Eating a square meal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t worry, I’m not planning to send Ryan, Nathan, or Kaitlyn to military school! When I was a kid, it was always kind of a joke, you know – ‘you’d better shape up or we’ll send you to military school’. The truth is, a military academy can give teens in troubled situations the support they need. This guest post from Alex outlines a typical day at a military academy.

Attending a military academy is designed to instill values in your teen that will last a lifetime. From the structured setting and daily routine of these institutions, rise tomorrow’s leaders with strong character and a firm foundation in leadership and values of responsibility, accountability, and motivation. While most believe that attending a military boarding school is meant for those with troubled pasts, it is actually designed for young men and women who wish to take complete control of their future through a disciplined education, character development, and leadership training.

For teens coming from homes with busy working parents, a deceased parent, or for any teenager needing structure, attending a military academy is a great way to get the support needed to become successful. In addition to cadets simply wishing to take control of their future, cadets choose to attend military academies to find support, direction, and preparation for college and beyond.

Many prospective cadets, as well as parents, have questions and concerns regarding the typical day in the life of a military cadet. The following is a general description of how an average military cadet can expect to spend his day in an academy:

Early Rise

For most military academies, students rise early, often around 6:00 a.m. in order to have their rooms and themselves cleaned and themselves fed before class begins promptly at 8 a.m.

Academia

Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. students can expect to be in class. Some schools have courses daily on a 45 or 55 minute basis, with or without block scheduling on selected days to offer extended class periods. Teachers are highly attentive throughout the day, and are more than willing to offer extra assistance to students during and after school should they need it. Also, some schools offer after-school tutorial programs to assist students with more complex questions, homework assignments or test preparation.

Athletics

After class, all students participate in some form of athletics prior to dinner. Not all students need to be a part of an organized sport, but all are expected to perform some athletic activity for a couple of hours. Participation is highly encouraged at military academies.

Dinner and Free Time

After athletics, dinner is served in a Mess hall, after which cadets are given free time. Most students use this time to relax and prepare for the next day.

Study Hall

In conjunction with mandatory study time, cadets who fall behind on homework are also required to attend study hall to make sure that they are academically successful. Here they take the time to study and complete any homework or group projects. Most military academies use a system of merits and demerits and cadets quickly learn to stay on top of homework so they can study in their dorm room as opposed to going to the mandatory study hall.

Lights Out

After dinner and free time, most military academies then have an hour or so reserved for reflection time, room inspections, uniform inspections, grooming, and residential meetings where students can interact or question their residential staff. Taps is the traditional signal that it is time for lights out.

While this may seem like a more rigorous schedule to those who aren’t used to a well-structured routine, the everyday life of a military cadet offers several benefits that would not be available through a traditional school system. A few of these benefits include:

-One on One Support: Each cadet that enters a military academy is given much more personal support than they ever would in a traditional school setting. In addition to teachers willing to monitor academic success and offer after school tutorials to struggling students, much like a college professor with open office hours would, academic counselors are also assigned to each grade level to ensure a child’s academic, emotional, and social success. These individuals will become a daily part of their life.

Not only do cadets have adult mentors and counselors, but they also have peer counselors that can make being away from home much easier to cope with, as well as help them accelerate their academic and social growth. These peer counselors serve as mentors, and are often valuable resources for new cadets.

-Numerous Opportunities for Leadership Positions: The best military boarding schools, such as the Army Naval Navy Academy in California, strive to make strong leaders of all their cadets. They want their graduates to be self-motivated individuals who actively seek to solve problems greater than themselves and choose to lead companies and other institutions. To help cadets develop this foundation in leadership, military academies provide numerous opportunities for cadets to obtain leadership roles within the corps of cadets.

-Academic and College Counseling: At many public schools, students receive academic counseling only if they are failing and college counseling only when they are late in their junior or early in their senior year. This type of counseling is hardly enough, and barely keeps students accountable for their futures.

Military boarding school cadets, however, receive continuous academic and college counseling from the moment they enroll to make sure that they are on the path to success.  Cadets learn accountability and how to manage their own future under the guidance of trusted professionals.

Choosing to send your son or daughter to a military academy is a big decision, and one you should make together, but it is ultimately a choice that could dramatically improve the quality of your child’s future. If you are interested, take a bit more time to review the academies located within your area to see if any seem fitting for your teen and his or her future goals.

While this is a guest post, it’s also information I’m starting to gather, because both my boys want to go to college, and I assume Kaitlyn will too some day. How are we going to pay for it? Student loans, you betcha.

Tuition Payment, Main Hall circa 1968 (Photo credit: Kraemer Family Library)

Simply having a college degree is becoming more necessary for those wishing to obtain a decent job in their 20s. While the college education no longer promises a kid the high end job they had always hoped for, it is more likely to get them a job, especially in this rough job market. However, college educations are expensive, and not always easy for everyone to afford both during and after college.

But getting your kid a college education doesn’t mean having to take out thousands of dollars in student loans. There are several ways you can get your kids through college without having to sacrifice your retirement or taking on massive debt yourself including:

Fill Out the FAFSA

One of the easiest ways to receive money for school is by filling out the FAFSA. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars the federal government has to give out each year, and thousands of students miss out on the opportunity to receive that free money by not filling out the FAFSA. Even if you believe that you and your husband make too much money for your child to qualify, you should still fill it out as you may be surprised to find out that your child is actually eligible for several grants.

Scholarships

While scholarships seem like a no-brainer to save money, thousands of students don’t apply for them each year just like the FAFSA. There are several sites such as Fastweb.com and Scholarships.com that provide thousands of dollars in scholarships, and applicants can become eligible for them by simply writing a 500 word essay or submitting their resume. No sports career or 4.0 grade point average needed.

Get a Part-Time Job

Working never killed anyone, and while working 20 hours a week won’t foot your child’s college tuition bill, it can greatly reduce their costs. Instead of spending their extra time hitting up parties, consider having your kid put in a few hours of honest work. Not only will it help them pay down their tuition, but it will also give them some extra spending money to enjoy so they aren’t maxing out their credit cards low interest. Many universities even offer work study programs to help reduce the cost of tuition while paying students above average wages.

Go In-State

The cost of in-state tuition compared to that of out-of-state tuition varies greatly. On average in-state tuition costs a about 50 to 75 percent less than out-of-state tuition, so if your child has the choice between one state school or another, see if they won’t choose the one located within your state. It will cost less, and make affording tuition more possible. The only time you should really choose allowing your child to go out of state is when they have been accepted in to an Ivy League school where attendance will pay for itself in the long run.

Special State Programs

Several states have specific programs that have been designed to help students get through college on a smaller budget. Missouri, for instance, has the A+ Program which allows students to receive two free years of education through a community college in exchange for tutoring and good grades. Other states such as Texas also offer similar plans. See if your state offers programs such as these for your child.

College may be expensive, but it doesn’t need to leave you with tens of thousands of dollars in debt upon your child’s graduation. Instead of agreeing to $25,000 or more in students loans, actually create a budget and figure out a way to get your child through college debt free. Not only will this keep you from having to worry about outrageous student loan bills, but it will give you and your child the financial freedom needed to be prosperous upon graduation.

Big thanks to Alex S. for contributing this post!

Kaitlyn wrote and illustrated this story using Dot’s Story Factory on PBS Kids. It had an option at the end to email it to someone, so she had me email it to my Stepmother, the Grandma mentioned in the story. It boggles my mind that my SIX year old can spell this well, type on a laptop, and figure out website directions like this. I am SO PROUD of her!

Oh, and it must only have an option to illustrate the first page, which is why the other two are blank on the top. Also, I’m not sure what is on Kaitlyn’s head in the illustration, maybe a party hat sticker? Without further ado, “Missing Mommy” by Kaitlyn Edwards, age 6. Enjoy!

The fact that she included "lol" is just too awesome.

She sounded out "missed" and got "mist". Close enough!

I barely have enough room in my body for how much I love Kaitlyn!

THE END.