2008 Woodie Awards
Marching forward to a better education
Ryan Pierce
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Feature
At her desk, located in Kirkwood Hall on the main campus of Kirkwood Community College, it's easy to see that Vicki Terronez cares quite a bit about the military and her country. Small stuffed star spangled animals sit on her counters with messages such as "United We Stand" and "God Bless America." Certificates of appreciation from the military sit on the back counter as she sorts through the paperwork of the recently returned 133rd infantry regiment.
"They're all trying to get themselves situated since getting back and I'm just trying to keep them informed of what all they're due from the military," Terronez said as she shuffled through a stack of envelopes and loose paper.
With the war in Iraq drawing more and more individuals into the military to take advantage of the educational benefits, the job of Veterans Affairs Certifying Official has grown to include more than 400 students since she took the position in 2003.
"I get a lot of active duty guys who are looking to take advantage of their [active duty] benefits but right behind them are the National Guard soldiers who get to use their educational benefits as soon as they're done with basic training," explained Terronez. "I think [Kirkwood] will get more and more people using military benefits, such as soldiers returning from combat, who can use their disability benefits or spouses of soldiers that died in combat who are entitled to [spousal] benefits."
Since the beginning of combat actions in Iraq the number of people using military benefits has doubled, creating quite a bit more work for Terronez. "Here with Kirkwood being so close to some of the deployed units, such as the 234th Signal Battalion and the 133rd infantry regiment, we see a lot more military people than other schools. My peers will work with 20 or 30 students and here I have more than 400, so it's more of a challenge. That and a lot of people just come home and like to go to school where they feel most comfortable," she explained.
"They're all trying to get themselves situated since getting back and I'm just trying to keep them informed of what all they're due from the military," Terronez said as she shuffled through a stack of envelopes and loose paper.
With the war in Iraq drawing more and more individuals into the military to take advantage of the educational benefits, the job of Veterans Affairs Certifying Official has grown to include more than 400 students since she took the position in 2003.
"I get a lot of active duty guys who are looking to take advantage of their [active duty] benefits but right behind them are the National Guard soldiers who get to use their educational benefits as soon as they're done with basic training," explained Terronez. "I think [Kirkwood] will get more and more people using military benefits, such as soldiers returning from combat, who can use their disability benefits or spouses of soldiers that died in combat who are entitled to [spousal] benefits."
Since the beginning of combat actions in Iraq the number of people using military benefits has doubled, creating quite a bit more work for Terronez. "Here with Kirkwood being so close to some of the deployed units, such as the 234th Signal Battalion and the 133rd infantry regiment, we see a lot more military people than other schools. My peers will work with 20 or 30 students and here I have more than 400, so it's more of a challenge. That and a lot of people just come home and like to go to school where they feel most comfortable," she explained.
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