For a second consecutive year, students in the Windsor Strong Academy will study what makes a community strong. On the first day of this year’s program, students from 6th through 8th grades heard from a Windsor alumnus who has made a career keeping communities safe. 

2008 graduate Kyle Krause, an Army Staff Sargeant and combat veteran, spoke to the students about how his time in Windsor helped him become the soldier and person he grew to be. 

“Every year in high school I was learning who I was. You figuring out who you are is going to make you more centered,” said Krause, who served a tour in Afghanistan from 2010-2011. He is currently a recruiter for the Army National Guard in Binghamton.

 

 

Krause’s talk with the students fit well into the goals of the summer program. First-year students will explore the question, “What makes a community strong?”

 

Second-year students will study what it means to be future-ready by studying seven career pathways: business/finance, health care, computer science, agriculture, education, trades and engineering. All students will examine, “what it means to be the best me.” For Krause, that means a process of self-exploration in high school.

 

“Try different sports. Try different clubs. Try different electives. Go to BOCES for a trade. You may think you know what you want to do but until you experience it, you don’t know,” said Krause. 

Krause’s visit kicked off a promising summer for the Windsor Strong Academy. Over 50 students are part of this year’s group, 20 more than last year. Students will split their time between the campus of Windsor Central High School and the Binghamton University Downtown Center. They will study both the Windsor and Binghamton communities to answer the question, “What makes a community strong?”

Krause gave his own answer to the students.

“Sometimes it’s going through hardship as a community, sometimes it’s going through success. It’s the individuals within a community that want to make it a better place that make it strong,” said Krause.