O:MK in the Classroom
As school personnel, you may be one of the few people in the community to know that a child is experiencing extra stress or concerns because they have a military parent. 

National Guard or Reserves families live in our community as businesspersons, doctors or firefighters, typically giving one weekend a month to military service.  Many are being deployed for a year or even more, leaving their families to deal with daily details and the stress of having a loved one constantly in harm’s way.

As you work in the classroom with the children of military families, we hope that the O:MK information and resources will be of help.  O:MK reflects the best of America...youth, adults, schools, civic, military and private organizations coming together to support Military Kids, our everyday heroes right in our own backyards.

Read the Counselor in the Spotlight below!

Be an O:MK Classroom!
Find ideas and classroom activities on how you can support military kids with our new Be an O:MK Classroom! newsletter.  Please share with other educators.  If you have ideas to add to the list, let us know!

Be an O:MK Classroom! newsletter (PDF)

Proudly display the O:MK Classroom certificate.
Classroom Certificate (PDF)

Resources

• Book List Bookmark
  This bookmark provides a list of books suitable for group discussions among children and youth.

  • Book List (PDF)

• Living in the New Normal: Supporting Children through Trauma & Loss

  • Suggested Literature & Resource Guide (PDF)

• Research

  • Military Deployments and Children's Academic Achievement: Evidence from Department of Defense Education Activity Schools (PDF)
     

  • Shadowed by War: Building Community Capacity to Support Military Families (PDF)
    A community capacity approach to family support featuring current initiatives.
     

  • Using Military Deployments & Job Assignments to Estimate the Effect of Parental Absences & Household Relocations on Children's Academic Achievement
     

• Tough Topics
  Learning and teaching support to help as you serve military youth.

  • Supporting Military Kids During Deployment - Issue 1 (PDF)

  • Helping Youth Cope with Stress - Issue 2 (PDF)

  • Impact of Grief and Loss - Issue 3 (PDF)

• On the Web

• Sesame Street Family Connections
  A bilingual child centered, private online military family resource where children and adults can interact and stay connected when distance makes everyday communication difficult.

• Teens who move a lot have twice suicide risk
  MSNBC report on the effects of moving on teens

• Why We Serve
  A speakers outreach program intended to re-connect the men and women of the United States Armed Forces with those they serve: The American people.

• Military Youth on the Move!
  Easy to use resource that reaches out to youth with creative ways to cope with issues that arise in the face of a move.

O:MK Resources may also be useful for the classroom setting