To honor the Month of the Military Child and the sacrifice of both service members and their kids, Ms. Kristen Licciardo, School Social Worker, the SGA, and the PTSO organized a breakfast to celebrate military children on April 10, 2018. Over 100 youth and six parents attended the breakfast. Ms. Licciardo also serves as a member of the Military Connected Youth Process Action Committee for Fairfax County.

“Taylor and I both have military families, so we thought that the best plan was to do a breakfast to recognize kids and their parents for their service. Ms. Licciardo looked online for military poems, and we found a poem called “Military Brat” that stuck out the most,” said SGA member and military dependent Fiona H, eighth grade.

The breakfast took place in Davala Hall during Learning Seminar and the beginning of RAISE. Military kids could sign in at the front table. At the event, bagels, fresh fruits, muffins and more food was served. Military kids started off by saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and ate while listening to a dedicational speech and a reading of a poem about the military by the SGA.

“My mom was in the Army, and my dad has been in for 23 years. It feels good knowing that my parents decided to go down that route and fight for this country. The first twelve years of my life, I moved a lot. It’s scary when my dad goes on deployment, but sometimes he comes back to the states for three or four days, and goes back out. I want to be in the Army or Navy when I’m older as well,” said Gabriel Sparks, eighth grade.

The life of a military kid is chaotic, rife with constant goodbyes. Bearing the pride of the military parent’s badges, the burden of moving also has to be dealt with. The thought of a parent potentially dying in combat is difficult.

“Both my mom and dad are in the Air Force. It’s cool that they get to help the country, although it stinks because I have to move around and leave my school. Sometimes, it’s scary to have them deployed, but they always come back so it’s okay. I thought the breakfast was really nice. It was cool for the SGA to care and give us a free breakfast,” said Lani C, seventh grade.