California State PTA supports our military families. California leads the nation with more active duty military than any other state. The life of military families and children have challenges including frequent relocations and separations. Every time a military family moves, children have to adapt, make new friends, get used to new schools, and find new clubs and teams to join.
Your PTA can support military families
What are the challenges our Military Families face? They face frequent relocations, educational inconsistencies-different school systems, adjusting to new neighbors and communities, leaving friends and making new friends, family separations, grandparents as caregivers, disability or loss of family members and many other challenges.
What can PTA do? Communicate with military families, educate the community, and be a source of information and support.
How do we reach and include them? Identify them and find out who they are. Invite them, welcome them, and ask them to participate. Inform them of events and programs and communicate with them. Involve them, because volunteering is what they do.
How does PTA benefit Military Families? PTA supports them by reaching out to them. PTA sustains them by being there for them and giving them some consistency when they are in a new school. PTA leaders and members recognize and honor their sacrifice and acknowledge their service.
Resources to support military families
California State PTA has a Position Statement that deals with lessening barriers for families (Including military families)
Resources for Parents and Teachers from the Military Child Education Coalition
Blue Star Families has a resource on How Schools Can Help Military Children
National PTA has several resources including:
- In Focus: Children in Military Families
- PTA Military Alliance for Parents and Partners
- Resolution on Educational Opportunities for Military Children
April is the Month of the Military Child
Celebrate and appreciate the military children in your school by recognizing them in the month of April. Some activities you could do include:
- Having a military job fair and inviting their families to campus to present.
- Select a day to have the entire school wear purple which is the signature color of this celebration. April 15, 2022 is the official Purple Up! Day for recognizing military children.
- Put a world map up in the cafeteria and ask military children to put pins every place they’ve lived.
- Add books to the library about military kids’ experiences.
National PTA has a resource to help you celebrate the military children in your school!
MilitaryChild.org has a Toolkit they update annually with a new theme for the Month of the Military Child.
Do you have a great idea to include or recognize military families? We’d love to share it on our blog and social media channels. Simply fill out this form and tell us all about it.