From fun lunch sessions with the military and family life counselor to a peer support group for students new to campus, West Lauderdale’s three schools are going out of the way to make the children of military service members feel welcome.

“Students who move to our school can sometimes find it hard to adjust, and military students especially can have a hard time adjusting academically and socially as they transition to a new school with new teachers and new peers,” said Amy Fairchild, the school counselor at West Lauderdale Middle School, who also serves as the Military Star Schools ambassador.

To help these students make the transition, West Lauderdale’s military and family life counselor, Bryce Buttrill, works hard to make sure the students are making friends, getting involved with activities and organizations, keeping up with their school work and adjusting to their new surroundings.

She and other faculty and staff are making sure the important role military personnel play in the nation is being recognized.

For instance, a special video was created and shared honoring veterans and active duty military on Veteran’s Day last November. The high school’s National Honor Society sponsored a project to send holiday cards to deployed service members with more than 430 cards collected. A display case at the high school was decorated to honor military personnel.

In addition, April 19 has been named “Purple Up! Day,” and all students at West Lauderdale Middle School are encouraged to wear purple in recognition of military members and their families. On April 15, a Purple Up! Day 5K Run is being sponsored by the honor society at Lake Okatibbee. Also, April is designed as Month of the Military Child.

Because of the work they are doing for military-connected children, West Lauderdale’s elementary, middle and high schools are among five schools in the Lauderdale County School District to be named among the state’s first Military Star Schools.

Northeast Elementary and Northeast High schools also were selected for the designation by the Mississippi Department of Education. Altogether, 61 schools in Mississippi were named the state’s first Military Star Schools.

The Military Star School program was created by Gov. Tate Reeves through an executive order in February 2022. That order makes Mississippi one of 31 states with formal programs recognizing schools that support military families.

“We are thrilled to have five Lauderdale County School District schools recognized with this distinction,” said Superintendent Dr. John-Mark Cain. “It signals our dedication to providing military students and their families the supports needed to be successful in our schools.”

The Military Star School program is designed to help schools respond to the educational and social-emotional challenges faced by children of service members who are either on active duty or in the National Guard or Reserves.

Schools must meet specific requirements to qualify for the designation, including having a dedicated school liaison for military families, providing transition services and peer support, ensuring professional development for staff to better meet the needs of military students and families, and publicly recognizing service members and their families.

“By having the designation as a Military Star School, military families who move into our community from out of state will know that West Lauderdale has the resources and can provide what is necessary to help their children make the adjustment to a new school,” Fairchild said.

Lauderdale County is home to two military installations, Naval Air Station Meridian and the Mississippi Air National Guard at Keyfield. The county school district has numerous students connected to both bases with West Lauderdale having the largest contingent of military-connected children.

Buttrill serves all three of the West Lauderdale campuses. Kendra Blakely serves as the military and family life counselor at the three Northeast school campuses.

All five of Lauderdale County schools chosen will be honored as inaugural Military Star Schools by Reeves and the education department during a ceremony on April 18 at Brandon High School.

These five LCSD schools’ designations as Military Star Schools will remain in effect for two years, 2023-2025. They can reapply for the designation after the two years, and new schools can apply to receive the designation next year.

“We will continue to work toward having more Lauderdale County schools earning this distinction as well,” Cain said.