Partnering on Early Education for Military Kids

The collaboration you'll hear about in this episode not only filled a critical gap for military families, but also strengthened the bonds between the base and the local community. 

In this replay episode, originally published in July, 2024, co-hosts Bob Bertsch and Jessica Beckendorf talk with Lisa Sapp and James Yracheta about a collaboration between Malmstrom Air Force Base and the Great Falls (MT) School District, to provide military-connected kids access to the Transitional Kindergarten program. 

In addition to providing early childhood education, the program helped military families with their child care needs. 

Lisa Sapp is the school liaison and James Yracheta is the former Child and Youth Services Flight Chief at Malmstrom AFB. Lisa and James share insights into how the partnership with Great Falls Public Schools got started and the factors that have helped it thrive.

Links and resources from this episode:

• Transitional Kindergarten pilot program takes off

Transcript

JESSICA BECKENDORF: [00:00:00] Hey everyone. Thanks so much for joining today. I am so excited to bring you a replay of one of our favorite conversations, the story behind the transitional Kindergarten program partnership at Strom Air Force Base in Great Falls Public Schools. We chose this episode because it's a powerful reminder of what's possible.

[00:00:25] When communities come together to solve real challenges, especially in times of uncertainty, the collaboration you'll hear about not only filled a critical gap for military families, but also strengthen the bonds between the base and the local community. Whether you're looking for inspiration, practical ideas, or just a great story of teamwork, we think you'll find something valuable here.

[00:00:48] Let's dive in. Hi, welcome to the Practicing Connection Podcast. I'm Jessica Beckendorf. 

[00:00:55] BOB BERTSCH: I'm Bob Birch. 

[00:00:56] JESSICA BECKENDORF: Our guests today are Lisa Sapp, school liaison [00:01:00] specialist at Moms from Air Force Base and James Ira, former Child and Youth Services, flight Chief 341st four support Squadron at moms from Air Force Base as well in Montana.

[00:01:12] BOB BERTSCH: Lisa and James were part of creating a transitional kindergarten pilot program through a collaboration between the Great Falls Public School district and Malmstrom Air Force Base. We're excited to learn more about this partnership, which fills a gap in the local education system by providing early childhood education for the community.

[00:01:31] Hi James. Hi Lisa. Thanks so much for joining us on Practicing Connection. 

[00:01:36] JAMES YRACHETA: Good morning. Good morning, Robert. Good morning Jessica. Thank you for having us. 

[00:01:40] BOB BERTSCH: So great to have you here. Maybe we can start by getting to know you a little bit better. Can each of you tell us a little bit about yourselves? Lisa, why don't we start with you.

[00:01:51] LISA SAPP: Okay. Uh, so my name is Lisa Sapp. I am the school liaison for Strom Air Force Base. Actually, um, next month there'll be [00:02:00] four years in the seat. I had started in August of 2020, so this past four years has gone by pretty quickly. I'm from the Great Falls area. I grew up here, actually went through Great Falls.

[00:02:12] Public schools left and joined the military. Returned, became a teacher for Great Falls public Schools, and then was hired by James to be the school liaison specialist here at Malmstrom. 

[00:02:24] BOB BERTSCH: And James, how about you? 

[00:02:26] JAMES YRACHETA: So I've been working with the Air Force John Youth programs in the management role for over 14 years and three years as a caregiver.

[00:02:33] Prior to that. Had various roles within Air Force talent, youth programs. Spent time in Alaska, open out Japan, South Carolina, Montana, of course, just fulfilling these roles. And, uh, yeah, it's been quite the, the journey. And, um, back in 2020, I accepted a job at Mount Air Force Base and one of the first roles I had with two select school liaison, program manager for the installation.

[00:02:56] And lo and behold, Lisa was on that list and by far [00:03:00] one of the best selections I've made as, as a manager. 

[00:03:03] JESSICA BECKENDORF: I love hearing that. So Lisa, I think I'm gonna direct this at you, but James, I would welcome you to fill in any blanks because I would love to hear a little bit more about Malmstrom Air Force Base and the Great Falls Montana community.

[00:03:15] It sounds like you both know a lot about both of those. 

[00:03:18] LISA SAPP: Malmstrom has been here since the sixties, so the mission here is Intercon mental ballistic. This was ICBMs. And so while the installation is. Small, the actual, like the missile field is. The largest in the United States. So we're part of 20th Air Force and under Air Force Global Strike Command.

[00:03:42] And so the three missile bases, uh, for the Air Force are Effie Warren in Wyoming, great Falls, Montana, and Minot, um, in North Dakota. So we've had a long. Presence here in the community and, uh, long time to, you know, form those [00:04:00] relationships and kind of keep things going. But yeah, our mission is unique.

[00:04:04] While Montana is like the fourth largest state or something like, you know, one of the least populated states. And so the community surrounding the installation compared to some other areas of the world is, is quite small. So we have great falls. Public schools, uh, serves around. 10,000, uh, 200 students.

[00:04:23] About 11 or 12% of those are military connected. So Great Falls community is kind of unique, whereas on one end of town, on the east side, TRO Air Force base exists on the west side of town. We also have the Montana Air National Guard headquarters. We have man, and so Great falls. As far as military student concentration is unique in Montana.

[00:04:47] 'cause there is no other city across the state that has as high of a concentration. 

[00:04:54] JAMES YRACHETA: Yeah, and I'll just add the, the plug. You know, um, Lisa kind of nailed it, you know, when she mentioned that Malmstrom is a [00:05:00] unique installation. Um, I've been working with, uh, a seven other installations throughout my career.

[00:05:05] And Machu is unique in its own way, in the sense that you're right, it's, it's out there, right and almost the middle of nowhere. And so the partnership with the community is more impaired than ever because it's unique in so many ways. 

[00:05:18] BOB BERTSCH: The project that we're talking about today is about a transitional kindergarten program, and I'm wondering what exactly that means.

[00:05:27] What's a transitional kindergarten program? 

[00:05:30] LISA SAPP: Montana currently is one of the few states left, um, that does not fund universal preschool, uh, for everyone. And so what that means is for the school districts who have the resources and the funding is they have to allocate to provide that early childhood education.

[00:05:47] They have to take some government funding. They took some COVID funding. I mean, they, they fund from all over the place, special education funding. Um, they can't legally call it preschool. So what they do is they call it transitional [00:06:00] kindergarten, and so that they offer it in a limited capacity, so it meets some of those government funding requirements.

[00:06:07] Um, that's the best and simplest way I can probably explain it. And so what Great Falls Public School is, is able to do, they're. The second largest school district in the state. First is buildings Montana to the south of us. So as far as resources go comparative to all the smaller school districts sur uh, surrounding great falls in the installation, they have the means to be able to have a building and then select students who meet a specific criteria, um, in order to receive early childhood education.

[00:06:39] JESSICA BECKENDORF: That's really interesting. I, I actually didn't know that there were some states who didn't fund pre-K and. This makes me wonder, right. Given that it wasn't being offered, you know, kind of anywhere around. How did the idea then for transitional kindergarten program, um, in Great Falls come about? What was that spark like?

[00:06:57] How, how did that start to happen? I. [00:07:00] So, 

[00:07:01] LISA SAPP: I mean, we have some other options outside of the public school system for for pre-K, but they're all private. And so it has a cost of families with the exception of like Head Start programs, which is another like government funded early childhood education program.

[00:07:16] I should start by saying that Maelstrom is also unique because, uh, we are a missile base, um, which means that we are heavy on missiles and security forces who tend to be demographically very young, so 18 to 25. And so they're either single airmen or they're newly married and they have little kids. So we're really heavy on elementary school like.

[00:07:40] Under four years old population. So where we found ourselves in 2020 when like the world shut down, we have a child development center on the base, but they are limited in their capacity. There is really not enough spots for to take care of all of our families. Um, and so we were [00:08:00] faced with a lot of the downtown programs not being available and we had a long wait list.

[00:08:06] Of families seeking care. Um, and what we learned and, and what the Air Force always kind of knew is that, you know, like our military members can't focus on the mission if they're worried about what's going on at home. And so we were looking around going like, gosh, we have this wait list. What resources do we have?

[00:08:23] What partnerships do we have? What exists? And then how do we invoke that conversation? And fortunately, the Superintendent of Great Falls Public Schools has really prioritized the base in regards to that community partnership piece. And we had a relationship in place. Where we could go and, and make that ask.

[00:08:44] Um, and that's not a simple ask to make. That's we're asking you to allocate more money and more funding and teachers and resources to support our families, and they didn't hesitate. 

[00:08:56] JAMES YRACHETA: I think the, uh, the support of the military family support that came out [00:09:00] around that time really ignited the enhancement of collaborations between Malmstrom and Great Falls Public Schools.

[00:09:07] And like Lisa said. At the time, uh, there was a big wait list for, for childcare, right. And also the, you know, the airmen still have to report to work every single day. So yeah, all the stars aligned. We had a great partnership between our installation and Great Falls public schools. And though it wasn't an easy ask, it, you know, both sides made it happen one way or the other.

[00:09:29] And, um, because of the 18 families are now able to receive that type of support each year. 

[00:09:36] LISA SAPP: So Montana, because we are not a universal preschool state, we're in the red. And in order to change that, the state would have to fund universal preschool. That, however, was not a barrier for Great Falls public schools.

[00:09:49] They didn't look at this report and say, well, it's not gonna turn green if we do this, so what's the point? Um, they said, well, this is within the locus of our control and we wanna help. If [00:10:00] anything, COVID provided a lot of, um, opportunities for the community to come together and pool our resources and troubleshoot issues in creative ways.

[00:10:09] And so this report exists. We're still in the red despite the TK program now being up and running, but we're inching closer towards, you know, the, the finish line of, of getting that universal pre-K next legislative session. Let's hope. 

[00:10:24] JESSICA BECKENDORF: It sounds like the wheels were in motion already, but do you feel like COVID was a little bit of a catalyst?

[00:10:29] Like people were a little more willing to come together or how, how did that play a part? 

[00:10:34] JAMES YRACHETA: I, I think, uh, it, it was already in play, but the, like I said, the stars aligned, right? Lisa staff came on board. We had a mission support group commander also take command around that same time, who was really passionate with, uh, with education.

[00:10:49] 'cause he had his kids of his own. And also knew that that was one of the, the five factors. Um, sorry, just to help me out with that. Five to thrive. Five to thrive, 

[00:10:59] LISA SAPP: [00:11:00] yeah. 

[00:11:00] JAMES YRACHETA: Yeah. Nailed it. You know, it was part of the retention of, of airmen throughout the Air Force. So again, everything aligned. We had the, the partnership already there, but I don't think it was where it needed to be.

[00:11:09] But again, Lisa took the role, our former MSG Commander, you know, took his spot. And once all, uh, air Bit was in place, you know, the idea started rolling. Yeah. It was the, the catalyst that we needed to make those, uh, those unique incentives happen. 

[00:11:23] LISA SAPP: So what I will say is sometimes things happen and it's a catalyst for change.

[00:11:29] Um, and COVID was definitely a negative thing. Mm-hmm. Um, but it did have some positive results for us because it forced us to look at situations in new ways. Um, so our MSG commander at the time, um, his name was Colonel rn, and he went by his four rules. Uh, not necessarily rules, but. Ideas for partnership were luck, skill, relationship, and timing.

[00:11:55] And we're in the middle of COVID, like we're coming out of the other side, [00:12:00] you know, 2020. You know, we shut down in the spring and then by the fall, uh, you know, 2020, going into 2021 school year, um, things were virtual hybrid. It, it was messy. I mean, it's the worst time you wanna go to a community partner and say, Hey, I know the school district is a mess right now, and everybody's scrambling to try and figure things out, but, hey, can you help us out too?

[00:12:23] In the world of education, you have to realize, I mean, unless you've actually worked in. The trenches with these folks, they're answering 150 questions even before breakfast. By 11 o'clock in the morning. They've already had three meetings, you know, and four parent phone calls. Um, so at every single level of their organization, at the district level, at the building level, in the classroom level, everybody's plate is overflowing.

[00:12:50] And now we're throwing everybody into a virtual. You know, teach, teach online now and just pivot and do this and do that. Um, and now Mastro comes to the [00:13:00] table and say, Hey, can we, can we get some help with our pre-K? And, but it, they didn't even hesitate to question any of that, and that is because. At their core, they want what's best for kids and they view the military as an important community partner.

[00:13:21] Um, and they understand how it's going to help the mission. And so, you know, like all of these things, we had, um, an MSG commander who had a background in public affairs and understood how important the community piece was. We had, uh, a flight chief who had come in and he was ready to do whatever it is that I asked him to do.

[00:13:41] Like he was my absolute wingman. If I needed to elevate or network or pivot or I needed him to do this, he didn't question. He just did it. And then the school liaisons what our job is it. It's vast. Um, and it varies, but like we're responsible for the footwork. So [00:14:00] I'm writing the emails and the proposals, and I am setting up the meetings and I'm trying to do all of these things that it's a team effort at the end of the day, and all three of those pieces are so critically important.

[00:14:13] So if I really want this. That's okay. But I also have to have that buy-in from leadership and I also have to have that buy-in from my flight, um, to kind of drive these partnerships forward. 

[00:14:25] BOB BERTSCH: James, I'm wondering, as Lisa said, I. The school district was really ready to step forward. But it sounds like maybe that's part of a broader relationship between Malmstrom and the Great Falls community.

[00:14:37] Are there other partnerships? Are there other collaborations? Was there kind of groundwork that, you know, helped set the foundation for this particular collaboration? 

[00:14:45] JAMES YRACHETA: You know, I, I, I don't think so. I think that was, we had things that we wanted to do and we had, you know, we had discussed. Um, and we're still to this day, continuing to work on those, those different ideas.

[00:14:57] But I think that was probably the biggest one that, that [00:15:00] really took that partnership and that relationship off was the transitional kindergarten program. Yeah. Easily. You know, we're working with the, the high schools right now for a job shadowing opportunities for, you know, different various, um, areas on the base.

[00:15:14] Um, not just for our Junior Air Force ROTCs, but for the kids who are looking for culinary, um, opportunities, you know, after high school or childcare opportunities, you know, so, yeah, no, that was, uh. That's probably the biggest thing that, uh, you know, we focused on at the time. 'cause again, it, it wasn't an easy lift.

[00:15:29] It was an easy Yes. Uh, but to get to where we initiated that, that care almost two or three years ago now. It was a lot of, a lot of work on, on Lisa's end and yeah. You know, she did the, the heavy lifting. I just, whatever she needed, I was like, let's, let's do it. Let's set the meetings up. Let's go. Whether it was with the group commander installation, uh, wing commander or whoever it was, we were, we were making it happen.

[00:15:53] So. 

[00:15:54] LISA SAPP: Prior to my coming into the position, um, the school liaison role had been kind of left, [00:16:00] not intentionally left vacant, but the previous school liaison had been multitasked into other parts of child and youth in other areas. There was a period of time where there wasn't a lot of activity from the office, so when I came in, those partnerships really had to be rebuilt a little bit and reestablished.

[00:16:21] And so fortunately like. And this could have been awkward. Um, but fortunately it wasn't because the folks at Great Falls Public schools were so, are just so great. Um, but you know, I used to work for them and I left that position to go take another one. And so, you know, like now I go to board meetings and I'm talking about base stuff instead of like, you know, doing special education in the classroom, um, which is a hard role to fill.

[00:16:49] And they could have been resentful and they could have made things difficult and they right. Didn't have to cooperate, but they did. And it's because it's not personal. It's about the big [00:17:00] picture. And I left on positive terms, um, knowing that I was gonna go into a role where I was going to have to work with these folks.

[00:17:07] And they're great folks. I. But they have their own needs and their own objectives, and now I have to come in as a community partner and continually make demands upon them to, to ease local policies and practices within the school system to make things easier for our military families to navigate. So.

[00:17:25] I'm not the only community partner they have to contend with. There's other organizations that are also doing the same thing that also have needs and are advocating for their student populations. Um, so I'm one of many voices at the table that are just saying, Hey, we need something from you. But that is a reciprocal relationship.

[00:17:44] So inversely part of building and rebuilding and cultivating that relationship is doing stuff. For them whenever possible. And that's hard to do in the military because we have so many limitations on what we can and cannot do. [00:18:00] But you look for opportunities to highlight your partnership, to highlight the good works that they do.

[00:18:05] Um, and that makes. Continually coming to the table and asking for favors much easier. I cannot reciprocate to the degree that they've supported us, but I can do what's in within my power to make sure the community and our installation, leadership and Air Force knows that we have true partnership with this school district and that they are doing the good work to support our military families.

[00:18:33] JESSICA BECKENDORF: And Lisa, I would add that you were reciprocating by helping them to address something that they care very much about. So you guys have both kind of gone into, um, a little bit of what your role was, but I would love to hear a little bit more about your kind of specific roles in making the partnership happen.

[00:18:51] When 

[00:18:52] JAMES YRACHETA: I hired Lisa, I was still in a different. Position at a different installation. So, okay. I was down in San Antonio as [00:19:00] the, as a Air Force Services Center employee. Um, we call 'em the dreaded inspectors, right? We go off different installations and inspect the child youth programs to make sure they're in compliance with different, you know, public laws and uh, air force laws and so forth.

[00:19:14] So I had accepted the job at Malmstrom, but COVID hit, so I was still stuck in San Antonio, and my boss at the time was like, Hey, man, one of your first. Responsibility, you need to hire a school liaison program manager. I had never stepped foot into Great Falls. I had no idea what it was like. Never even stepped foot at rum Air Force Base.

[00:19:32] Um, I mentioned East Installation is different even though we're all Air Force. So I had no idea. Right? So I looked at the applicants, I saw at Lisa. I had a lot of experience within the education system, and I know. That's probably the most critical piece to a school liaison program manager is, uh, the education, right?

[00:19:49] We can pick up the Air Force requirements. That's, that's no big deal. You can look at it, refer to it. No, that's, that's not an issue. What I knew the, the hard part was like, Hey, I need somebody who's gonna have that [00:20:00] experience already working in the school district. Who knows? Great Falls really, really well.

[00:20:05] That way that makes that, um, transition a lot easier. Right. And to, to build off that partnership. So that was the first big thing. Uh, again, I was walking in blindly on, I don't know what Great Falls was. You know, I knew I was gonna move there in two months or whenever the, they allowed me to. So also to add, I didn't know what the partnership was like at the time either.

[00:20:24] Right. Like, uh, Lisa said the lady who was filling in the position. She was dualhead, so I was kind of working with her. At the time she was school liaison slash youth program director, so she helped me out as much as I could to understand what the, the environment and climate was like between Mastro and Great Falls.

[00:20:43] But I, I didn't know the extent until I. I stepped foot and really, you know, dove in with Lisa to start working some of those initiatives around August, September timeframe. 

[00:20:53] LISA SAPP: One of the first things that happened when I came on in 2020 is that supported Military Families report dropped, [00:21:00] and our director of staff reached out to the superintendent and was like, why do we have an F on our report card?

[00:21:05] Nobody knew anything about this report, how it was scored. Even that it was on a curve. Like all of these things, little details, we had no idea. Our superintendent took it really personally. And so one of the first things that I had to do as soon as I got into the position, mind you, I didn't have a computer yet.

[00:21:25] I didn't have a work phone. Um, I was operating off my own personal cell phone, like making all of this, trying to, to set up meetings and do all, and like I knew nothing about the Air Force side. All I know is education. So. I fortunately had a really great MSG Commander who was very easy, and we got in front of him and had a good meeting with the MSG Commander first to say, okay, these are our immediate needs right now as far as education and childcare.

[00:21:56] So COVID happened, right? And we had no [00:22:00] idea. The reverberations and the impacts. This would have the school system being shut down and our military members not being able to go out and trying to find care and then also try to protect ourselves from this illness that was spreading. And I mean like there was just so many things happening at the same time.

[00:22:20] But then there's this report and we got a bad grade and our Great Falls Public school Superintendent, superintendent Moore, which today is his last day, he is retiring. So congratulations, Tom. But you know, he wanted to talk about this report. And what does all of this mean? So this was a few meetings. Talk to the MSG first and, okay, this is what our needs are.

[00:22:42] This report is here. We need to go meet with them and kind of like calm everybody's nerves because like this, on top of everything else was just the cherry on top, you know? And so we're looking at the categories. There's mental health, there's graduation rates, and all of these things. [00:23:00] And just looking at it, just going like, okay, where are our problems right now?

[00:23:04] What can we fix right now? We have a need for childcare. We also have this report that says we need, um, universal preschool. And then it became a conversation where now we could go to the district and say, this is really where we need your support. This report exists. And I know you got a bad grade and I'm sorry, but right now we have to kind of set that aside and, and look at our immediate needs as an installation.

[00:23:29] How do we get our military members back out into the field? How do we alleviate some of the fears that they have leaving their kids? They don't have care. All of these things are kind of just out there. And so had a meeting with the MSG Commander up to visit the superintendent and his assistant superintendents and say, okay, we have a wait list of, and I can't remember how many kids were on the wait list, but it was enough to fill a classroom, and we just said, all we need from you [00:24:00] if you were willing to try and work with us is one classroom in your TK program.

[00:24:06] So these children on the wait list can have a place for care. And, you know, there was silence at the table and we're looking at each other and we're absorbing, you know, like, and this is not an easy ask. I need your money. I need your manpower. I need your time. Please give all of these things to us.

[00:24:24] Despite getting a bad grade from the Air Force on this report. And there wasn't really any hesitation. Um, they knew it was. What was needed for the mission to continue. Uh, they knew it was what was needed for our military members to know that their child is taken care of so they can return to the field and continue their operations.

[00:24:45] This is all within the first three months of me being hired. I was like, what did I do? Uh, this, this is scary. But, you know, at the same time though, um. Very purposeful work [00:25:00] to see an actual problem and to be able to work within the community to solve it, and that's rare and very, very cool. 

[00:25:09] BOB BERTSCH: It's really interesting to hear all of these things that came together and I'm reminded of, you know, what you mentioned about your commander saying, you know, the four things about partnerships and one of those being luck.

[00:25:19] What potentially was a, a negative in terms of the grade on the report provided a little bit of that spark to get this, get the partnership going. 

[00:25:29] LISA SAPP: 100%. So the timing, you know, you would think COVID would be like the worst time, but actually played into our favor. I had a relationship with the school district.

[00:25:40] I knew the superintendent, I used to work with him. Uh, his assistant superintendent, Heather, used to be my principal. So I had that relationship and we were lucky to have an MSG commander who really understood the community piece. And we were lucky to have a flight chief to really understand and speak to the [00:26:00] programming needs that were missing.

[00:26:03] Fortunately, all of us, I think, were skilled enough to negotiate, um, a pathway forward that kind of benefited everybody. So, yeah, l skill, relationships, timing. I'll never forget it. 

[00:26:15] BOB BERTSCH: James, are there other lessons that you learned about installation and community partnerships, you know, through this process?

[00:26:22] JAMES YRACHETA: Yeah, a couple, a couple sticks to mind. Um, one of 'em, it's, it's possible, right? Uh, each installation and community have their own needs and, and wants. And I think the important thing is to, gosh, really work with those community members, both sides, whether it's installation or the, the, you know, the community are willing to give and help out whatever they can do.

[00:26:43] 'cause we know we can't, we one can't exist without the other. That's number one. And then number two is people want the best for the military youth and, and the airmen. You know, it's not gonna be easy by any means, but if you have the the right people in place, um, with the right intentions, [00:27:00] I mean truly any, anything is possible.

[00:27:02] I know this is, we're only talking about the transitional, um, kindergarten program right now, but the things that Lisa and team have in place for military, uh, families and youth. It's only gonna help, you know, not just the installation, but off the grade quality as well. So it's doable, right? It may look differently at wherever the installation's at or wherever they're trying to overcome, but it's very much possible.

[00:27:25] Just gotta get a little creative sometimes. 

[00:27:28] LISA SAPP: I, I will add to that. So, you know, any school liaison going into the seat, one of the first things you need to do is first of all, get your bearings, but the next piece is identify. What your program supports currently, and then who your community partnerships are and make sure that you do immediate outreach to introduce yourself.

[00:27:51] Set up a meeting. Don't have an agenda. Uh, straight out the gate just. A meet and greet, get to know, you know, if you need anything, here's my [00:28:00] contact information. The hard part about the military is the lack of continuity, like the, it's our strength and it's our, also our greatest weakness. And so when you have folks who, we have installation commanders for two years, that's it.

[00:28:16] And really, you know, like the first. Three to six months are dicey 'cause they're still learning their role and then the last six months are really dicey 'cause they're looking ahead to the next place. But for the community, our community partners who aren't military, a lot of them are there for long periods of time and they have seen leadership come and leadership go and program managers come in and programming managers leave.

[00:28:40] It's a constant rotation of characters and so it's easy to kind of let those relationships slide because. You know, like if there's not somebody there to immediately pick up the torch and carry on, then things taper off. So assess the health of your program, assess the health of your partnerships, and that gives you a good starting [00:29:00] place, uh, to see where you need to go.

[00:29:02] And then once you have an assessment of like what your needs are, like, what your program covers, where your gaps are, then you can go to your community partners and say, Hey, this is where we could intersect. This is where we could support each other. Um, this is where, you know, we can make change and make things better.

[00:29:22] Yeah. The military's hard. Our continuity piece is we, it's a struggle. It's such a struggle. A lot of our program managers of our helping agencies are spouses of military members, and so they're in the seat for two to four years. And then they're gone. And then we have to go through the hiring piece. And every, anybody who's ever applied for a federal job knows how long it takes to get onboarded.

[00:29:46] So there's those gaps. And then trying to find people to fill in the gaps. And so, like we are, it's always a slippery slope of trying to keep things current and keep those relationships, you know, keep cultivating them and, and making them, you know, a [00:30:00] priority. It's so hard. The military in itself is a unique organization that has unusual impacts on the community.

[00:30:09] We don't operate like other organizations do. We have very strict rules and regulations regards to what we can and cannot do. Um, and so sometimes when they come to us and ask us for support, we, we can't. And so, you know, if you have that positive relationship with them. That you can explain to them, this is why we can't, and they accept it.

[00:30:31] They don't have hard feelings. But if those relationships don't exist prior, and they come to us with an ask and we say no, well, then they're like, Ugh. I don't wanna deal with them anymore. So there's a lot that goes into it. Like we, we place unusual demands upon communities and we have unique needs and circumstances based on what our missions is.

[00:30:54] And so I think the key takeaway is for leadership and program managers, [00:31:00] schools don't sound like a big deal until they are, COVID was an unusual circumstance and thankfully, like we had. The right people. We had the right place. We had good timing, lux skill, relationship, timing. Again, to navigate that. But it's easy from a leadership perspective to be like, oh, it's just the school system that's not, that's not that big of a deal.

[00:31:23] And yeah, that, I guess that could be true until something big happens. And then it is a big deal. And then like you wanna be proactive, um, and have those relationships in place and then not be left sweeping up glass per se, trying to, you know, work things out, um, with folks that aren't familiar with each other.

[00:31:44] We're going into our third year of the transitional kindergarten program. It's, it's no longer a pilot program. It is a program. What Great Falls Public Schools is able to do. They have seven classrooms now. Um, one of them is allocated specifically [00:32:00] for children living on the installation, and it supports 18 students, and four of those spots are specifically for students with.

[00:32:07] Special education needs. They have onsite, uh, speech therapy, occupational therapy, school psychologists, um, behaviorists all in one location, and our families now have access where previously they would not have qualified. And so we're going into our third year, we hope at some point to grow the program.

[00:32:31] Great Falls Public Schools has taken it upon themselves to provide. Provide this, all of the heavy lifting really for the creation of the hiring of the teacher, the paraprofessionals, the materials, the busing and transportation costs. All of these, they have allocated, um, these resources specifically to us to support the mission, and we are incredibly grateful.

[00:32:57] JESSICA BECKENDORF: I have really enjoyed hearing about this. We [00:33:00] always love to close with asking you if there's a practice that has been helpful in your work or to you individually that you would be willing to share with us. What keeps you going in your work? For me, 

[00:33:12] LISA SAPP: I think you have to kind of love. Working with people, you have to want to have those engagements.

[00:33:20] You want to look on the installation and off the installation for opportunities to intersect and support programs using. Collaboration, collaboration is so important. So I'm an office of one. I'm one deep. I can do things by myself, but it's certainly not as fun. So I'm constantly looking to other, helping agencies on base or other, um, programs on base to see where we can collaborate and support our military families and, and children.

[00:33:52] And in the same breath, I'm also looking to the community, um, to find new. And interesting ways to engage with students in [00:34:00] the school systems and open up and demystify the base a little bit and bring them onto the installation and show them what's out here. So that is what I love about this job. I have a lot of freedom and a lot of autonomy and a lot of opportunity to build things from scratch.

[00:34:18] Um, the TK program was one of them, um, and it had some really positive and meaningful and impactful results. These children who wouldn't have access to early childhood education now, do you know? And now bringing high school students on to do job shadows and navigate, you know, the base and learn what's out here and then see what other, if they are not interested in joining the military, you know, how they can have a job and a career living and working in great falls.

[00:34:47] But at the base, I'm not a recruiter, but I'm maybe kind of a civilian recruiter. Um, I like. Building things. I like collaborating and I like working with others. [00:35:00] So I mean, if, if those are three things that you like too, this job would be great for you. 

[00:35:05] JESSICA BECKENDORF: I like you. James. What keeps you going in your work?

[00:35:07] What's a practice that you, you employ? 

[00:35:10] JAMES YRACHETA: Yeah, so just working with others. Right. And then specifically for the, the TK program. It's just, it was a long process, but to finally see it, you know, happening and still continuing to happen to this day, I think that. Seeing the results, right? Doing so much work and seeing the impact it's having for our, our youth, number one.

[00:35:29] And also number two, the, the installation, right? Like, again, ham is a very unique in the sense that it, it can't close. Like we have an important job over there. And having those i ccb m ready to go at any, uh, moment's notice. And then like you said, just working with everyone, like be open to ideas. There's no bad idea that's gonna benefit.

[00:35:50] Our military youth, our installation, our, you know, our local communities, and just be, be willing to do the work wherever's needed. Uh, just keep that end goal on site [00:36:00] and yeah, it'll be good. 

[00:36:03] LISA SAPP: I think one last thing I'll add is in order to get folks on board, in order to get our school systems on board, look for ways to leverage military and Air Force resources to not only support military kids, but to support all kids.

[00:36:19] And that is a good way of approaching new ideas and new partnerships with school systems. 

[00:36:24] BOB BERTSCH: Lisa James, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. 

[00:36:28] LISA SAPP: Thank you for having us. 

[00:36:31] BOB BERTSCH: Lisa Sapp is a school liaison specialist at Malmstrom Air Force Base, and James ceta is a former child and youth services flight chief at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.

[00:36:43] To learn more about the transitional kindergarten program partnership, check out the link in our show notes.[00:37:00]

[00:37:05] JESSICA BECKENDORF: That's it for this episode. Thanks so much for joining us. If you enjoyed today's episode, click the share button in your podcast app to share it with a friend. We'd also love to hear what you've been thinking about and what's inspiring you. You can share that with us by clicking the Send us a text message at the top of the description of this episode.

[00:37:22] If you're listening on a computer, you can email us at Practicing connection@oneop.org. We can't wait to hear from you.

[00:37:33] The Practicing Connection Podcast is a production of one-Off and is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture and the Office of Military Family Readiness Policy, US Department of Defense under award number 2 0 2 3 dash 4 8 7 70 dash 4 1 3 3 3.