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Pact eases military students' transition
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WASHINGTON — An interstate agreement is easing the school transition process for military children, many of whom will attend six to nine schools over the course of a parent's military career, an education official said.
The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children is a cooperative effort among 27 states to address some of the administrative challenges military children face when moving to a new school.
“The compact smoothes out the bumps in the road for military children as they move from one school district to another,” said Ed Kringer, director of state liaison and education opportunities directorate for the Pentagon's office of military community and family policy. “The goal is to ensure students can move ahead with their education wherever they go.”
Participating states work together to ensure uniform standards for processes including records transfer, course placement, graduation requirements, extracurricular participation, entrance and exit testing, and entrance-age requirements.
The compact started in 2006 as a collaborative effort among the Defense Department, Council of State Governments and other stakeholders. It’s now regulated by the states and overseen by an interstate commission.
Officials initially aimed for 10 states to sign on, but the outcome far exceeded their expectations, Kringer said. In one year, they had 11 states participating, and by 2009, 25 states had signed on. California and New Jersey are the latest to join. These 27 states contain 81 percent of the nation’s 630,000 military children, the director said.
“We’re very proud of this compact,” he said. “This has been, by far and away, the most rapidly accepted interstate compact in history. We attribute much of the success to the fact that this compact doesn’t cost very much, doesn't have a negative side; it just helps military children.”
The compact reflects input from parents, teachers, school administrators, military families, and federal, state and local officials, Kringer said. It attempts to address the many challenges that arise due to multiple military moves and other military life-related challenges.
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Groups hand out scholarships
RH theater scholarship
Richmond Hill High School senior Jacey Shanholtzer shows her Dawn Harrington Berry Spotlight Award, which was awarded by the Richmond Hill Community Theatre and includes a $500 scholarship. With her are Tom Harris, Ashlee Farris, Brett Berry and Kim Diebold. The award was created in memory of Dawn Harrington Berry, a long time RHCT member and president who died in 2016. - photo by Photo provided.

Three reports recently presented scholarships

Richmond Hill High School senior Jacey Shanholtzer received the Dawn Harrington Berry Spotlight Award, which was awarded by the Richmond Hill Community Theatre and includes a $500 scholarship. The award was created in memory of Dawn Harrington Berry, a long time RHCT member and president who died in 2016.

Garden Club

The Richmond Hill Garden Club recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Katherine Wood and a $500 scholarship to Carly Vargas, both seniors graduating from Richmond Hill High School.

The awards were presented May 8 during Honors Night at RHHS.

Wood plans to attend Green Mountain College in Vermont and major in environmental studies.

Vargas plans to attend Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, to pursue a degree in either environmental studies or biology.

The garden club awards a $1,000 scholarship annually to a local high school senior who plans to major in a field related to environmental concerns, plants and/or gardening.

This year, due to having two exceptional candidates, the garden club awarded an additional $500 scholarship.

Exchange Club

The Exchange Club of Richmond Hill recently named Caroline Odom as its student of the year.

The club each month during the school year names a student of the month, and the student of the year is chosen from among those winners.

Awards are based on academic performance, community involvement and leadership.

Monthly winners receive $100, with the annual winner getting a $1,000 scholarship.

The Exchange Club has been recognizing students for more than 30 years.

Odom will go on to compete in the Georgia District Exchange Club against students from across the state.

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