Four of the nearly 48 students of the Student 2 Student program at Clements/Parsons Elementary School cheered, blew horns, clanged bells and sprayed Silly String when they found out they had won a national award Wednesday afternoon.
The students won the Military Child Education Coalitionâs annual Elementary Student 2 Student Team of the Year Award.
âMan, what an honor. Those kids were juiced, werenât they?â Superintendent Joe Burns said, who was in attendance to witness their reaction to the announcement. âThey were excited about that.â
One of the students that was part of the program and who was on hand to witness the announcement was soon-to-be fifth grader Ajiyah Ruffin.
COPPERAS COVE â Room 12 of the kindergarten hallway at Clements/Parsons Elementary School in Copperas Cove erupted in shouts of triumph Wednesday afternoon.
Four students and four faculty members of the Student 2 Student program found out they had won a national award, learning that they were truly the top Dawgs in the nation.
The students won the Military Child Education Coalitionâs annual Elementary Student 2 Student Team of the Year Award.
MCEC is a nonprofit organization that is based in Harker Heights. Founded in 1998, it focuses on ensuring quality educational opportunity for veteran-connected children in the United States.
âI am ecstatic â Iâm on cloud nine,â said Audrey Trahan, a counselor at the school and the lead representative for the S2S program. âI cannot believe that we won.â
Clements/Parsons Elementary School counselor Julie Armstrong served as a military spouse for 23 years and sent her oldest son to seven different schools in his first 12 years of public education. Constantly moving, military children experience being âthe new kidâ repeatedly throughout their elementary and secondary careers.
âI can only imagine how my son would have been thrilled to be welcomed and included on his first day at each of the schools he attended,â Armstrong said. âThe main mission of the Student 2 Student Program at Clements/Parsons Elementary is to welcome all students, although it also benefits the militarily connected ones, to our campus.â
COPPERAS COVE â The Military Child Education Coalition has announced the top three finalists for the organizationâs annual Elementary Student 2 Student Team of the Year competition and Copperas Cove Independent School Districtâs Clements/Parsons Elementary School is on the list.
The S2S program brings military and civilian students together to welcome incoming classmates, create positive environments, support academic excellence and ease transitions for military-connected students around the world. Clements/Parsons Elementary School counselor Audrey Trahan said it is the students leading the program that make it effective.
âThe success of the program is mainly because of the student buy-in,â Trahan said. âThey are the ones that do most of the leg work and ensure that every new student on our campus feels welcomed and accepted.â
WASHINGTON â In the middle of the afternoon one day last week at Shepaug Valley School, students Audrey Trahan, Emma Raymond, and Isabelle Easley cleaned stalls, fed sheep and groomed horses.
The three girls are enrolled in the schoolâs regional agriscience program, which opened last August. Agricultural Science and Technology Education programs are state funded and prepare students for college and careers in fields such as animal science, agricultural mechanics, aquaculture, biotechnology, food science, and marine technology. There are about 20 ASTE programs in the state.
âThe agriscience program extends far beyond the classroom walls,â Principal Kim Gallo said. âThis is a working farm. They learn by being part of a working farm.â