April celebrates the month of the military child, their resilience and strength. There are about 80 students from military families at Los Alamitos High School. Each and every one of them knows what it means to be a child of the military.
Ms. Kiko, the LAHS
military counselor, and McGaugh Elementary teacher Miss McClellan created a pen-pal program where military kids from LAHS and McGaugh Elementary exchange letters and poems, reaching across grade levels to share words of reassurance and understanding. The hope is for the high schoolers to resonate with the younger students and serve as mentors and friends.
“We’re trying to help these kids who aren’t super old and have
experienced a couple of moves, who are a little bit emotional. We’ll just assure them that everything’s (going to) be okay, maybe how to cope with it, and just share our experiences with each other,” said LAHS student Leanna McGregor, who is also a part of the pen-pal program.
The values that the pen-pal program promotes, empathy and connection, represent the spirit of the Month of the Military Child. For the young students at
McGaugh Elementary, knowing they have a friend at the high school gives them a sense of belonging and someone to look up to.
The rest of the story with some of the McGaugh student responses are here....
Photo Credit: Leanna McGregor