News

Military child conference draws representatives from across state

  • Published
  • By Jenny Gordon
  • Robins Public Affairs
The Second Annual Georgia Military Child Education Conference was conducted Sept. 28 at the Museum of Aviation.

Hosted by Robins and the Houston County Board of Education, the one-day conference brought together installation school liaison officers and education and military representatives from across the state to discuss issues important to military children and families.

Following a full day of breakout sessions, goals were set for the year, including developing a framework for putting together a state council, along with a commissioner, to oversee important topics related to military families.

That includes progress updates on the recently signed Interstate Compact on Military Child Education, which Gov. Nathan Deal signed. Georgia became the 42nd state to sign the compact, which seeks to make transitions easier for children when they transfer between school systems in the U.S.

Col. Mitchel Butikofer, installation commander, proposed to include a letter to the governor, signed by all of Georgia's installation commanders, to receive progress updates on the implementation of the interstate compact, as well as getting a commissioner appointed.

Two recipients also received the 2012 Military Child Education Impact Award, which recognizes an organization and an individual who has made a difference in the lives of military children. The organization winner was Linwood Elementary School; the individual winner was Laura Melnick, guidance counselor at Matt Arthur Elementary School.

Linwood was recognized for its activities celebrating April 2012 as the Month of the Military Child, and Melnick for implementing Houston County schools' first deployment support group, which included working with more than 200 students to help them cope with family member deployments.