MILITARY LIAISON
Hello and Welcome to Sumter School District!
My name is Tamara Collier, Coordinator of Family and Community Engagement for Federal Programs. I have been working in this capacity for one year, with a total of 11 years of service to Sumter School District and 21 years in the field of education. I absolutely love my job because it provides me with the opportunity to assist the children and families of Sumter County. It also allows me to act as a support system to the parent facilitators, McKinney-Vento liaisons, and the foster care points of contact for the schools within Sumter School District.
I also serve as the Military Family Liaison for Sumter School District. I bring with me many years of experience serving and supporting military families. I began my “military career” as a military child. I was born and raised in the military, and I was stationed at many military installations, ten to be exact, throughout my 17 years of being a military child. So I can very much empathize with military children and families when it comes to making frequent transitions and having to “start all over again” every couple of years due to duty reassignments. Once I “retired” as a military child, I married my husband, who was an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force. This brought me to my current “military career” role as a military spouse/parent.
Being a military spouse/parent has not only afforded me the opportunity to travel the world and experience diverse cultures, but it has given me an immense amount of knowledge to understand, personally, what military children and families experience. From deployments, PCS moves, TDYs, etc., I have a first-hand experience with the many challenges that military children and families deal with on a daily basis.
I have worked for many years with military children as a Children’s Services Coordinator for military libraries, as well as, an Educational Program Coordinator for military child development centers. I believe that these roles, along with being a military child and a military spouse/parent have prepared me to advocate on behalf of the military children and families who enroll in Sumter School District.
It is with pleasure that I welcome you to Shaw AFB and Sumter School District! If you have any questions, and/or if I can be of assistance, in any way possible, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I am here to support and serve military children and their families!
Tamara Collier
Tamara.collier@sumterschools.net
803-469-6900, extension 524