Metro Spirit - 09.07.17

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“We have seen a
trend over the last
five years of about a
19 percent reduction
of military children
attending Richmond
County schools.
We have seen a 25
percent increase
in military children
attending schools in
Columbia County.”
— Col. Todd Turner
a trend over the last five years of about a 19 percent
reduction of military children attending Richmond
County schools. We have seen a 25 percent increase in
military children attending schools in Columbia County.”
However, Turner said it is vital, now that Fort Gordon
is being transformed into the Army Cyber Command
Center, for soldiers to help mentor and support all of the
local school systems to ensure a brighter future for the
entire area.
“You look back to 1994, there was only 50 NSA
(National Security Agency) personnel on Fort Gordon.
Today, there’s 6,000,” Turner said. “Around 2012, the
decision was made to move Army Cyber Headquarters
from six separate installations in the National Capital
Region to Fort Gordon with a date of about 2020.”
Turner said Fort Gordon has less than 36 months
before that transformation is complete.
“The future is here,” Turner said. “It is at our door. We
are already building those facilities.”
While Fort Gordon is growing at a tremendously rapid
pace, Turner said the Army is also committed to helping
the Augusta area thrive.
“Fort Gordon wants to attract and retain a worldclass
cyber workforce,” he said, adding that there are
currently about 1,400 military children who attend
schools in Richmond County.
Therefore, Fort Gordon has developed an Adopt-A-
School Program where a battalion or brigade becomes
the partner organization to a public high school district.
That unit is also responsible for all of the feeder schools
7SEPTEMBER2017
“We didn’t say we were going to the best
schools. We said we were going to every
school because every school deserves to
have some kind of mentorship.”
in the district, both public and private.
“Honestly, the first thing that I get asked by our folks
moving to this area is, frankly, about the schools here,”
Turner said. “That’s typically the number one concern
for parents. They want quality education for their
children.”
As a result, it is important for military personnel to
help support the local school systems by tutoring,
volunteering, coaching or mentoring to students, he
said.
Only when soldiers are inside the schools do they
begin to understand the challenges faced by the school
districts, Turner said.
“You can say whatever you want if you are on the
outside, but it is a different perspective when you get on
inside,” he said. “So that’s where we want to be. We want
— Col. Todd Turner
to be inside the schools.”
And when Turner says he wants to support the area
schools, he means all of the schools.
“We didn’t say we were going to the best schools,”
Turner said. “We said we were going to every school
because every school deserves to have some kind of
mentorship.”
That’s the kind of commitment to schools and
students that is needed from businesses and local
organizations throughout community, said Dr. Angela
Pringle, Richmond County Superintendent of Schools.
“When I first arrived, the narrative was the magnet
schools were the performing schools in Richmond
County and if you didn’t get into the magnet schools,
God help you,” Pringle said. “That simply is not true.”
While magnet schools in Richmond County are
AUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989 METROSPIRIT 17