Working on an A+ - schools on military bases for children of personnel

Airman, March, 2001 by Louis A. Arana-Barradas

Defense department schools aim to boost sagging grades

Devin Willis is a bright child, but he had problems in school. At times unruly and hard to manage, he fell behind his fellow third-graders. That worried his mom, Barbie.

She knew there was a reason for his conduct. At his elementary school at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, his teachers thought the same thing. But they didn't write him off as a problem child.

The assistant principal asked Barbie, then assistant lodging manager, to join a group of teachers to find a way to help Devin. Just the invite amazed Barbie, who'd never gotten help with Devin at other schools. The meeting was a surprise, too.

"No one jumped to conclusions," she said. "They listened to me -- really wanted to help." The group, with Barbie's OK, decided Devin should undergo a series of tests. They revealed he has attention deficit disorder, something Barbie didn't know. It scared her, of course.

"But I finally knew what troubled Devin," she said. "It was the first step to dealing with it."

To stay in school, Devin would need constant supervision. Barbie, a single mother, wondered how. The teachers had the solution: a support group to give Devin one-on-one attention at school. So, Devin got a dozen new volunteer "moms" and did well in school the rest of the year.

Barbie loved being part of the solution, but admits she didn't expect the help she received.

"They cared," she said. "I wouldn't have gotten that kind of help at a school back home."

Of course, Devin's story isn't the norm. Because not all the 117 Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Europe can give each of their 49,000 students the same individual help.

They would if it were up to Diana Ohman. The deputy director for DODDS-Europe, she said teachers and administrators have a clear mission: providing students the best education possible.

"But we must do more," she said. "We can't stay focused on the classroom. We have to connect with the people in our community." However, it's a two-way street.

Checking attendance

Parents and military leaders must also take a more active role in school affairs, she said. They must voice their opinions on what they want for their children. Help make decisions, volunteer and be mentors. And military leaders must join them.

"It takes all of us working together to educate these kids," she said. "Because if one of us isn't there, it's the kids who will fail."

Nobody wants that, of course. Especially Gen. Gregory Martin, who commands U.S. Air Forces in Europe. He leads 35,000 airmen and civilians with some 14,700 school-age children. He knows how important the education of their children is to his troops.

"If they become distracted or dissatisfied with [their children's education], then they won't be focused on the mission," Martin said.

Ohman, a private pilot herself, said, in that case ensuring children have a top-notch education becomes more than just a key quality of life issue. Pilots don't want to jump in their aircraft and think about whether their kids are OK in school.

"So we work hard to ensure they don't have that worry," she said.

The Air Force has taken a big interest in the schools in their communities, she said. Still, the military school system in Europe -- it reaches from Iceland to Turkey -- has problems that have been around a long time. It'll take a team effort to fix them, she said.

One problem being met head-on is communication, which some schools didn't have with local military officials. At most bases, school principals now attend commander staff meetings. That lets them understand the "military goings on" and be part of the community leadership.

"I'm not just invited to staff meetings because I have to be," said Doug McEnery, high school principal at Aviano Air Base, Italy. "Base leaders have kids in school, too. So they have a personal interest in seeing us do well. They genuinely want to know how they can help."

That's a change from the school-military relationship when he started working in military schools 20 years ago. He's never seen the "military so interested in schools" as they are now. That "makes a big difference in how we do business," which equates to more help, he said.

"And in the long run, it's our students who benefit," McEnery said.

Fran Austin, the elementary school principal at Incirlik, has been with DODDS 11 years. She's noticed the change, too. "It's like the military has adopted us," she said.

That's particularly true at Incirlik. Base units have adopted entire grades at the elementary school to mentor and help with the children. And the school has more than 300 volunteer helpers.

But not all schools get the support they need, Ohman said. And there are other problems. Some schools are overcrowded and some bases must lease schools. Plus, it's hard to keep good teachers. And some parents gripe that schools don't provide all the educational opportunities that'll help their children get into top colleges and universities.

Finding fixes