General David D. McKiernan
General William E.
“Kip” Ward

The Military Child Education Coalition is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, world-wide organization that identifies the challenges that face the highly mobile military child, increases awareness of these challenges in military and educational communities
and initiates and implements programs to meet the challenges. MCEC's goal is to level the educational playing field for military children wherever they are located around the world and to serve as a model for all highly mobile children.

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) # 9845

Military Child Education Coalition Web Site:
www.militarychild.org

State-by-State Education Resource Center Web Site: www.militarychild.org/URC.asp

SchoolQuest, a powerful MCEC web tool that allows parents and children to match needs with their new schools: www.schoolquest.org
 
"The Art of Being a Military Child"
MCEC announces that it will launch its first annual military child art festival titled "The Art of Being a Military Child." Children of military families are encouraged to participate and submit art work, essays, poetry, or films (PDF - 291 KB) about what life is like growing up in a military family. Selected submissions in the visual arts will be featured in art exhibits at the Military Child Education Coalition 2007 Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

MCEC’s SchoolQuest.org Aids Military Families on the Move

Military parents are now armed with a new resource to use when moving and choosing new schools for their kids – and it’s provided free of charge. SchoolQuest.org enables parents to create customized reports tailored to their children’s specific needs and grade levels. This online program not only aids students and families in adjusting to various academic requirements among schools, but it also helps them to consider other important issues specific to different districts and locations.

Visit SchoolQuest.org.

Military Children head to Alabama through Memorial Space Camp Scholarship
Named for a serviceman’s young son killed aboard one of the 9-11 hijacked airplanes, the Bernard Curtis Brown II Memorial Space Camp Scholarship has been given this year to 15 new students to attend the five-day Space Camp program in Huntsville, Alabama. Young Bernard was specifically interested in science and traveling to California to represent his school at a National Geographic event. This scholarship in his name creates opportunities for other military children – now numbering 47 in total – to share in his enthusiasm for science.

“Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployment” Kits to be Distributed
The Department of Defense will distribute the kits to military families with children ages 3 to 5, free of charge, beginning August 1, 2006. Developed by the creators of Sesame Street and supported by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., The New York State Office of Mental Health (NYSOMH) and MCEC, nearly 400,000 bilingual (English/Spanish) kits will contain a DVD for children and adults, starring the Sesame Street Muppets, and a magazine and poster for children, parents and caregivers. Families everywhere can also view streaming video and download the information at www.sesameworkshop.org/tlc.

U.S. Army 2005 Education Summit – "Communities Working to Improve Student Transitions"
The Summit provided the crucial opportunity for 25 heavily affected installations and their supporting school districts to explore the challenges of military students with the impact of the Army's transformation and repositioning around the world. Key participants from the Department of the Army, stateside and overseas major installations and school representatives addressed demanding issues such as developing systems to support the unique transition challenges for children who learn differently. Attendees convened in specific community group sessions to focus together on issues, opportunities and challenges – they walked away with draft local transition action plans for highly affected communities and a system for continued connections with those communities.