AUGUST 5, 2016
USAG BAVARIA
ACES NEWS
CHANGE OF COMMAND ED CENTERS WELCOME NEW ESS’ page 1
VOL. 1, ISSUE 3
FAST CLASS SOLDIERS EXCEL TO IMPROVE GT SCORE page 4
COUNSELOR CORNER YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT SCHOOL ANSWERED page 6
NEW ESS’ FOR ED CENTERS
Susanne Prindall, Hohenfels Education Center ESS
Photo by Lorain Ambrocio
Ed Centers welcome new ESS’, visions for better community outreach Two new Education Services Specialists have landed in Bavaria with one goal in mind: to help Service Members excel in their education through the means of community outreach. In Grafenwoehr, Germany, Erin Sorensen sits in her new office well before opening hours, coming up with needs assessment surveys and outreach techniques for the community. As 7:30 a.m. nears, she begins to
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greet new and old Service Members, counseling them from how to begin school to benefits that begin after serving in the Army. Since starting her new position as the ESS, Sorensen has made the Tower Barracks Education Center a fully functional center with a readily available computer lab for Service and Family Members to use, counseling services and school representatives. Sorensen has big visions to make the education center and its resources more accessible for the community, as some of her goals include enhancing how individuals receive services, expanding hours and having readily available information.
Photo courtesy of Erin Sorensen Tower Barracks (Grafenwoehr) Education Center ESS
“Generally have a larger presence by conducting outreach to leaders in the community, such as command teams and family readiness groups,” Sorensen said.
Prior to working with the Army Continuing Education System, Sorensen was a school counselor working with students from grades K-12. She later went on to work as a career counselor with the Transition Assistance Program, where she helped Service Members and Dependents identify career goals and resources as they prepared to re-enter society as Civilians. Sorensen earned her master’s degree in education and human resource studies from Colorado State University. “I was drawn to the human services field because there are individuals walking around ready to meet their potential with the right information and support,” she said. “Pursuing an advanced degree allowed me to turn my interest into a profession.” Sorensen has spent the last year working as a career counselor in Bavaria for transitioning Army Service Members and Families before becoming the ESS for Grafenwoehr. “I enjoy working with the Military because of the opportunity to make a difference,” Sorensen said. “Service Members comprise a population rife with rich experiences that can be difficult to frame or describe, especially as they relate either toward the advancement of their career in either the Army or the Civilian sector.” An hour south from Tower Barracks, Susanne Prindall quickly changes out of her flats for work heels, grabs her calendar and notebook and races out the door to arrive early for her meeting. She does this another three times throughout her day before settling in to her quaint office for the remainder of the day, planning and creating marketing and education outreach strategies for the Hohenfels community. “I feel that you need to have that personal relationship with people, to talk to them on a personal level and connect with them better if you’re a part of that community,” Prindall said. “It’s better that way, so they know there’s a face at the education center.”
“It may not always be the easiest path. It’s a winding road, and it may not go as fast as you want it to, but you’ll get there.” - Susanne Prindall
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ACES NEWS
Like Sorensen, Prindall’s plans for the Hohenfels Education Center are to utilize community outreach in order to reach as many Service Members as possible by letting them know what the center has to offer. This can pave the way to those Service Members to raise their GT scores, attend Army schools, prepare them for college, and help them become an overall well-rounded and educated Soldier.
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Monthly Tips for:
MyCAA
“I want to be an integral part of the community,” Prindall said. Prindall grew up in Augsburg, Germany and met her husband in Hohenfels in 2005. After finishing her bachelor’s degree in secondary education at the University of Bamberg, Susanne and her husband got stationed in Fort Riley, Kan. “I’ve always wanted to work with adults to find their path in life with education goals. I find it rewarding because adults have that intrinsic motivation,” she said. “They want to be there. You see progress, you see lights going on that say ‘that sounds like a good idea.’” While in Kansas, Prindall received her master’s of science degree in adult education and conflict resolution, and then went through a series of PCS moves to San Antonio, Texas, Fort Riley, Kan., Fort Carson, Colo., and finally back to Hohenfels, Germany. Prindall had plans of completing her doctoral degree at the University of Regensburg, but put them on hold in order to take the position of ESS at the education center. “There’s a possibility of going back, or even go to Boston for the PhD program there, but time and commitment are a factor,” she said. However, Prindall enjoys her position as the ESS and working with Service Members to better their education. “We need to change how education can be made more available to Soldiers, and how colleges can make Service Members feel more welcomed,” Prindall said. “It is important to look at the whole picture, and to make Veterans comfortable in the classroom.” By using more community outreach, Prindall hopes to change how Service Members think about education, and use the resources at the education center more. “Everyone has a different goal. It’s important to focus on yourself and where you want to go in life, but also talk to someone to make sure you achieve that,” she said. “It may not always be the easiest path. It’s a winding road, and it may not go as fast as you want it to, but you’ll get there.”
MyCAA is a career development and employment assistance program sponsored by the DoD. MyCAA helps Military Spouses pursue licenses, certificates, certifications or associate’s degrees necessary for gainful employment in high demand and high growth Portable Career Fields and Occupations. For more information, visit https://airport.acc.af.mil/ mycaa/Default.aspx
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FAST class aims to improve Service Members’ GT score
The Functional Academic Skills Training (FAST) class provides Service Members with on-duty instruction of 60 hours of classroom time with an instructor teaching arithmetic reasoning, word knowledge and paragraph comprehension. After taking the FAST class, the Service Members can take the Armed Forces Classification Test (AFCT) to improve their GT score. These are the top four Service Members who excelled in improving their GT score the most during the June FAST class held at Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany and Hohenfels, Germany.
SGT Joseph Gregory improved his GT score by 34 points at the Vilseck FAST class. Photo by Crystal Detwiler
SPC Valdeta Mehanja improved her GT score by 16 points at the Hohenfels FAST class. Photo by Lorain Ambrocio
SGT Marcos Rotger improved his GT score by 20 points at the Vilseck FAST class. Photo by Crystal Detwiler
SGT Nicholas Sohn improved his GT score by 14 points at the Vilseck FAST class. Photo by Orienna Fitzpatrick
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UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES MBA program begins in October
The first Masters of Business Administration program with on-site classes will begin October on post in Grafenwoehr. This program aims to help students gain the skills and abilities desired by today’s employers by enhancing their competencies in finance, marketing, strategy and leadership. The 36-credit MBA program consists of six courses. Each course is six credits and is offered as a hybrid— combining on-site and online instruction. Courses are typically 11 weeks in length and meet on-site for three weekends. Students are recommended to apply to the program early. The first on-site course of the program is PRO 600: Communicating, Problem Solving and Leading in Professional Fields. Contact the UMUC Grafenwoehr office at CIV 09641-83-5226, the UMUC Vilseck office at CIV 09662-832462 or the Hohenfels UMUC office at CIV 09472-83-4106. You can also visit www.umuc.edu/mba for more information.
Army Reserve Minuteman Scholarship The U.S Army Reserve Minuteman Scholarship was introduced in 2015 to facilitate the recruitment of qualified cadets. Minuteman scholarships cover 4 years of full tuition and fees (uncapped) or $10,000 for room and board at any college or university served by an Army ROTC program. Recipients also receive a yearly book allowance of $1,200 and a monthly stipend from $3oo to $500 while attending school. Minuteman scholarship recipients are required to serve in the Simultaneous Membership Program, which provides experience with an Army Reserve unit while earning money for their service. Scholarship recipients are guaranteed placement in the Army Reserve following graduation and commissioning. Current students are required to have a 2.5 GPA to accept the scholarship and a 2.0 GPA to maintain eligibility. The 2016 deadline for applying for these scholarships is August 15. Additional scholarship information and requirements can be found at: www.usar.army.mil/MinutemanScholarship
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ACES NEWS
Counselor Corner As your education counselor, I am here to assist you with any questions you may have about going to school or money for school, whether that means using tuition assistance, the GI Bill, scholarships or financial aid. I would also love to help with issues regarding GoArmyEd, the VIA tool in GoArmyEd and your Joint Services Transcripts. Each newsletter, I will be answering a commonly asked question I hear from Service Members who stop by my office.
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TODAY’S QUESTION IS:
APO 4G
Counselor My GoArmyEd account is saying I’m on hold for a student agreement. What’s that?
CONTACT YOUR LOCAL SITE ABOUT YOUR EDUCATION TODAY!
Hohenfels Education Services Specialist: 466-2668 Testing: 466-4040 Counselor: 466-2882 Army Learning Center: 466-4105 UMUC: 466-4106 CTC: 466-3140 ERAU: 466-4139 OU: 476-3605
Grafenwoehr Education Services Specialist: 475-3394 Army Learning Center: 475-7239 UMUC: 475-5226 ERAU: 475-6702
CTC: 475-8314 OU: 475-6702
Hi, SPC Smith, don’t worry! That’s just your SOCAD, which is your student agreement or degree plan. The school is responsible for submitting this to your GAE! OK, so does this mean I can’t register for classes until then? No, GAE will let you take two classes without a SOCAD, but if you don’t have one after those two classes finish then you’ll be put on hold again :(
Vilseck Education Services Officer: 476-2626 Testing (APT): 476-3290 Counselor: 476-2463 Testing (DANTES): 476-3136 Army Learning Center: 476-2457 National Testing Center: 476-2825 UMUC: 476-2462 CTC: 476-2362 ERAU: 476-3605 OU: 476-2069
How can I make this go faster? I feel like it’s taking a while D: They may be waiting on docs from you, like transcripts or JST’s. Make sure you’ve sent in everything :)
Garmisch Testing/Counselor: 440-3560 UMUC: 440-3633 ERAU: 476-3605
www.bavaria.army.mil/edcenter
09:45
Alright, cool, thx! Delivered
CTC: 476-2362 OU: 476-2069
USAG Bavaria Education Centers
Copyright N. Lorain Ambrocio 2016