Seniors learn about life after graduation

***image1***Kaiserslautern and a few Ramstein high school seniors learned that there was more to life after graduation than a change of address at the first 415th Base Support Battalion’s “Moving Out, Moving On” Senior Transition Fair March 22 at the Vogelweh Community Center.

“I learned a lot of things I never really thought of before,” Jamal Anene, 17, Kaiserslautern American High School senior, who will be attending college either in Texas or North Carolina.

The fair was sponsored by the 415th BSB School Liaison Officer and the Department of the Army contractors, Adolescent Substance Abuse Counseling Services. It showcased information from 15 vendors from how to file a claim with TRICARE to how to find a stateside church.

It was the seniors who came up with the idea of the fair at KMC’s 2004 Army Family Action Plan Conference, an Army-wide program that gives all members of the Army team a chance to voice concerns and raise issues to Army leadership.

“The teen focus group identified that they needed information on how to transition to college or to life outside of their parents’ home,” said Ruth Hines, ASACS clinical supervisor, who was one of the subject matter experts for the teen focus group at the 2004 AFAP conference.

This issue was not prioritized to the Europe-wide conference so Ms. Hines and Lynn Rice, 415th BSB school liaison officer, took the idea and turned it into the transition fair with assistance from the KAHS principal, Daniel Mendoza, and the KMC agencies and organizations.

“We just tried to think of the best way to get a lot of information to the seniors at once, and Mr. Mendoza told us that the week of the TerraNova (standardized testing) was the best time for the seniors to attend,” said Ms. Hines. “Mr. Mendoza is already asking for us to look into doing this fair again next year.”

Jamal, who has been in the KMC since the end of the eighth grade, also thinks the fair should continue. “It really helps you to realize that living in the states is a lot different than living here,” he said.