2006 Mission Homefront Professional Development Events
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), in collaboration with the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) and the Center for Schools and Communities (CSC), held a series of regional professional development opportunities for Pennsylvania’s “Mission Homefront" initiative. The one and two day training events were held in the regions of Pennsylvania that have been most heavily impacted by military deployment in recent years. With over 21,000 service members deployed since September 11, 2001, Pennsylvania ranks first in the nation for number of deployed National Guard and third highest in the number of deployed personnel. By providing educational opportunities, resources and technical assistance, Mission Homefront helps to ensure academic and lifelong success for over 18,000 of Pennsylvania’s children affected by deployment.
90 people attended the one day workshop and two-day institute with positve reactions. “It was a great 2 day training…with a diverse group of people to learn how we can work with the same goals in mind”, said a National Guard Family Assistance Center Coordinator who participated in the Malvern event. A military veteran who attended the one day workshop in Malvern said “I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation…a job well done by all.”
Attendees came from a variety of backgrounds including military veterans, Pennsylvania National Guard, family members, educators, counselors, nurses and community leaders to garner information on the effects of mobilization and deployment and the unique challenges facing children. More than half of the attendees participated in the two-day “train the trainers” event and were trained such that they can train additional local teams to respond as a community using model programs, resources, and networks that support military-connected children during mobilization, deployment and transition. The hands-on training allowed participants to develop individual action plans to take what they learned back to their communities, campuses and colleagues and increase awareness for Pennsylvania’s Mission Homefront initiative.
Training was provided by the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) a Texas based, non-profit, world-wide organization that identifies the challenges that face military children, increases awareness of these challenges and helps initiate and implement programs to meet these challenges. MCEC trainers included Keith Martin, retired Brigadier General for the PA National Guard and Paul Callen, developer of the Supporting Children and Families of the Guard and Reserve curriculum. For more information on MCEC visit www.militarychild.org.
Click on the Pennsylvania map to see where children in Pennsylvania are being impacted by the deployment of a family member by geographic regions.
