FORT HOOD — Children and their parents packed the cafeteria at Duncan Elementary School on Thursday night, to hear two special quests promote literacy though reading.
Lt. Gen. Donald M. Campbell Jr., III Corps and Fort Hood commander, and his wife, Ann, greeted families at the on-post school Thursday night before they read a book as part of the Military Child Education Coalition’s “Read Me A Story” event.
“We are very excited to have them come and read to the kids tonight,” said Cathy Sumner, a team leader for the coalition’s Parent to Parent program at Fort Hood. “To see (Campbell) and his wife come out and do something like this sets a great example.”
This was the third time that the Campbells have participated in a “Read Me a Story” event. They took turns reading Jospeh Anthony’s “The Dandelion Seed.” As part of the program, children and families received a copy of the book and were invited to participate in a related craft and discussion groups after the reading.
The book describes dandelions as resilient and strong, a trait they share with military families.
“We try to pick books that have themes that resonate with military connected children,” said Judy Glennon, manager of parent programs for the coalition. The “Read Me A Story” events are part of the organization’s Parent to Parent program, which trains military parents to help support, educate and assist one another. The program has trained 23 Parent to Parent teams around the world.
Those teams are made up of military connected parents and offers workshops and training in areas such as resilience, communication and homework. Since 2006, more than 131,000 military parents have participated in the Parent to Parent workshops, Glennon said.
“We have a lot of high quality resources and materials that we provide to them for free, and that they can take and share with other families,” Glennon said.
Sumner said that one of program’s biggest strengths is that Parent to Parent teams are made up of military parents.
“There’s a strong connection, because we know what it is like for them,” said Sumner. “We have been through the same things they have.”
Thursday night’s event comes as Campbell and his wife prepare to leave Fort Hood. In July, President Barack Obama nominated Campbell, who took command of Fort Hood in April 2011, as commander of U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army, Germany.