KNOB NOSTER, Mo. — Corbin Fulmer is an avid baseball fan with a quick answer when asked to name his favorite MLB team.
"The Braves," Corbin, a 10-year-old at Whiteman Elementary School, said without hesitation. "I grew up an hour away from them."
Although he grew up an hour away from Atlanta, home for him has become a few different places.
"I’ve moved about six times," Corbin said.
For the past two years, he's been a student at Whiteman Elementary, which located on the Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, Missouri. The majority of the students there are like Corbin: military kids.
"My dad is in the military; he's deployed." Corbin said. "The good thing about being a military kid is you get friends all over the world."
Walking down a hallway at the school, a map covers a large wall that shows the air force bases where students moved from.
"Right around the Christmas break time is usually a large move-in season for us," Whiteman Elementary counselor Hailee Wickham said.
This past school year, the school had roughly 30 to 40 new students.
To help students navigate their new surroundings, Whiteman Elementary has a student-to-student ambassador program.
"We use our student-to-student program to provide them with a tour and just provide them with a warm welcome into our school district," Wickham said.
She works with 17 student ambassadors to help the new students adjust.
"I think a lot of those beginning conversations do help coming from our students, because student-to-student is more comfortable," Wickham said. "They are the ones who meet the kids for the first time and introduce themselves and move around."
Corbin is one of those ambassadors.
"Sometimes, usually they ask me what’s for lunch," Corbin said. "Most kids are nervous when they come to a new school, including me. I was nervous until I got a tour from Miss Wickham, the counselor."
The schools aims to provide steady support to children who are accustomed to change.
"I know I could’ve never dealt with a deployment," Wickham said. "I could not even imagine. They really are resilient kids and they make me so proud every day."
For students like Corbin, there are mixed feelings.
"I feel good because he’s serving our country, but I also kind of miss him," Corbin said. "He was there for my baseball tournament, though, and he’s our coach, so I was glad for that."
Corbin said he's also glad to be apart of a community where he knows he's not alone.
"It makes you feel better," he said. "It makes you feel like you found your happy place."
