Coast Guard Launches Local Education Effort

The Coast Guard signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Calcasieu Parish School Board Jan. 9, to put in place the first Coast Guard sponsored Partnership in Education (PIE) program in Southwest Louisiana. Lt. Cmdr. Buddy Reams, Commanding Officer of Marine Safety Unit Lake Charles, and Leonard Miller, Jr., Assistant Superintendent of the Calcasieu Parish School Board, signed the MOU. The objective of the PIE program is to place Coast Guard personnel in direct contact with students at the elementary and secondary levels.

Coast Guard men and women will volunteer their time and resources to help students develop to their full potential. The participants make a positive impact on students' lives through their involvement in tutoring, classroom presentations, sponsoring field trips, mentoring, and enhancing schools' physical environments. As part of these efforts, the Coast Guard donated 14 MPC computers to Ralph Wilson Elementary School Feb. 8. These computers were initially slated for disposal, but the local school system was contacted to see if there were any schools that might be able to use them. Normally, funding for extra computers is hard to come by, so the staff at Ralph Wilson Elementary was very appreciative of the Coast Guard's donation.

The Coast Guard also works with local fire and police to deploy the Child Advocacy Reading Education (CARE) project. This program maximizes a partnership of community heroes to include fire, police, military and sheriffs departments volunteering together in community schools. This localized program will be the first of its kind in Lake Charles schools