Educators took on the role of students last month, when a group of teachers from Sun Prairie toured Wisconsin National Guard facilities and the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs. From June 17-18, eight educators – counselors, high school and middle school teachers – visited Wisconsin’s Joint Force Headquarters for two days of speakers and tours.
The Dane County School Consortium hosts a week-long summer graduate class, where educators get credits to tour businesses and organizations. The goal was to learn about jobs, career paths and what options are out there for their students.
A goal of the two-day class was to showcase how the Department of Military Affairs, Wisconsin Emergency Management, Army and Air Guard all work together – and to expose the educators to all the different jobs and career paths the department houses under one roof.
The educators sat in on discussion panels with state and federal employees, Army and Air Guard Recruiters, the Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy, the Guard’s Sexual Assault Response Coordinator office, and women in the military.
“I really enjoyed the panel discussions – the wide diversity of Guard jobs and backgrounds, and hearing what their pathway was into the military,” said one educator.
The group toured the facilities of the Madison-based 54th Civil Support Team, the Wisconsin Emergency Operations Center, 115th Fighter Wing and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter flight facility over the course of the two days.
“Despite all the budget cuts, I’m so glad these 10,000 Soldiers and Airmen are here for us,” said Rick Hudson, a counselor at Cardinal Heights Upper Middle School.
