Veterans helping kids: The idea is simple: Vets need a mission, and kids need mentors

Ron White shows photos of military jets to a fifth-grade math class at Calvin Donaldson. White volunteers at the school and the students wanted to see the planes that he flew in the military.
Ron White shows photos of military jets to a fifth-grade math class at Calvin Donaldson. White volunteers at the school and the students wanted to see the planes that he flew in the military.

The mission has moved to the classroom.

A new local nonprofit, Get Veterans Involved, is working to put recently returned combat veterans into local elementary schools. The thinking was simple: Many groups exist to work with school students. Likewise, lots of organizations exist solely to help military veterans. But few have thought of pairing the two.

The group will pay recently honorably discharged vets to work with local students for a few hours a week while the vets go to school or train for new jobs. GVI director and co-founder Bob Kincaid said many veterans feel lost without the sense of mission the military provides. And thousands of veterans are returning to civilian life as the military continues a massive draw-down of forces after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They've got no mission. No purpose. The hope is to give them purpose," he said. "If we can have these service members recognize these kids need them, we have a mission for them."

Kincaid said the program will help in two ways: Veterans will be more rooted as they transition out of military life. And kids will gain exposure to military vets as well as have positive role models in the schools.

photo Ron White works with Tay'Viona Harris in a Calvin Donaldson fifth-grade math class.

"We mentor the kids, who then mentor the vets," Kincaid said.

Volunteers are piloting the program in five elementary schools this year: Calvin Donaldson, DuPont, East Lake, Hardy and Woodmore. Next school year, they'll place paid veterans in as many classrooms as funding and personnel will allow.

Participants don't bring a curriculum to teach. Rather, they're on hand to help in any way teachers ask.

When the group first approached Calvin Donaldson Principal Cherrye Robertson, they told her they would be willing to do anything. They had envisioned working with fourth- and fifth-graders, but she had another idea. She wanted them to work with kindergartners learning the letters of the alphabet during the first few weeks of school.

Most of Calvin Donaldson's students are from low-income families. Many students enter kindergarten unable to recognize any letters at all -- an important building block for further learning. But with the help of volunteers this fall, the students made unprecedented gains.

"Right now all of my kindergartners know all of their letters, which is phenomenal," Robertson said. "We've never had all the kindergartners in the whole building know all their letters at this time of year."

Robertson said the veterans have provided both academic and social support to her students. They're helping to boost achievement, but they're also able to talk about patriotism and their service and can help students apply abstract concepts to real-life examples.

photo Ron White works with Colbe Haddox in a Calvin Donaldson fifth-grade math class.

"They find ways to instill those stories in there to where the kids really understand, wow, this person has seen it or this person has been through it," she said. "It makes learning more powerful."

School volunteers tend to come and go, Robertson said. But she said ex-service members tend to be punctual and reliable.

"If you can promise me you're going to be here when you say you're going to be here, I'm all for you being in the building," she said. "But you've got to show up consistently."

The number of veterans hired -- and the number of schools served -- will rely heavily on funding, said Ron White, GVI's other director and co-founder. The group received a $9,690 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga and is actively seeking funders.

"We're looking at foundations, businesses, individuals and grants," he said. "We're just looking at various sources of funding right now."

Aside from monetary donations, local employers can pitch in by allowing their veteran employees to volunteer in a classroom for one hour once a week.

If the program is successful in Hamilton County, the founders hope it could be a model for other schools and cities across the U.S.

"The vision is for this one day to be in school districts around the country," White said.

Contact staff writer Kevin Hardy at khardy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.

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