Many learning opportunities in our Education Department

Spring has arrived!  This winter the Education Department has been busy. Weekly story times, daily homework help and tutoring sessions are some of the regular work of the department during the academic school year.

During a tutoring session, this student gains hands on experience using measurement and the metric system to grow a crystal. This tutoring session was so well received, that other patrons of the lab all wanted to join in. What started as an individual tutoring session grew into a group exercise on measurement, crystal formation, earth science and conducting an experiment.

Some youth became citizen scientists and participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Residents joined staff as we walked around campus counting and identifying birds. Armed with field guides and binoculars we were able to identify five different species and saw many more that were a little too quick for us to identify. The information was submitted to the Great Back Yard Bird Count and became part of a national survey.  http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ For the rest of the day, youth were looking to the sky, trees and fields and pointing at every bird they could find.

We also recently held our annual Scholastic Book Fair.  This year during the fair, children also participated in games and bingo for books.  They were very excited to pick out their prizes (more books), just in time to start March is reading month!  The event not only made sure that every child had access to a new book, but it also helped update the library shelves with new reading material.

As March is reading month rolls on, many students have been checking out books and reading in the library to hit their daily reading goal.

Residents assemble Hero Packs for military children

National Home residents assemble Hero Packs on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

For several National Home residents, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday was more than a day off from school. It was a day to give back. This year’s project was to stuff Hero Packs, which will be distributed by the Michigan National Guard Child and Youth Programs staff to young people who will be experiencing a loved one’s deployment.

The Hero Packs program is sponsored by Operation Military Kids. Hero Packs serve as a tangible expression of support for military families from their communities and OMK Partners. Hero Packs are filled with mementos and items designed to help keep military kids connected with their deployed parent. They are a way to hand-deliver a salute to military children and youth for their strength and sacrifices while parents are deployed. 

Participants at the National Home packed backpacks with a variety of family support materials, communications tools and fun items. They packed 100 Hero Packs in less than half an hour! Enthusiasm was high, and National Home staff say they plan on doing this community service project again soon.

Nursery Children Enjoy Their Time at the CC

Fourteen preschoolers rode the National Home bus to the Community Center for Jolly Jumpers this morning. They enjoyed playing with balls, scooters, hula hoops and climbing on the mats. Toddlers and preschoolers visit the Community Center gym for Jolly Jumper time twice a week to work on large motor skills, burn off some energy and have FUN!

 

National Home alum pays it forward

Karac Brown first came to the VFW National Home for Children at the age of 22. A newly-single dad, he says he was “terrified” of raising his young daughter on his own. But thanks to the support he received from the community of staff and residents here, he left three years later a stronger person and a better, more relaxed parent.

“Without this place, I would not have made my life what it is,” Karac said. “I came away from my experience at the National Home with the perspective and confidence to grow as a person and a parent.”

This Christmas, Karac was back at the National Home to help make the holidays brighter for a new generation of residents. As chairman of UAW Local 724, he organizes a group of volunteers to come out to the National Home each year to hang Christmas lights around the campus. His daughter, now a straight-A student in the seventh grade, got to take a day off from school to join the group this year.

“She remembers our time here like it was yesterday,” said Karac. “I told her if she kept her grades up, she could join us for the decorating. I’m proud to have her out here with my crew.”

When asked about what brings him back to the National Home, Karac said, “I made it because of this place, and I want to try and bring back for the new residents some of what made it great for me.”