Impact

PSU4PA: Penn State helping teachers support military families

Children of deployed U.S. military members face a number of stressful issues, and teachers in Pennsylvania's schools often need to lend special support to those children and their families. Penn State and Operation: Military Kids provide teachers and others who work with military families with the training they need to address these unique challenges.

"Before there was Operation: Military Kids and Penn State doing this training… we had a lot of children out there that had no support," said Paula Bozdech-Veater, a retired U.S. Navy captain and ombusdsman in Pittsburgh, Pa. "Penn State has fulfilled that training void for teachers by offering Ready, Set, Go! training."

Learn how Penn State is guiding teachers as they help children cope on the home front: /video/151959/2013/02/08/video-no-title

Ready, Set, Go! training teaches educators about the challenges military families face before, during and after deployment. The training, one of several programs offered by Operation: Military Kids, helps teachers learn about military culture, the emotional cycle of deployment, return and reunion and local and national programs and resources.

Operation: Military Kids is a national effort to support children of deployed service members from all military branches. A collaborative effort among the U.S. Army and national community partners, O.M.K. in Pennsylvania is administered by Penn State Cooperative Extension's Pennsylvania 4-H program.

Penn State for PA (PSU4PA) tells the stories of Pennsylvania residents whose businesses, communities and lives have been transformed by Penn State teaching, research and service. For more firsthand accounts of Penn State’s positive impact on the Commonwealth, visit psu4pa.psu.edu, “like” the Facebook page at facebook.com/psu4pa and follow twitter.com/psu4pa.
 

Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

How can teachers support children of deployed US soldiers? Penn State offers training for Pennsylvania educators as they help children face stressful issues connected with family members serving in the military. The Ready, Set, Go! program, offered by Penn State in conjunction with Operation Military Kids, guides teachers as they help children cope on the home front. 

Last Updated July 12, 2021