Montana has 1100 of its National Guard and Reserve soldiers currently deployed on active military duty. These men and women left behind 4400 children in our K-12 schools. Recognizing the needs of these soldiers and their families, the Montana Safe Schools Center partnered with public school counselors from around the state and conducted a conference in December of 2010.
Ms. Julie North, Montana Guard’s Youth Coordinator presented on the cycle of deployment these soldiers and their families experience as well as the attention Montana is paying to the mental health needs of the soldiers and their families. We all appreciate the stressors of combat and the reintegration into society of our soldiers. We are simultaneously proud of Montana’s success in its suicide prevention efforts; it is serving as a national model that many other states are attempting to emulate.
Major Jason Grider, an ROTC instructor at UM and Mrs. Cindy Babon provide the family’s perspective on deployment. Major Grider has experienced three deployments and has three children; he explained how each of these deployments affected his wife and children differently. Mrs. Babon likewise has experienced a husband’s deployment and current separation. She too has grown children and works to support other military families deal with the stress of deployment and reintegration. The conference participants truly appreciated the insight both brought to their experience.
Ms. Debra Klemann, Dr. Cameo Borntrager, Ms. Amy Wolferman and Ms. Marcy Otten had separate presentations on Childhood Trauma and what schools can do to better support the children of military families.
Mr. Sam Windy Boy, a Viet Nam veteran and elder-in-residence at Stone Child College, gave the audience a perspective on the challenges of reintegration of soldiers into mainstream society. He spoke of the Traditional Warrior Society Model that he hosts in Rocky Boy.
The audience was uniform in their suggestions to take this training to a larger audience.
The power point presentation these presenters used can be found here.
You can contact John Frederikson for additional information or to set up additional trainings.
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