With both the NSA Mid-South Naval Base in Millington and the National Guard Base in Memphis just short drives away, AES is proud to have many military children in our school family! Whether you are actively serving in our armed forces, in the reserves, or retired, thank you (and your children) for your service to our country! Every year, AES has several events to celebrate and honor our military families both here and abroad. Every September, our PTA organizes a Freedom Walk event in remembrance of 9/11 and a way to recognize first responders and military service members. Around Veterans’ Day, students join together to create a hallway display honoring veterans and their families. To celebrate Tennessee’s Freedom Week, morning announcements include quotes about patriotism, honor, and respect. In April, during the Month of the Military Child, all students are invited to join in dress-up days. In addition, we invite our military families to an annual appreciation breakfast. The event, designed to be low-key and laid-back, is a wonderful time for our military families to come together and honor their children and the unique shared paths of their childhoods. Finally, several staff members are either retired military service members or have family members actively serving in a military branch. To our new families, welcome to AES! We’re glad to have you here and thank you for your service!

Available from the AES Counselor Library:

• Deployment-One of Our Pieces Is Missing by Julia Cook
• The Ant Hill Disaster by Julia Cook (focused on trauma and anxiety)
• Don’t Be Afraid to Drop by Julia Cook (focused on accepting and dealing with change)
• I’m Your Flag So Please Treat Me Right! by Julia Cook (respect for the flag) 

Not physically available at AES at this time, but great resources for families at home:

• H is for Honor: A Military Family Alphabet by Devin Scillian
• When You Are Away by Dominique James
• Night Catch by Brenda Ehrmantraut
• The Military Child Chronicles: Mission My First PCS by Athens E. Pellegrino (first book in the series, more to be published)
• When Your Daddy’s a Soldier by Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan
• Life of a Military Child Book Series by Patisha Johnson (three books focused on the topics of deployment, relocating, and resilience)
• The Adventures of a Military Brat Book Series by Johanna K. Gomez and Daniel A. Gomez (topics focus on moving and military life)

Education/Children:

• Military Child Education Coalition
• Military Family Tutoring
• National Military Family Association
• Military Children’s Interstate Compact Commission (Tennessee)
• Department of Defense Education Activity

Bases-General Information:

• Base Directory

Safety:

• Veteran’s Crisis Line
• Domestic Abuse Advocate Locator

Children & Families:

• Babies on the Homefront
• Sesame Street for Military Families
• Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame
• The Big Moving Adventure (Sesame Street)
• United Through Reading

Military Members:

• MyBaseGuide
• Chill Drills

Military Family Breakfast (April each year):

• Invitation only for families with a parent/guardian either currently serving, in reserves, or retired from any military branch.
• Activities in past years during the breakfast have included: a world map poster/”Station Location” (families “mark” all assigned duty stations to show their family’s military journey) and an area to paint a dandelion and attach the “Military Children Are Like Dandelions” story.

April Month of the Military Child celebrations (may vary slightly by year):

• Dress Up Days
  • Military children are invited to wear red, white, and blue.
  • Non-military/civilian children are invited to wear purple in support of their classmates.
• Morning Announcements
  • One per day describes each military branch, students with family members serving in that branch stand to be recognized.
• School-Wide Display
  • During Veteran’s Day, a display is created in the main hallway where students attach stars with the names and branches of service members in their family.
  • Freedom Walk on September 11^th