Photo By Staff Sgt. Jessica Blair | Katarina Pisini, 31st Force Support Squadron school liaison program manager poses for...... read more read more
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AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy-For many service members, relocating their families overseas presents a variety of challenges. Flying with pets, finding a new residence and enrolling their children in new schools can be stressful.
One particularly challenging aspect is ensuring children are receiving a quality education at a new school which can distract service members from focusing on their job. When Airmen and their families have all their school transition needs met, it ensures the mission can remain top priority.
“I think it's important for children to have strong advocates,” said Katarina Pisini, 31st Force Support Squadron school liaison program manager. “I often find that children can't advocate for themselves.”
As a Department of the Air Force school liaison, Pisini was hired to advocate for the educational needs of military-connected students at Aviano AB, no matter what school they attend. At Aviano AB, it means working with the on-base schools, home to 950 students, and creating partnerships with the dozens of local Italian schools that provide education for over 700 dependents.
Throughout her childhood, Pisini always wanted to be an educator.
“I had a classroom in my basement,” said Pisini. “My parents bought desks, and my siblings were like my students. I would have them sit down in class and I would teach them.”
Pisini has been a school liaison since the beginning of June 2023, following 2 years as a substitute and social studies teacher at the Aviano Middle High School. During that time, she has made an impact on families and their children’s education.
“I wanted to be the school liaison because one of the biggest parts of this position is advocating for quality education for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade,” said Pisini. “I'm an educator by trade, I’ve always loved working in the classroom. But I was looking for some opportunities to get out of the classroom while still working in education.”
As the school liaison program manager and the point of contact for all pre-K through 12th grade education, her experience working in the schools and her ability to speak Italian made the transition from teacher to school liaison a seamless fit for both herself and the community. She is delighted to work with the local Italian and on-base schools to further advocate for quality education.
Due to the language barrier, much of her day is spent fostering relationships with the local schools and the military members whose children attend those schools, bridging the communication gap to guarantee children’s educational needs are met.
“I visit the schools, meet with the administration to discuss their programming and how we can support them as a base,” said Pisini. “I also work with the on-base school to address any military needs.”
A few underutilized functions the school liaison provides include: the college readiness services such as scholarships and college fairs, as well as providing families with transition support during permanent change of stations to and from Aviano Air Base.
“I also help support deployments as I am the point of contact for the Aviano school based Military Family Life Counselors,” said Pisini. “We have two counselors in the elementary school and two in the middle high school, so I work with them to provide deployment support and transition support.”
Overall, Pisini strives to provide quality transition support, grant resources, community partnerships, deployment support, college readiness, parent workshops and quality education resources to the military families at Aviano.
“I love that my job involves a lot of problem-solving,” said Pisini “Because it's going to look different for every family, I am constantly working to find the best education solution for each child.”
| Date Taken: | 11.01.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 11.01.2023 07:38 |
| Story ID: | 456931 |
| Location: | IT |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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