MCEC’s 360 Summit Visits Orange Beach, Alabama

ORANGE BEACH, Alabama — On August 15-16, 2023, education professionals representing middle and high schools within Orange Beach and Escambia County participated in a two-day summit supporting the needs of military-connected students and families. The summit was led by the nonprofit Military Child Education Coalition® (MCEC®), which serves as the national advocate for Purple Star Schools.

The MCEC 360 Summit participants included school professionals such as teachers, administrators, counselors, and school or district staff, as well as parents and students.

Welcoming remarks were delivered by Mr. Randy Wilkes, Superintendent for Orange Beach Schools, where he spoke with focus and determination to “excel in the impossible,” expressing that our military service members “protect our rights and freedoms and we are here to do the same for their children, take care of their children and create an alignment of care so they will have less to worry about when they are having to make life changing decisions for themselves and for our nation.”

The event included discussions on the Military Interstate Compact (MIC3), presentations from the School Liaison from Maxwell Air Force Base, professional development training titled Gone is Gone; and interaction with state-level MCEC Coordinators.

Day one ended with MCEC’s Tell Me A Story® event. Twenty parents and young children were treated to a reading of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by guest reader, the Foley’s Chick-Fil-A Cow (and handler, Cora Bates) at the Orange Beach Public Library. The reading was followed by fun activities and discussion groups, geared towards building strong peer and parent connections. Each family brought a copy of the book home with them for their.

On day two of the summit, 24 students and educators participated in training related to MCEC’s Student 2 Student® (S2S) program. The program trains civilian and military-connected students to establish and sustain peer-based programs in their schools to support mobile children as they transition to and from new schools.

This 360 Summit was generously funded through The Alabama State Department of Education State Fund.

About the Military Child Education Coalition:

MCEC® is a 501(c)(3) global nonprofit leadership, service delivery, and advocacy organization. MCEC supports all military-connected children by educating, advocating, and collaborating to resolve education challenges associated with the military lifestyle. Learn more about the national advocacy efforts of MCEC at MilitaryChild.org and on social media at Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

For media inquiries:

Please contact the MCEC Director of Marketing, Karen Kirk, at Karen.Kirk@MilitaryChild.org, for questions about this release.