Blue Star Week is September 23- October 1
Blue Star Families was founded by military spouses in 2009 to empower military families to thrive as they serve. They are committed to strengthening military families by connecting them with their neighbors — individuals and organizations — to create vibrant communities of mutual support. Military Child Education Coalition® (MCEC®) supports all military-connected children by educating, advocating, and collaborating to resolve education challenges associated with the military lifestyle. They work to ensure military connected students, their parents, and the educators who serve them can access tools and resources that help all military-connected students become college-, work- and life-ready. One way we work together to support military children is through the annual Blue Star Welcome Week. This nationally-recognized week of activation is an effort by military, civilian, and community organizations with the goal of ensuring military families feel celebrated and welcomed into their new communities.
Blue Star Welcome Week FAQs
What is Blue Star Welcome Week?
Blue Star Welcome Week was created to recognize the 600,000 military families who move to new communities each year, while raising awareness and building support for military- and Veteran-connected families across the country. During Blue Star Welcome Week, the goal is to proactively improve military families’ sense of belonging to their local communities by forging strong connections between military family members and their local neighbors.
When is Blue Star Welcome Week 2022?
It takes place from September 23 — October 1, 2023.
Our school military lunch groups will be hosting a week of lunchtime grade specific activities to welcome our old and new military students back to school! We will be collecting family photos for our Wall of Heroes display. If you or any family members have served, you are invited to bring a copy of their photo in uniform with their name and that of their ELA student. An ice cream party will be awarded to the classroom with the largest numbers of families contributing!
Why is this week so important?
According to the 2022 Military Family Lifestyle Survey, only 33% of active-duty respondents feel a sense of belonging to their local civilian community. The average military family moves three times as often as their civilian peers. The majority of these permanent change of station (PCS) moves take place during the summer in June, July, and August. More than 70% of families live off of the military installation in their local civilian communities, and they do not feel a strong sense of belonging to those communities.
How can you get involved?
Blue Star Welcome Week is how Blue Star Families gets upstream of the lack-of-belonging problem and helps military families thrive. Blue Star Families knows that if you can create a moment of welcome when people move, everything else improves—financial challenges, mental and physical health, and so much more. Together, this initiative can spread to more communities across the country, empowering more military- and Veteran-connected families to feel a greater sense of belonging.
Where can I find more information?
Visit Blue Star Website
ELA Contact: Cheryl Alvarado, LCSW, Military Family Life Counselor. Email Cheryl Alvarado