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Helping Military Kids Cope: Educators Learn About Issues Facing Students Whose Relatives Are Deployed

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 April 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Megan Boldt, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Apr. 4--As a kindergartner, Alex Rice went through his whole first year of school with his dad, Owen, thousands of miles away fighting for his country.

The Mahtomedi resident was in Afghanistan for more than a year with his Army Reserve battalion clearing land mines, and that time away was hard on Alex. He started to have accidents and kept more and more things to himself.

But his kindergarten teacher at Wildwood Elementary made sure to watch for signs that Alex might be having trouble and did her part to help him. Jeanna Warren started "Treats for Troops," where the class put together a care package for Alex's dad every month. She even sent Owen an e-mail every week to let him know how Alex was doing in school.

"I don't know what I would have done without her and my whole support system of family, friends and community members," said Alex's mom, Barbi Rice.

That stress is a common part of life for families who have relatives on active duty. And that's why the state Department of Education teamed up with military support groups to train about 130 educators Monday and today about the issues students face when a parent or close family member is deployed.

The training is all a part of "Operation: Military Kids." The group -- which includes the University of Minnesota's Center for 4-H Youth Development and Extension Service, the Boys & Girls Clubs, American Legion, schools and military support groups -- aims to help military kids before, during and after their parents are deployed by delivering programs and creating community support networks.

"When we deploy soldiers, we deploy the family," said Minnesota National Guard State Command Sgt. Maj. Bob Boone. "And we need to partner with all these groups to give these families what they need."

School administrators, counselors, social workers, nurses and teachers in the training are learning the basics of the National Guard and Reserves, what kinds of issues kids might have, how to respond to those needs and what resources are available. They will use what they learn to come up with an action plan they can bring to schools in their area.

Karla Williams, a school social worker in the Anoka-Hennepin School District, said it helped just to get the basic details about how the National Guard and Army Reserve work and how the deployment process plays out.

"I didn't have any military knowledge," Williams said. "I wanted to learn so I can help support my students without doing so blindly."

Kate Casserly, a school nurse in the Minneapolis School District, knows that children's stresses can come out physically. That's why she volunteered for the training. Sometimes students come into the school nurse's office complaining of headaches and stomachaches, Casserly said, not realizing their pains are connected to worry or anxiety.

Jane Stewart, a principal from Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan schools on special assignment, said it all boils down to making sure military families know their school is there to support them.

Stewart understands this all too well. She lost her husband during the Vietnam War and will never forget the stress she went through.

Two district social workers who went with her to the training want to put together a plan for their own district and publicize it in school newsletters so families know the resources available.

"You need all the support you can get," Stewart said. "Sometimes we get wrapped up in the whole debate about whether a war is right or wrong and you don't focus on the individuals who are giving up their families, jobs and sometimes even lives for us.

"Our focus needs to be on the kids," she said.

Megan Boldt covers education and can be reached at mboldt@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5495.

online

Want to find out more about Operation: Military Kids? Visit www.operationmilitarykids.org.

"When we deploy soldiers, we deploy the family. And we need to partner with all these groups to give these families what they need."

Minnesota National Guard State Command Sgt. Maj. Bob Boone

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Copyright (c) 2006, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

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Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)

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