Bossier Schools continues to uphold its pledge to “Keep the Promise” to the military children we serve and is pleased to announce being named the recipient of a $1 million Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) grant to expand efforts to support students’ social and emotional well-being.
The DoDEA grant for Military-Connected Local Educational Agencies for Academic and Support Programs (MCASP) will enable Bossier Schools to offer additional programming over a five-year period at Airline High, R.V. Kerr Elementary, Parkway High and Stockwell Elementary, based on their military student enrollment.
Efforts will be concentrated on providing a multi-tiered support system not only to the 750+ military dependents attending these four schools, but their civilian peers as well. The title of the grant is “Project SEW-B-It,” which stands for Social Emotional Well-Being Intensive Training. By using a national normed screening tool, Bossier Schools’ Military Student Coordinator Georgette Price, who serve as the program director, will determine where best to focus programming.
“Our goal for the outcome of this grant is to provide military-connected students and their peers with individualized care and support to make a positive impact in their K-12 experiences,” Price said.
She went further to explain the focus at the elementary level will be placed on building resiliency and leadership skills, as well as coping mechanisms in relation to transition and separation issues. Individualized treatment will also be provided, if deemed necessary.
The focus at the high school level will be to provide additional social and emotional support services in order to decrease the negative impact of transitions and separations.
At both levels, the grant will enable Bossier Schools to expand its Student 2 Student (S2S) and Elementary S2S programs, which are peer-led groups that support children enrolling in a new school. Most military-connected students move six to nine times during their school years. S2S helps ease those transitions by helping students find a peer group, creating a positive environment.
“We feel strongly every child should feel like a valuable member of our school family and the SEW-B-It program will be another resource to ensure the students entrusted in our care find balance, stability and confidence,” said D.C. Machen, Jr., Superintendent of Bossier Parish Schools. “We are most appreciative to DoDEA for choosing Bossier Schools as one of its largest grant recipients and for recognizing the positive outcomes that can be achieved by our children when we all work together toward the same goal.”
