Operation Caring Classroom supports military children, like the elementary schoolers on the Fort Belvoir base in Virginia, by encouraging greater understanding about the lives of military families this Veterans Day. Jessica Harbin/MNS
WASHINGTON-This Veterans Day, more than 100 schools across the country are participating in “Operation Caring Classroom” an educational initiative sponsored by the non-profit Armed Forces Foundation. Unlike your traditional Veterans Day learning, “Operation Caring Classroom” aims to not only teach students about the history of the holiday, but to teach students about military life and military families.
For students at Fort Belvoir Elementary, located on Virginia’s Fort Belvoir military base, Veterans Day is a personal experience, celebrating the efforts of their parents and families for the good of the country. But civilian schools don’t have personal experience to draw on.
“It’s kinda different for a military kid than a civilian kid because a civilian doesn’t really know, doesn’t have a soldier in his life,” said J.P. Urquidez, a sixth-grader at Fort Belvoir. “He doesn’t have somebody who fights, and I think they should know what it’s like for a military kid.”
And to help civilian students gain an understanding of the lives of military kids like Urquidez, Operation Caring Classroom is pairing up civilian and military schools.
Fort Belvoir Elementary Principal Jane Wilson believes these sort of educational partnerships are very beneficial to her students and their families.
“It’s very important that the civilian community understands the military family and understands that not only the service member serves the country, but the families do also,” Wilson said. “By partnering with civilian schools, it has really helped to get the message out.”