JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Since growing up in Detroit, education has played a vital role in the life and career of Quiana Abner, the newest school liaison officer at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.
Abner values the importance of education, especially since it made it possible for her to become the first member of her family to graduate from college, have a career of helping military families while she was a military spouse raising children, and giving her the motivation to go to graduate school to earn a master’s degree.
In her role as a school liaison officer with the Joint Base San Antonio Military Child Education Program, a position she started in November 2017, Abner helps provide resources, information and services for students of transitioning service members who are transferring to a new school in the San Antonio area.
As a military spouse with three children, Abner knows the challenges and obstacles military schoolchildren and parents face when transitioning to a new duty station, including who to contact, what school to go to and what documents are needed before the child can attend school.
“I have had to do a lot of these things for my children,” she said. “Our military members serve our country. I think the least we can do is to make sure their children are settled into school and have the least amount of challenges as possible.”
Abner has worked in programs serving military families for 17 years, including one year as a program educator in the Family Life Program at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Military & Family Readiness Center. In that position, she organized and was an instructor in several courses, including child car seat training, time management skills, coping with stress, domestic abuse and domestic violence prevention, communication and conflict resolution.
Her career experience includes working as an education relocation specialist at the Fleet and Family Support Centers at Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Air Station Oceana, Va. Her husband, Melvin, a 24-year Navy service member, was stationed at both locations.
As an education relocation specialist in Virginia, Abner provided sponsorship training for transitioning military families relocating around the globe.
Abner arrived in San Antonio in 2015 when Melvin was transferred to JBSA-Lackland, where he is a lead instructor at the Naval Corrections Academy.
When one of the two school liaison officer positions at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston opened last year due to a retirement, Abner knew it was something she wanted to do.
“For years, I actually been wanting to work in a capacity where I’m assisting youth in an educational setting,” she said. “I knew this was my opportunity to get in there and be an advocate for military children.”
Abner said she looks forward to coming to the school liaison office every day and working with fellow school liaison officer Nita Ford-Hightower in helping military families get connected to the resources and services they need to get their children prepared for school.
“I love what I do every day,” Abner said. “Every day is different. There is always something unique and challenging about it and that’s where I thrive. “I just know that I’m going to help a military family and I like being able to work with my partner (Ford-Hightower).”
Abner said when she was growing up in Detroit, it was a couple of teachers who taught her the value of a good education and the need to pursue it. Despite encountering hardships along the way, Abner said she is proud of being the first member in her family to graduate from college and of her career in helping military families.
“I pushed through and I worked hard,” she said. “I definitely want to be an advocate for other children who will be able to be resilient in that way.
“A lot of the things that I have taught in these military programs there is my own personal backstory,” Abner added. “Most of the things I have experienced I’ve been able to give a testimony in my trainings.”
Transitioning service members at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston who need assistance in getting their children into a new school can come by the JBSA Military Child Education Program office at 2484 Stanley Road, building 2263, suite 107-B, or call 210-221-2256 or 210- 221-2214.