KASB Member Engagement Staff members Rachel Thomas and Alec Madrigal write about their experiences growing up in military communities to celebrate Veteran's Day. Rachel Thomas shares her realization of the influence her dad's service and the local military community played in the services offered in her schools. Alec Madrigal explains the differences and similarities of ten different public schools across the nation and world.
Rachel Thomas
I had just won an essay writing contest and was informed I would read aloud my essay about good citizenship to the entire school. Most 13-year-old students would be nervous about speaking in front of a crowd, but that wasn’t necessarily the case for me. I was only sad that my father, who was deployed in Kuwait, wouldn’t get to celebrate the milestone with me. Fast forward to the day of the big essay assembly and I got my wish, my dad was able to come on a break to attend the assembly and hear my essay about citizenship. I can’t quite remember how it started, something about citizenship being about values, but I remember pausing and telling my entire school that the person who taught me about good citizenship was able to attend today on break from his deployment. Then, I immediately burst into tears in front of the whole school.
13-year-old me had a healthy dose of embarrassment for ugly crying and having my dad come up to give me a hug in front of my middle school crushes. What happened after made me realize the impact our troops and veterans made in my school community. The rest of the day in class and on the school bus, my classmates and teachers came up to me to share their own stories and struggles of deployment and the ways in which it influenced how they conducted themselves. I started to see the values of resilience, perseverance, and loyalty as themes in our curriculum. I realized why we had the support services we had, such as group counseling for children with deployed parents. At the time, I thought it was because I was going to school on base in Fort Leavenworth.
The realizations magnified as I completed my K-12 education at Leavenworth High School. Veterans day was more than the long parade and discount meals at the local Applebee's and IHOP (where I expertly learned as a child the art of waiting for your table). It was the precision and tenacity our band instructor invoked as we practiced parade marching in the neighborhood near the high school. It was our teachers who saw many of my classmates, who from an early age yearned to serve their country, and knew what they taught in the classroom today built a foundation for our future troops. It was the push and investment in technology and efficient communication, so our family overseas could have the same level of access and insight into their children’s education as our family in Leavenworth. Pioneer pride meant we knew what we owed to our classmates and to our community, and we were honored to serve each other in little ways. When our local schools can mirror their communities’ values, we know we are doing best by our students.
I still get choked up as an adult when I think about my grandfather who served in World War II and my father who served in Desert Storm. Their sacrifice and service to our country helped build my foundation to go on and serve all Kansas students.
Alec Madrigal
I’ve been enrolled in over 10 public schools in 6 different states and 2 different countries. Yep, you read that right, 10 public schools! To some, that may sound like a lot, but to other kids with an active military parent, that’s pretty normal.
From the day I was born, I was a military kid. With that came a variety of challenges and opportunities, in both my personal and school career. One of the biggest challenges I had throughout my primary and secondary education was the constant upheaval I was put through every couple of years. Every three years or so, we would pack everything we owned and move to a new state or country. To say that was tough is a bit of an understatement. As a young child, friends were an important part of my life, but unfortunately, they were never a part of my life for long. This was really challenging for me. I didn’t have those lifelong/childhood friends that most people had the opportunity to have. Every time I went to a new school, I had to start over and work to make new friends.
Now, while all of those previous things may sound like it would come at a detriment for a young kid, in the end, I would say I benefited more than anything. The military lifestyle allowed me to be exposed to a multitude of experiences most children never get to have. During my preschool years, I was enrolled in an Italian school and learned to speak Italian (which I later lost due to not using it). And during my high school years, I had the opportunity to live and go to school in Germany.
I had the chance to experience public education in schools across our country. At every single one, I experienced the same kindness and understanding from all of my teachers. They all understood I was coming from a place where I had to start fresh, and they were nothing but helpful throughout. Always ensuring I was introduced to the entire class, always making sure I was doing okay on my first few weeks, and always ensuring my adjustment to the new environment went smoothly. My successful transitions through public schools could never have been done without the support and dedication of the teachers and staff within those schools.
The military offered me a world of opportunities I could have never dreamed of. Not only did I get to travel, but I also developed a great many interpersonal skills due to the military lifestyle. From my ability to adapt to my willingness to try new things, I attribute it all to the military and the opportunities it gave me. Without it, I would never have become the person I am proud to be today. So, thank you, Dad, for all you did for me and the family, and a heartfelt thank you to all the other veterans out there who chose to serve this country of ours.
Happy Veteran’s Day.
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