Home is Where the Military Takes Me

Students of military families attend six to nine different school systems during their K-12 careers, making consistent access to high-quality education an ongoing concern. 

Because the challenging Advanced Placement framework is uniform across the country, NMSI identified the opportunity to expand its College Readiness Program to military families. Whenever and wherever military families are transferred, the program ensures the nation’s 2 million military-connected students can benefit from well-trained teachers, challenging AP coursework, and a strong foundation in STEM subjects that will prepare them for the rigors of college and career.

Recently, we got the chance to connect with Christina Toler, a student at Grovetown High School with a busy schedule. When she’s not at school or applying for colleges, she’s interning as a computer aide with the Department of Defense or volunteering on the Red Cross Youth Board in her community. She loves music, computer science and exploring new languages – recently, she's been practicing her Spanish and Korean.
 
Two years ago, Christina and her family left their home in Maryland after her dad was transferred to an army base in Georgia.
 
It was really hard at first because the curriculums in the schools didn’t match up and I didn’t know anyone.

She shared that she struggled the most with her math class and went to tutoring every day to catch up in the new school.
 
Since she transferred to Grovetown High School, Christina has taken more than six different AP classes.
 
I really love AP classes just because of how challenging they are and how they prepare us for college. Being able to dual-enroll at college right now, I can really see the benefit that AP classes have on college readiness. I really just love the challenge.
 
Christina mentioned that NMSI's Student Study Sessions helped to get her back on track and prepared for the upcoming exams.
 
I was very fortunate to move to Grovetown for the exact three years that NMSI was there. They provided really good support for my AP classes. Teachers flew from across the U.S. to teach us on Saturdays and it gave us a different perspective to learn from, which was really cool for us.
 
After she graduates in May, Christina hopes to go to Georgia Tech and become a computer engineer.
 
Since 2010, NMSI's Military Families Mission has grown from just four military-connected schools serving Fort Hood and Fort Campbell to 217 schools across 31 states, serving 93 installations of all four Armed Services.

 

Learn more about NMSI's work to support students of military families and follow along with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as we feature more stories like Christina’s.
 
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