Naval Support Activity Panama City (NSA PC) held their 5th Annual Education Partnership Award Ceremony, June 9.

The ceremony recognized military members and civilian employees, from all of the tenant commands on base, who have volunteered ten or more hours in any education-related work for the 2014-15 school year. This included a wide array of efforts such as participation in Klothes for Kids, helping with field trips or school events, the Three Rivers Science Fair, the Science Brothers outreach program, mentoring, Lego/robot teams, the Junior Achievement program, and sweat efforts like pressure cleaning, painting, moving furniture, and landscaping.

In total, these volunteers and mentors served over 3,000 hours and impacted approximately 8,400 students this school year in Bay District Schools.

NSA PC School Liaison Officer, Ms. Lynda Brown said that military families face many obstacles and problems in the education of their children and need educators who have their best interest at heart.

"Having understanding people who care is absolutely vital in meeting the educational needs and overall well-being of our military-dependent children in school, and this ceremony recognizes the best area educators, who are making a difference in the lives of our military dependent children," said Brown.

Several area educators received an Education Appreciation Award for going the extra mile to meet the unique educational challenges of military families. These educators were nominated by parents of military-dependent children or their school's administrators because they demonstrated a true concern for the well-being of military students and have impacted their educational lives in a positive manner.

One such educator is Janet Bailey, who is a guidance counselor at Breakfast Point Academy and helps new military-dependent students through this difficult transition by serving as the sponsor of the Junior Student 2 Student, or JS2S, program at her school.

"Military families move an average of every 2.9 years, and most military-dependent children will attend six to nine different schools from kindergarten through grade twelve. Needless to say, this causes a great deal of stress on the children," said Bailey.

Bailey and several student leaders first attended the JS2S training that was provided by the U.S. Navy through the Military Child Education Coalition, and then they initiated the program at their school. New students are paired up with JS2S members who introduce them to the school campus, help them make new friends, and teach them about the area. Attending the ceremony with Ms. Bailey were three of the JS2S members who helped to make all of this happen: Carsen Prater, Alayna Fowler, and Seth Ward.

While recognizing Bailey and her JS2S students, Ms. Brown thanked them for their efforts to help new students feel welcome and adjust well to their new surroundings.

More than 50 mentors, volunteers and educators were recognized today for their work and Bay County School District's superintendent was on hand to help honor them.

"Supporting military dependents who attend our schools is of utmost importance," said Superintendent Bill Husfelt. "Teachers, with the support of our administrators and staff throughout our school district, recognize the special challenges for those who serve in the military and we understand that it is the entire family who serves."

For more news from Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, visit www.navy.mil/.