MADISON, Ala. (WHNT) — Liberty Middle School’s Student2Student program won multiple national awards in August and was recognized for them at Madison City School Board’s meeting Thursday.
The most notable award: Elite Team of the Year. This means they were recognized as being the best S2S program in the nation, measured up against schools at every grade level.
“We are making a change in this world, even if it’s piece-by-piece or state-by-state,” Former Liberty Middle School S2S Member Grant Jauken said. Jauken is now an S2S member at James Clemens High School, where he is a freshman.
Student2Student is an initiative focused on welcoming and integrating students coming from a military-connected family into school. It is primarily focused on those who may have moved and feel a loss of community to feel strongly supported.
“It’s very important to have someone there your first month of school to make sure you adjust, find the people you connect with, and to make sure school is not a place to be feared of, to be scared of,” Jauken said.
Recognized as a Purple Heart school, Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols shared that roughly 25% of the Madison City Schools student body is a part of a military-connected family. Being a military child himself, he resonates with and commends the work Student2Student does.
“There’s somebody there waiting on them,” Dr. Nichols said. “And, not just when we enroll you and get you in. Maybe when your mom or dad is deployed, and you need that support.”
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