Education agency joins Mission

The program shows educators how to support affected pupils.
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, the education service agency for public schools in Mercer, Lawrence and Butler counties, has joined an effort to help children and families affected by military deployment.
Mission Homefront is a program created by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in collaboration with the National Guard and the Center for Schools and Communities specifically to educate school personnel and pupils on military deployment and its impact on children, families and communities.
Pennsylvania is providing the nation's highest number of National Guard troops and the third-largest number of all personnel serving in the military.
The state has a high number of pupils who go to school every day affected by a loved ones' deployment.
"It is vital that our educators know how to help support their students and their academic achievement both during and after a military deployment," said Dr. Gerald L. Zahorchak, state secretary of education.
"We have had seven from our tri-county region who have lost their lives in this war," said MIU IV Executive Director Angelo Pezzuolo. "We need to be mindful of the unique stress that deployment has on children and families. There is no better way to honor those fallen and those who are serving abroad than by working to ensure that their children receive the help they need in school."
How important it is
Liz Kingsley, MIU IV's school nurse, along with Senior Master Sgt. Richard Dillaman from the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, recently gave an overview of Mission Homefront and the importance of this resource to area curriculum coordinators at their May meeting.
"With over 21,000 service members deployed since Sept. 11, 2001, MIU IV felt it could serve as a liaison for communications, professional development and resources between its 27 school districts and Mission Homefront," Kingsley said.
Mission Homefront provides essential facts regarding military deployment; professional development opportunities to help educators understand deployment and its impact on children; assists schools in identifying the number of pupils in their district affected by deployment; offers strategies to support pupils and their families before, during and after deployment; and reinforces the critical role of parents and educators in providing stability during the challenges of deployment.
MIU IV, which serves 27 public school districts in the tri-county area, will hold a professional development workshop for area educators this fall with speakers from Mission Homefront as well as others from the area.