric Nurse.  She obtained her Master of Nursing (M) in Parent/Child Nursing from the University of Washington in 1990.  She also earned an MA in Strategic Studies from the Army War College, Carlisle, PA in 2002.  Joan holds certification as a Neonatal Intensive Care RN and is currently an instructor in Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Trauma Nursing Core Curriculum.

She and her husband John have one grown son, Matthew, and a large assortment of horses, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, and parrots.