A “friendship web” of purple yarn anchored by the hands of a dozen students in the after-school activity illustrated their common connection: They are all military children.
The Three Oaks Elementary students gather in the Virginia Beach, Virginia, school cafeteria every Tuesday and Thursday as part of Operation Hero, a free after-school enrichment program for military children in second through fifth grades. Provided by the Armed Services YMCA of Hampton Roads, the program addresses the unique obstacles faced by military children, including parental deployment, stress related to frequent moves and trauma if a parent is wounded or killed in service.
“We want these kids to understand that they serve too. They are our youngest heroes,” said Laura Smart, youth enrichment program director for the Armed Services YMCA.
The program spans nine weeks and offers sessions twice a week in the fall, winter and spring at host schools with a significant percentage of military-connected students. The program also recently became available to homeschooled children at the Armed Services YMCA location in Virginia Beach.
Spring sessions are being held at Three Oaks Elementary, where 37% of the student body is military-connected, as well as Suffolk's Florence Bowser Elementary, where 18% of families reported they are military-connected, military school liaison Melissa Johnson said.
Week five focused on coping with deployment, which affects nine of the…
