We were delighted to be able to sit down with Lucy a year after our first conversation. Listen as she discusses her recent PCS, how it feels to start all over again as the new kid, and how her love of music helps during those challenging times.

This podcast is made possible by our partnership with Mountain Home Officers’ Spouses’ Club and Naval Officers’ Spouses’ Club Washington, D.C., and their generous support. To learn more, visit https://www.mountainhomeosc.org/ and https://www.noscdc.org/.

Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.

If you would like to hear part of Lucy’s original song and listen to her discuss her experiences growing up a military child, we have shared the link to our earlier podcast.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hello-my-name-is-lucy/id1386801038?i=1000626814063

Lucy is a 14-year-old military child. Her father is in the US Navy and she just completed her fourth move! Last year, Lucy was a member of the National Junior Honor Society and held the Parliamentary position. She was captain of her school’s dance team, a member of the jazz band, and was asked to sing the National Anthem at the opening season of softball. She loves to sing, dance, and write her own songs. She is a kind and compassionate daughter, sister, and friend. This year she will be starting high school as a freshman at Jamestown High School in Williamsburg, Virginia and is looking forward to making new friends.

Student 2 Student is a peer-to-peer student-led program that brings military and civilian students together to welcome new students, create a positive environment for all, support educational opportunities, build connections through service, and ease transitions. Listen as Emily discusses how her S2S is helping new students start the school year with a great support network.

This podcast is made possible by our partnership with Maxwell Gunter Spouses’ Club and Mountain Home Officers’ Spouses’ Club and their generous support. To learn more, visit https://www.maxwellgunterspousesclub.com/ and https://www.mountainhomeosc.org/.

Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.

My name is Emily, and I am a Senior at Fort Campbell High School, KY. My step-dad serves in the Army, and I am proud to be a military kid! However, unlike most of my friends I did not grow up in the military, my mom married my step-dad only four years ago! Since then I have had the privilege of being a member of my school's Student 2 Student program, helping new students navigate moving and adjusting to a new environment. I am super involved at school and have been on the Varsity Volleyball team all four years! Additionally, I am a part of the National Honors Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Book Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and I manage the Track and Field team. However, my biggest passion is helping others feel loved and safe, which is why I hope to pursue a career in nursing and midwifery after high school.

Listen as Scott Arcuri, Vice President of Field Operations at Operation Homefront discusses their mission to build strong, stable, and secure military families. They provide relief and recurring family support programs, including events like the Back-to-School Brigade, Holiday Meals for Military, and Star-Spangled Babies. Operation Homefront is truly focused on helping military families not just survive but thrive.

This podcast is made possible by generous funding from the Military Spouse Association of Camp Pendleton. To learn more, visit https://www.msa-cp.org/.

Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.

Operation Homefront

https://operationhomefront.org/

Back-to-School Brigade

https://operationhomefront.org/back-to-school-brigade/

Family Events

https://operationhomefront.org/events/

“Our military families face constant change, uncertainty, and separation, yet they willingly devote their lives to service. We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude, and it’s an honor to come alongside them to help when they need it most.”

Scott Arcuri joined Operation Homefront as Vice President of Field Operations in January 2023 after serving a distinguished 32-year career in the Air Force. He spent the majority of his time in uniform as a personnel officer and he commanded units in Korea and in South Carolina. Scott held a variety of staff and leadership positions during his career, including Director of Personnel for U.S. Air Forces in the Middle East, and later in Europe and Africa; two tours at the Air Force Personnel Center; and three tours at Headquarters Air Force at the Pentagon. His career was devoted to leading, developing, and assisting Airmen and their families across the globe and he is passionate about continuing that work at Operation Homefront. Scott holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a master’s degree from Central Michigan University, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College.

BigFuture’s mission is to ensure every student has free resources to plan for life after high school. Listen as Greg Rafal, Director of BigFuture Program Implementation at College Board, shares how they are focused on supporting all students plan for their future. He also discusses the importance of consistent college and career guidance for our military-connected students, and how BigFuture is helping do just that.

This podcast is made possible by generous funding from the Sheppard Spouses’ Club. To learn more, visit https://sheppardspousesclub.org/.

Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.

MCEC Global Training Summit Pre-Summit Professional Development

Don’t miss Greg Rafal’s session at the Global Training Summit.

Distinguished Lecture Session, Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Where Students Can Own Their Future

In 2021, the College Board published research that showed students were 25% more likely to attend college and 31% were more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree after connecting with colleges and scholarship programs through the College Board Student Search Service™. Using the College Board BigFuture School mobile app can help students plan for college and career options after high school, and even empower students to drive their own conversations with colleges and scholarship providers across the country by joining the Student Search Service™. Learn from the Director of the BigFuture Program Implementation himself, Gregory Rafal, on how to find and support military-connected students with free tools and resources that can help them get ready for their next big adventure.

https://www.militarychild.org/event/gts/gts-register/

The College Board

https://www.collegeboard.org/

BigFuture

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/

Student Search Service

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/student-search-service

Greg Rafal is the Director of BigFuture Program Implementation at College Board. In this role, his focus is to increase K-12 and caring adult awareness of BigFuture and to lead the BigFuture Live virtual community event strategy. Prior to his role at College Board, he worked in higher education. Most recently he was at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business where he oversaw global programs for undergraduate and MBA students. He also worked in international student admissions and student affairs at several other institutions. He received his MA in International Education and Training from American University and BA in Spanish/Political Science from Christopher Newport University. Greg is originally from northern Virginia and is based in Washington, DC.

"Every child deserves love, acceptance, and respect." In this powerful discussion, Keygan Miller from The Trevor Project shares the organization’s mission to support and empower LGBTQ+ youth. The conversation highlights the importance of education, acceptance, and creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals, especially in the military community.

Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.

MCEC Global Training Summit Pre-Summit Professional Development

Don’t miss our four pre-summit sessions focusing on Mental Health and Well-being, Monday, July 29, 2024: Promoting Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems for Military-Connected Students, Mental Health Risk Factors and Suicide Prevention for Military Families, Improving School Climate to Promote the Mental Health of Military-Connected Youth, Pioneering Progress: Exploring Promising Practices of the DoDEA Grant Program for Military-Connected School Communities https://www.militarychild.org/event/gts/gts-register/

The Trevor Project

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/trevorspace/

Keygan Miller is the Director of Public Training for The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people. Keygan oversees design and facilitation of public trainings to advance Trevor’s life-saving suicide prevention work and teach audiences to be strong allies for LGBTQ+ youth. Prior to this work, Keygan was an Advocacy Manager at The Trevor Project, and they served as an Intervention Specialist for Cincinnati Public Schools. Keygan received a Master of Arts in Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Cincinnati as well as a Master of Education and Human Development in Education Policy from The George Washington University.

Resilience is often described as our ability to “bounce back” as we are faced with challenges. Our military-connected youth live a highly mobile lifestyle and developing resiliency skills can assist in navigating the unique challenges of this life. Listen as Dr. Rachel Millstein and Stacie Fredriksson discuss programs that provide opportunities for youth to build these skills.

This podcast is made possible by generous funding from the Naval Officers’ Spouses’ Club of San Diego. To learn more, visit https://noscsandiego.com/.

Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.

MCEC Global Training Summit

Don’t miss Dr. Millstein’s and Ms. Fredriksson’s presentation at the Global Training Summit.

Virtual Session, Thursday, August 1, 2024

Resilient Youth for Military-Connected Children

Resilient Youth is a six-session virtually-delivered program developed by the Massachusetts General Hospital Child Resiliency Program and Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, offered by Home Base at Massachusetts General Hospital. We have been able to reach youth across the country to teach relaxation, coping, and communication strategies through this innovative program. Youth and parent feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, instructive, and pre-post intervention data are currently being collected. The program is expanding as we seek to be able to offer this educational program as a preventive measure to help military youth cope with their unique stressors.

https://www.militarychild.org/event/gts/gts-register/

Home Base, A Red Sox Foundation and Mass General Brigham Program

https://homebase.org/

https://homebase.org/programs/new-england-programs/resiliencyprograms/

Dr. Rachel Millstein serves as the Clinical and Research Co-Director of the Mind Body Health team at Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program. Since 2020, Dr. Millstein has been providing program development and oversight of Home Base Resiliency programming in collaboration with the MGH Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. Her clinical skills as a SMART and Resilient Warrior/Family/Youth group leader along with her documented research and data analysis background have helped lead the program’s growth. In the Co-Director role, she provides clinical oversight and research management for the services provided at Home Base in the Mind Body Health Services directorate.

Stacie Fredriksson has been at Home Base for more than 5 years and currently manages the Family Support Team which provides peer support and resiliency programming. A veteran herself, Stacie served 14 years in the Air Force on active duty as an intelligence officer before transferring to the Air Force Reserves where she served the last 9 years of her career at USCYBERCOM before retiring in 2016. Stacie is married to her husband, also an Air Force veteran and together they have two children and two dogs who keep them both busy and focused on the importance of living each day to the fullest! A native of Texas, Stacie has adapted to New England and enjoys spending time outside, cooking, reading and traveling.

Dr. Elizabeth Connors and Dr. Samantha Reaves discuss the impact that data has in developing a comprehensive school mental health support system. They address the importance of having system and individual level data to assess the quality of programs and services, and how to utilize that data to make improvements.

This podcast is made possible by our partnership with The National Child Traumatic Stress Network and their generous support. To learn more, visit https://www.nctsn.org/.

Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.

MCEC Global Training Summit Pre-Summit Professional Development

Don’t miss our four pre-summit sessions focusing on Mental Health and Well-being, Monday, July 29, 2024: Promoting Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems for Military-Connected Students, Mental Health Risk Factors and Suicide Prevention for Military Families, Improving School Climate to Promote the Mental Health of Military-Connected Youth, Pioneering Progress: Exploring Promising Practices of the DoDEA Grant Program for Military-Connected School Communities https://www.militarychild.org/event/gts/gts-register/

National Center for School Mental Health

https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/

National Center for Safe Supportive Schools

https://www.ncs3.org/

School Health and Performance Evaluation System

https://theshapesystem.com/

Elizabeth H. Connors, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor at the Yale Department of Psychiatry. She directs the Yale Program on Implementation Consultation and Research (https://medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/consultationcenter/research/school-mental-health-implementation-consultation-research/) and is a co-founder of the Yale Measurement-Based Care Collaborative (https://medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/research/programs/clinical_people/mbccollab/). Elizabeth is also a core faculty member with the University of Maryland National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH, https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/) and is a co-developer of The SHAPE System national performance standards and free online quality improvement resources for comprehensive school mental health systems (see https://theshapesystem.com/). Elizabeth conducts research, evaluation, training and consultation with school systems, community organizations and healthcare organizations to promote equitable access to high quality mental health supports.

Elizabeth’s father and brother are US Navy Veterans, and she grew up in the Florida panhandle where many of her friends and community members were active duty, veterans or military-connected.

Dr. Samantha Reaves is an Assistant Professor at the National Center for School Mental Health. She is an experienced school mental health clinician and researcher who often provides technical assistance to school, district, and state leaders around their school mental health quality improvement efforts. Her personal research interests lie at the intersection of mental health and education. She often investigates how school or family factors influence student outcomes in underserved communities. As a clinical-community psychologist, she believes great prevention work can be done and realizes the importance of strengthening the systems children are nested in to promote wellbeing. She is committed to supporting schools, at multiple levels, to improve policies and procedures around student socioemotional functioning. In her work at the NCSMH she primarily supports the Partnering for Student Wellness project, the SOR parenting program evaluation, and the National Quality Initiative.