PBS special on military families April 1
I wanted to take a moment to share with you the exciting news of an April 1 PBS Prime Time Special, "Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change," for which we hope you can assist us in getting the word out through your school, and/or through other professional and personal networks, to Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve military families who have children of age who might typically watch Sesame Street on television. Many educators may not even realize these military children are in their classrooms; however, we can assure you most schools in Colorado have military children in them, be it one or two military children or by the hundreds! We also realize each of you have numerous connections in your daily lives; thus, by sharing this information we hope to reach as many families as possible with your help!
On April 1, 2009 at 7:00 pm on Rocky Mountain PBS stations will air a new resource, "Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change," to help military families and their children in coping with the various stages of deployment and some of the deployment related issues will be aired.
This and other quality Sesame educational resources relating to military deployment can be viewed and downloaded from: www.sesameworkshop.org/initiatives/emotion/tlc/
I have heard from our constituents in Washington DC who had an opportunity to preview this highly informative presentation this week and they would like to share a couple of tips and pointers which we hope, with your help, to reach out to families/parents of potential child viewers in advance of the airing as we realize that most parents/care-givers may not typically oversee Sesame airings with their children.
It is somewhat emotional and sensitive in that it features several wounded service members and their children/families in talking about their different type of war related injuries (PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury, loss of limbs are included) and how they have begun to adapt to "the new normal". Of course Elmo and friends share in these discussions too!
1) It is recommended that parents/care-givers preview, "Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change" first. As noted above, it can be viewed on-line at the Sesameworkshop website.
2) We also recommend that the parent/care-giver view the show alongside their children when it is aired on their local PBS station. Of course this is a parental decision and choice to make.
Point to remember:
First, our hearts, thoughts, support, etc. goes out to those families who are faced with dealing with injuries or worse and for the tremendous sacrifices our military families have made and will continue to endure. However, we do wish to point out that fortunately, not all service members who deploy come back wounded and of course we also appreciate their sacrifices as a military family as well.
By pointing out that not all service members come back wounded, this may be a talking point between military parents/care-givers with young viewers in advance of watching the show. If a parent or other loved one is about to deploy or has just recently deployed, we hope that by sharing this message in advance that parents/care-givers can help their child/ren better understand this specific aspect of the deployment phase in hopes of helping to reduce anxiety, fears, concerns to the degree possible with the children.
Thank you for your dedication in serving as a highly valued educator and for your assistance in helping us to pass along this information to others across the state if at all possible prior to April 1st!
Our Operation: Military Kids (OMK) program staff and partners are available upon scheduling to provide free workshops in your region. These workshops for educators, communities, and other groups help create a greater awareness and understanding of the issues faced by military children, especially those dealing with deployment/s. We also explore how we as a "community" can develop local networks to support them! Please feel free to contact us if we can be of assistance or if you have any questions. Thanks again for your assistance in this matter.
Respectfully,
Shauna Woods
Operation: Military Kids
970.491.1807 office
970.988.6104 mobile
4040 Campus Delivery
CSU Extension - University Square #1D
Fort Collins CO 80523-4040
Updated Tuesday, September 13, 2011
