Monday, November 12, 2012

Pass / Fail : USC program trains counselors to help students in military families | 89.3 KPCC

Pass / Fail : USC program trains counselors to help students in military families | 89.3 KPCC:


USC program trains counselors to help students in military families

Military Families
Duane Brown, his wife Marria and Rita Beal talk about their days in the Beal kitchen. Credit: Grant Slater/KPCC
By one count, close to 100,000 California public school kids have at least one parent serving in the military. Advocates say educators have done a poor job supporting these kids at school through the stressful times before, during, and after military deployments. That’s changing.
The Beal family of Westminster is ready for the change. Corey and Rita Beal recently moved into their new house in north Orange County. Their three kids are settled into their rooms, the four floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are up in the living room, but their wedding pictures aren’t hung yet.

Rita Beal says there’s really nothing new about moving into a new house; the family's lived in “over a dozen in the last 10 years,” she said. Husband Corey has served in the U.S. Army for 13 years. In that time the family has lived on and off military bases.
On this day the Beals did something they haven’t done very often - walking together to pick up their second