On this episode of Kids First, Keven Cohen welcomes back Sara Jane Arnett of the Military Child Education Coalition, joined by Superintendent Chris Neeley. As a new school year begins, the three look at what that transition means through a military lens, a perspective Sara Jane knows firsthand as a military mom whose family has moved again and again. She opens up about the reality of PCS season and the fact that military-connected children often change schools many times before they graduate, and she shares why the Purple Star designation has been such a lifeline for families trying to find the right fit from one state to the next. Chris explains the pride behind the district becoming what he believes is the first and only statewide Purple Star district in the country, reaching military families in every corner of South Carolina.
The conversation then turns to the emotional side that outsiders rarely see, from the quiet stress children carry during a deployment to the signs parents and educators can learn to spot. Sara Jane previews the support the Coalition is bringing to the district's leadership summit this fall, and shares a striking statistic about how military-connected students in South Carolina have been performing year after year. Both guests reflect on the idea of building a \"village\" wherever the military sends you, and close with heartfelt, hard-earned advice: Sara Jane for the spouses holding things together at home, and Chris, drawing on his own deployments, for the service members serving far away. It is a warm, honest, and deeply human look at how the right school community can help military kids not just adjust, but thrive.
🔗 Learn more: https://militarychild.org/
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