English teacher Tom Stanfa was one of roughly 40 educators who participated in the Marine Corps Educators Workshop in Parris Island, South Carolina from February 26-March 1.
The workshop exposes participants to “Marine Corps training practices, military occupational specialties, service options, military lifestyle and educational opportunities available to Marines,” according to the Marine Corps website.
Stanfa was educated on the day-to-day requirements of Marine recruits in order to better educate his students with an interest in joining the military.
“They showed us a firsthand experience of what it was like being recruited in a very small window,” he said.
That process started as soon as Stanfa and his cohorts stepped off the bus and onto the Marine base in Parris Island.
“We had two drill instructors who were yelling and screaming at us to get off the buses and get on the yellow footprints,” he said. “They took us on the confidence course; they had us scale down a wall, swinging on a rope over a gully—all the things that the recruits would do.”
Stanfa said he plans to use the knowledge he gained to help his students find new pathways after high school that may not entail college coursework right away—something he hopes to implement in his curriculum next school year.
“This school, in particular, tries to push kids into college all the time,” he said, “even though there are opportunities out there for them to pursue other things that aren’t necessarily college related.”
Stanfa said enlisting in the Marines can be a beneficial opportunity for high school students, providing them with not only structure but also financial aid to pursue higher education.
“A lot of recruits enter the military and start pursuing degrees after the fact because they had the G.I. Bill, which helped pay for their college,” he said.
The flexibility of the recruitment process, he said, allows for any dedicated student to become a Marine, even those who may not initially meet the standards.
“There was a guy who graduated when we were there. The recruiters explained that he wasn’t in proper physical shape, but they kept him back for an extra month, working on fitness, health and diet.” Stanfa said. “He ended up winning an award for outstanding graduating class because he put in so much effort.”
