April is the Month of the Military Child, and Wylie works hard to celebrate and support its military kids during this month, but the schools don’t stop there since challenges military kids face are
ongoing. Thanks to the efforts of Wylie East Elementary’s Communities In School advocate, Rita Gonzalez, and the school district’s MFLC (who is required to remain anonymous), Wylie recently added a handy “tool kit” from The Comfort Crew for Military Kids, a non-profit organization developed to help military children cope with the many challenges associated with the military lifestyle. Both Wylie’s elementary and intermediate campuses benefited from this effort.
According to comfortcrew.org, there are two million children whose parents serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, and in Wylie ISD over 1,000 students have a parent serving. The tool kits are designed to support military children ages 6-12 with four difficult scenarios: deployment, reintegration, injury and loss.
The Reding family are some of the first to benefit from the newly acquired resources. Rebecca Reding’s husband, who works in the 317th Airlift Group C-130 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, is currently deployed to Kuwait for six months.
“This is the first big deployment for the boys,” said Reding. “I feel blessed to be surrounded by such a great community and to be present on their campus.”
Their boys – 5-year-old Parker and 9-year-old twins, Colby and Beau – received their tool kits about a month into their dad’s deployment and showed them off to him while facetiming when they first got them.
The tool kit comes with a stuffed bear, postcards, a journal, access to an animated movie and a parent guidebook. Reding feels the parent guidebook has been instrumental in helping her support her three boys as well as herself, specifically citing the section devoted to types of behaviors displayed by children at various ages.
“It was a big wake-up call,” said Reding, who has a degree in education and works at Wylie East Elementary. “You don’t see the emotions in the moment; they’re not going to say, ‘I’m sad’ but instead may argue or want to do another activity.”
As for the boys, they are making good use of the postcards and snuggling with their stuffed bears. “When I snuggle with Patches Jr., it reminds me of my dad,” said Beau.
The boys said they miss getting to see their dad at his office and him working on the aircraft, and despite getting to play video games and visit via FaceTime, it is being apart that is hardest. “It’s hard not getting to see Dad for a long time,” said Colby.
Gonzalez said The Caring Crew tool kit enforces her efforts to help her students feel “seen” while their parent is away. “I feel like they [military kids] feel noticed and validated. We have other resources, but this is a special tool they can use with their families, and it is tangible so they can take it with them,” said Gonzalez.
In the meantime, the Redings plan to keep using their new resources and their favorite airmen close to their hearts by remembering how proud they are of him. “He is a hero because he fixes planes so others can be safe,” Beau said.
We couldn’t agree more, Beau!
By Kristen Johnson