HAVELOCK, Craven County — If you’ve ever moved around as a child, you know it’s tough getting adjusted and making new friends.
That’s especially true for military children. Arthur W. Edwards Middle School has a new program that helps make the transition a lot easier. It’s called Anchored 4 Life and the students involved are training to be leaders.
Their job will be to help out with transitions in other students’ lives, whether they are new to the school or maybe have a parent or sibling in the military who just deployed and need help adjusting to that big change. Fifth grader William Amaker knows what it’s like to move around, having spent time in Havelock, Texas and even Japan. He said he felt the need to become an Anchored 4 Life leader because he knows the challenges first-hand.
“It’s important for me to help out because I’ve gone through this stuff and I know what they’re going through,” Amaker said. “I can feel empathy and know how to go through it because I know I’ve done that and I can give them tips on what I did to help me get through it.”
Arthur W. Edwards is the first school in Craven County to receive a grant to fund the Anchored 4 Life Program. The money comes entirely from the U.S. Marine Corps.
“It is designed to also support every student in the school so it creates that awareness,” said LaDonna Lewis, one of the group’s trainers. “Students who may not be aware of military culture and military life they’re getting educated and also learning how to support one another.”