Supporting military families ‘in the bag’ at ECS

Saying that something is “in the bag” is slang for “it’s a certainty.”

It’s also the name of a five-year-old campaign to welcome military students to the Enterprise City Schools.

It is, in fact, a certainty that the “It’s in the Bag” welcome campaign has been a success, according to organizers.

“It’s in the Bag” is a partnership between Enterprise City Schools, Fort Rucker School Liaison Officer Kim Kozel and the Enterprise Chamber of Commerce.

“This is a partnership effort to welcome our new military students,” said ECS Military Family Support Liaison Christie Faulkner, whose job as school liaison officer is to assist students and military families in transitioning to a new school.

The purpose of the School Liaison Program is to coordinate with and assist school-aged children of military parents with educational information necessary to succeed in an academic environment and to ensure that new students of military families are welcomed into a nurturing environment, Faulkner said.

“New military-family member students in the Enterprise elementary schools are given backpacks containing school supplies and information pertaining to the school system, as well as Fort Rucker and Enterprise,” Faulkner said. “Transitioning to a new location, routine and school can be challenging. We offer this program to ensure each new military student feels welcome and understands that we are here to help to make the transition process a smooth one.”

Kozel serves as the Fort Rucker Youth Education Support Services school liaison contact person for the city schools in the municipalities surrounding the Home of Army Aviation. Part of her function is to provide military leadership with the support necessary to coordinate with military parents of school-aged children on education-related issues and to promote and educate local communities and schools regarding the needs of military children.

“The Enterprise City School System is highly committed to serving those stationed at Fort Rucker, as 39 percent of our student population is a part of the Fort Rucker family,” Faulkner said. “To that end, my position as Military Family Support Liaison was created to assist in transitions and offer support to military dependent students and their families.

“We have many different programs in place to support our military students and families,” Faulkner said. “There is a Junior Student 2 Student® program for middle school level students that brings military and civilian students together to welcome new students, create a positive environment, support academic excellence and ease transitions.” The Student 2 Student program is a similar program for high school students.

“Traditionally in the fall we host Military Appreciation Night to celebrate the Month of the Military Family and in the spring we host a Spring Carnival in April to celebrate Month of the Military Child.

“The ‘It’s in the Bag Campaign,’ military socials and the JS2S and S2S programs are all excellent ways to make sure our military students are transitioning well and feel welcome in Enterprise,” she added.