FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Representatives of school districts surrounding The Great Place gathered together with installation leadership for the 2025 Fort Cavazos Education Summit Friday at the Lone Star Conference Center on Fort Cavazos.
The annual event provides an opportunity for Fort Cavazos to reinforce its partnership with local school districts, address important topics related to education and share resources and ideas for improvement.
“Today we will renew partnerships, share information, collaborate and share experiences and resources to ensure military-connected families have access to quality education and the most current initiatives during their time, here at The Great Place,” said Col. Lakicia Stokes, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos commander, during her opening remarks.
Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral, III Armored Corps and Fort Cavazos commanding general, also addressed the policy makers, educators, administrators, parents and others present.
“Military children face unique educational challenges due to the demands of military life,” he began. “Frequent relocations, changing school districts or multiple deployments can create instability in their academic journey. This summit serves as a vital platform to address these challenges, bringing together the right people, to ensure our children get the education and support they deserve.”
Admiral shared his own experience as a military child, attending 10 different schools before he graduated.
“Each move means adjusting to new curriculum, different school standards and varying graduation requirements,” he said. “This academic inconsistency can lead to gaps in learning and redundant schoolwork. Additionally the emotional toll of adjusting to new schools and making friends can impact their social and academic development.”
Admiral continued, saying military children can lose focus on their academics due to added demands at home caused by the absence of a deployed parent.
“Because of the enormous demands we place on our Soldiers and their families, we must ensure that our kids, particularly military children, are capable of being successful in life — the foundation of which is a great education.”
Texas State Rep. Brad Buckley (TX-54) served as the keynote speaker for the event and touched on the importance of educational opportunities.
“Opportunity is not spread evenly across this country or this state, and for that we must do better and be better about it,” he said. “My role in the Texas House as chairman of the Committee on Public Education — I’m starting my second term as chairman — my goal is to do just that. My goal is to be unapologetic about making sure that parents have every option they can to make sure their kids get what they need.”
Buckley discussed House Bills 2 and 3, which he calls the “Texas Two-Step.”
“House Bill 2 is the largest investment in public education in the history of our state,” he said. “House Bill 2 and three additional pieces of legislation will invest more than $9 billion in public education in our state. It will increase our basic allotment. It will add nearly $2 billion in additional funding for special education. Our focus this session is dollars to the classroom in efforts to make sure kids learn.
“House Bill 3 — this is not Senate Bill 2 that people read about — this is education savings accounts. This is allowing a parent, if they’re not satisfied with the education that their kids are receiving and they qualify, to take dollars and take their child to a school of their choice,” Buckley continued. “This comes with accountability. A student that has one of these accounts must take a nationally norm-referenced assessment, or the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) Test. And there’s annual reporting requirements so we’re heading off fraud and abuse.”
After Buckley fielded questions from the audience, Medal of Honor Recipient Florent Groberg shared the importance of education in his life.
“What I learned (while earning) my master’s degree — it made me a better writer, a better public speaker,” he shared. “It challenged me to listen to completely different opinions from mine. I got to listen, debate, do projects … and learn.
“I didn’t come out smarter with a skill set like I learned in the military,” he continued. “I came out with a different way to comprehend and understand my environment around me to … bring my strengths into it. I looked at education as a way to really better myself in a way that I could literally operate, in my own sense, with a clear understanding of how I can directly affect what’s important.”
After Groberg’s speech, attendees were invited to attend breakout sessions about different resources and topics including the Medal of Honor Character Development Program and Department of Veterans Affairs education benefits.
To conclude presentations for the day, Maj. Brandon Eans, 1st Cavalry Division Artillery, spoke of his experience with the Adopt-a-School program, which pairs units to schools in the area.
“We should inherently invest in the success of those students,” he said. “We have a great opportunity at Fort Cavazos to make sure Soldiers understand to tell them (the Army story) as we teach, coach and mentor the next generation.”
Staff Sgt. Bryant Rhoads, DIVARTY, shared his experience working with the students at Maude Moore Wood Elementary School.
“The number of interactions and bonds that I have made with students and faculty are things I wouldn’t trade for the world,” he shared. “The number of children who open up and actually talk to us … is unbelievable. They get that smile on their face, they start talking, they want to do push-up challenges, they want us to go to recess, they want us to teach their classes — they might not ever want us to leave campus.
“The Adopt-a-School program is a chance to interact with the community and build long-term relationships that we remember years down the road,” he continued. “It really does make a huge impact.”
Stokes closed the event expressing her appreciation for everyone’s participation and commitment to the betterment of education.
“Thank you so much for your attendance, participation and dedication to building strong minds and creating a better community for future generations,” she said. “We appreciate your time and especially your partnership with Team Cavazos.”
For more information, visit cavazos.armymwr.com/programs/school-liaison-officer.
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