By Spc. Candace Le
89th Military Police Brigade public affairs
FORT HOOD, Texas - The end of summer marks another beginning for many young people, a new school year begins, friendships are made and another locker combination must be memorized. For the Headquarters and Headquarters Company and 178th Military Police Detachment, both a part of the 89th MP Brigade here, it means a new partnership.
Symbolized by a charter signing ceremony, Aug. 16, these two units adopted the House Creek Elementary School in Copperas Cove, Texas, after its recent completion of construction and staffing.
The MPs of Fort Hood are not new to assisting the Central Texas community schools. The 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Bde. has built a partnership with Lampassas High School where Soldiers often volunteer to tutor the students. HHC and the 178th are planning to take a different approach to helping the students at House Creek.
"Children at this age are still very impressionable," said Capt. John Drew, HHC commander. "We want to help build positive values in the early stages, for later on in life. There's more that we can bring than just our skill set as Soldiers."
Future activities that have been discussed include visits from the Drugs and Alcohol Resistance Education team, a bike rodeo hosted by the bike patrol and military working dog demonstrations. Their first act as teammates was assisting on the first day of school with traffic control as students and parents found their way into the new facility.
Not much is needed, though, according to Larea Gamble, principle of House Creek Elementary. Simply making appearances at the school will be a comfort for students whose parents may be deployed.
"We consider you role models for our students," Gamble said. "We have a lot of children with deployed parents. You'll have rockstar status."
"Sometimes just being around is good for the kids," Drew said. "Now they won't have to ask, 'What does daddy really do when he goes to work?'"
Some parents are also excited for the new partnership.
"I was so excited to hear it was MPs," said Amanda Mitchell, mother of 6 year old Caiden who will be starting first grade at the school next week. "I feel safer with the military's finest here."
It's not all for the kids, though. Getting away from the everyday military routine once in a while has shown to boost Soldiers' morale and motivation.
"It's like therapy for Soldiers," said Col. Patrick Williams, 89th MP Bde. commander. "We are really excited and looking forward to working with the school."
After the charter signing, a flag detail comprised of the HHC first sergeant and Soldiers of both units raised the school's first American flag in front of a crowd of dozens of soon to be new students and parents from the community. The ribbon at the entrance was then cut by school officials marking the beginning of a new school year and a new friendship.
| Date Taken: | 08.16.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.23.2011 15:53 |
| Story ID: | 75800 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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