MADISON – Winning the “Elite Team of the Year” national award was very meaningful to Daegan Chaffin as a member of Student 2 Student or S2S when he attended Liberty Middle School.

Now a freshman at James Clemens High School, Chaffin said their S2S team “put in a great amount of effort in doing what’s right in order to make our school and community a welcoming environment for others.”

Liberty S2S won another honor, the LTG (ret.) H.G. ‘Pete’ Taylor Partnership of Excellence Award. Created in 2004, this award recognizes the work of Taylor, former Chairperson for Military Child Education Coalition or MCEC in assisting military-connected children. The award encourages the sharing of lessons learned and acknowledges Taylor’s belief that “goodness starts at the local level.”

Liberty students and sponsors accepted their awards at the Global Training Summit by MCEC in Washington D.C. on July 29-31. Awards at the summit recognized S2S teams for elementary, middle and high school grades.

Liberty S2S sponsors are School Nurse Benita Tunstill, who also advises Liberty 4-H, and French teacher Kitty Mingus, who serves as Liberty World Languages Department Chair.

Even with these sponsors, Liberty student members lead S2S. “Our program adjusts as our student body needs us to change to better serve our school,” Mingus said. “All Liberty S2S members serve as role models (as) productive members of our school.”

For Dillon Raby, eighth-grader at Liberty, “winning Elite Team of the Year takes teamwork and having to work hard, but it pays off in the end when you see the happiness of others that you are helping in the process.”

Grant Jauken, now a freshman at James Clemens, said, “Winning the Elite Team Award from MCEC is really a credit to our partners, our advisors and everyone in Liberty S2S. For me, this award simply motivates me to continue to reach out to new students and our military families to make sure everyone feels welcomed and knows that they have a place in our school and community.”

Liberty S2S hosts three programs for Veterans Day, plays bingo monthly on Saturday mornings with retirees at Floyd E. ‘Tut’ Fann State Veterans Home; sponsored the “Mardi Paws Parade” to help an animal shelter; installed Free Little Libraries at multiple locations; and honored a child by raising funds for the University of Alabama at Birmingham or UAB Children’s Hospital.

One of S2S’ unique activities is the annual Dandelion Gala, “a school dance similar to a military ball for military families,” Mingus said.

“Our students welcome, host and enjoy the deejay and dancing, fellowship and refreshments with our guests. This (gala) culminates the Week of the Military Child. During this week, S2S members passed out daily treats to our military-connected students,” Mingus said.

S2S also hosted a Military Child Appreciation Luncheon and served more than 50 military-connected students and families. Students plotted homes on a world map to indicate where they have lived.

MCEC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization for global leadership, service and advocacy. MCEC collaborates to resolve education challenges associated with the military lifestyle. Visit MilitaryChild.org.

“Winning Elite Team of the Year is an honor, but this recognition isn’t why we sponsor S2S,” Mingus and Tunstill said collectively. “We love interacting with our student members and instilling the importance of service to others.”

“We remind them that it isn’t easy to be ‘the new kid’ and to be 100-percent accepting of others,” Tunstill said. “We also try to teach them what life is like for military families and that it’s important to honor veterans.”

“We’re so proud of our students’ hard work and dedication to Student 2 Student,” Mingus said.