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Wearing a Kaiserslautern High School Raiders baseball cap, Maj. Gen. Patricia McQuistion, the commanding general of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, signed a proclamation to announce the partnership between the 21st TSC and KHS Oct. 15 at the Galaxy Theater on Vogelweh.
Making the proclamation signing even more official and appropriate, the signatures were put to paper at the 2010 Hispanic American Heritage Month Celebration, which was organized and presented by KHS with assistance from the 21st TSC and the 7th Civil Support Command Equal Opportunity offices.
Also signed by 21st TSC Command Sgt. Maj. James Spencer, Kaiserslautern District Superintendent Dell McMullen, KHS Principal Jennifer Beckwith and KHS student body president Matt Harvey, the proclamation officially kicks off a partnership that has been in the planning stages for several months.
“General McQuistion came to my office this summer and said, ‘I want to do something for this school.’ It is not often that you have a general come to you and say I want to do something for your school,” Ms. Beckwith said. “Not only did she say that, she put her force and might behind it and started what she said was an adopt-a-school program, which is a national program, but had never been implemented in this community.”
Even before the proclamation signing, the partnership between the 21st TSC and KHS got off to a very successful start with the KHS Open House in September.
“We’ve just begun this partnership, and one of the first things they did was work with the Parent, Teacher, Student Organization at our open house,” Ms. Beckwith said. “The leaders from (the 21st TSC’s) Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers came to help us. We had an open house with around 380 to 400 people. It was instrumental for them to be able to help us because the parents were in (seeing the teachers) so they couldn’t be the volunteers to do it. The 21st TSC folks stepped up for us.”
Eventually, the partnership will also include a mentoring program where Soldiers will be able to mentor students at the high school, even during the duty day, and encourage them in their academic studies.
“That’s what we’re looking for. The end result is academic achievement for the kids,” Ms. Beckwith said.
It’s an end result that will benefit KHS students — past, present and future — for a very long time.
“More than anything I would like to highlight how important this program will be to the students and how it will benefit us for years to come,” Matt said. “After these current students are gone, this program will continue to provide for our school and keep us running and keep us Raider strong.”
