MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. - Educators from Kansas City, Mo., and Milwaukee, Wis., peeked into the jobs, benefits and lifestyles of military personnel during an educators’ workshop aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., Feb. 29.
Educators visited Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, MCAS Miramar and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in a week’s time to see the different missions of each military installation. The workshop gave the educators the tools needed to inform their students about the military.
“This opportunity opened their eyes to our world,” said Staff Sgt. Justin Park, a drill instructor with Fox Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion aboard MCRD San Diego and an escort during the workshop. “They have a clearer picture of the benefits the military offers, as well as the transition that occurs from civilian to Marine.”
While the educators toured the air station, they asked a panel of active-duty Marines questions, visited the library, The Great Escape and the education center, walked through a barracks room and explored an MV-22B Osprey, F/A-18 and an Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting fire truck.
“This was a good experience for them,” said Cpl. Jessica Wilkinson, a Milwaukee, Wis., native who participated on the panel. “A lot of high school kids don’t consider the military a good career path. The educators can go back and tell them about the benefits and their experience here.”
The workshop allowed educators to see the Marine Corps in a hands-on learning environment.
This experience gave educators the knowledge and vision to help students make a career decision in the military, added Lisa Duncan, a guidance counselor from Kansas City, Mo.
Duncan said the most useful knowledge she walked away with was the vast educational opportunities offered to active-duty service members.
“You have education counselors here and school [opportunities] available on base,” she explained. “I knew the opportunities, but I didn’t know how readily available they were.”
After a week of observing military life on multiple military installations, the educators can return to school, answering students’ military-related questions with a greater understanding of the Marine Corps.