The US Navy honored an Early College High School teacher this summer for his role in influencing students to join the armed services.
AVID teacher Eric Fries served six years in the Navy, which eventually led him into the teaching field. He is beginning his fifth year teaching at ECHS.
The KISD teacher received an Impact influencer award alongside Navy recruiter Michelle Boatman, who is based in Copperas Cove and attached to the Navy Talent Acquisition Group in San Antonio.
AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination is a required course at KISD Early College High School and students typically stay with the same teacher for all four years of high school.
It’s a natural process, said Fries, to have conversations with students about their future and he encountered many in the Class of 2026 that reminded him of himself and led him to suggest the military.
A total of 13 of his students that graduated last spring committed to the US Navy.
“It gave me a lot of skills like organization and discipline – to clean up a lot of clutter we have in life and gave me direction,” he said of his experience in the Navy. “I think it’s really good for young people,” he said.
Career direction is something Fries said he lacked as he finished high school. He was married and a father before he took the initiative to join the military, where he deployed to the Middle East three times in six years.
The teacher stays in touch with Boatman, a recruiter who Fries knows is honest and has vast knowledge of the jobs available in the military.
The Early College teacher was surprised when he showed up last July to see two of his students off to boot camp and the Navy surprised him with the recruitment award.
Fries was especially excited to have his wife, Danielle with him since she missed out on most of his awards with the Navy. She teaches third grade at Maude Moore Wood Elementary School.
“It makes me proud,” he said of the honor. “One of the (students) already contacted me and told me that boot camp was hard, but she was really proud of herself and said, ‘This is one of the best things I’ve ever done.’”
“I know they took a step that will have a positive impact in the rest of their life and they got to it sooner than I did.”
Fries is also excited about his own decision to enter the teaching profession.
“It has been challenging. All teachers have stress, but it’s very rewarding. The reward is a student saying ‘You were right. I can do this. Thanks for having confidence in me,’” he said.
Recent article prepared by the US Navy: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/572864/texas-high-school-teacher-recognized-navy-recruiting
Last January, a US Navy recruitment simulation called Strike Force visited the Central Texas College campus through the efforts of Early College High School teacher Terrell Scrivner, a former US Marine and Fries.
The high school’s AVID classes visited the simulations, giving students a look at several high-tech offerings of the military branch.
See that story with photos here: https://www.killeenisd.org/article/2635487