this week in mcfp june 11 2010

Providing policy, tools, and resources to further enhance the quality of life of service members and their families.

This Week in MC&FP June 11, 2010

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Happy Birthday, U.S. Army! Established by Congress June 14, 1775, at 235 years young you look pretty good for your age! Thank you for your service. June 14th is also Flag Day. Many of us won’t be able to participate in ceremonies to celebrate the day, so we are asked to “Pause for the Pledge” at 7 p.m. (EDT) to share a patriotic moment in honor of our nation’s flag and “the Republic for which she stands.” Have a good week and take care. Your MC&FP Team Please note: Some hyperlinks in this text are lengthy, sometimes extending more than one line. For best results, cut and past the entire link into your Web browser. Mrs. Obama to Visit Camp Pendleton This Weekend First lady Michelle Obama will visit Camp Pendleton this weekend as part of her advocacy campaign on behalf of the nation's military families, the White House announced Thursday. The first lady will travel to the northern San Diego County USMC station on Sunday to meet privately with service personnel and their loved ones and make a public address, according to administration officials. Michelle Obama has issued a national call to action to address the unique challenges facing military families, to recognize and tap their skills, strength and commitment to service, to ensure that their voices are heard inside the administration and to build stronger civilian-military community ties. Coalition of National Non-profits Meet with First Lady, DoD Leadership First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden met at the White House with Leadership 18, a coalition of national non-profit chief executive officers, to discuss military family matters. They were joined by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his wife Deborah Mullen, Dr. Cliff Stanley, Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, and other White House officials. The First Lady and Dr. Biden have issued a national call to action to address the unique challenges facing military families, build stronger civilian-military community ties, and engages and highlights the service and sacrifice of military families. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss ways to build a lasting national commitment to support and engage military families.


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Leadership 18 is a coalition of the some of the country’s largest and most well respected human development non-profit CEOs. Altogether, the 22-member organization serves more than 87 million people annually and has more than 5.5 million staff and volunteers. The coalition represents long established charities, faith-based organizations, and nonprofits focusing on social and health issues supporting and promoting the safety, health, well-being, social and economic development of individuals and families. For more information, see: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/25/first-lady-and-dr-jill-biden-discuss-military-families

DoDEA School Year 2009-2010 Concludes, 2010=2011 On the Horizon The school year will come to a close on June 17 this year. School calendars have been posted for the coming school year http://www.dodea.edu/home/calendars.cfm. The starting date for stateside schools varies by community -- check the Web for details. Overseas students will begin school on 30 August. Summer Reading Program Off to Great Start This summer, all four branches of the U.S. military will take families on a "Voyage to Book Island" -- ensuring a consistent, fun and high-quality experience around the globe. Teachers say that library summer reading programs are one of the best resources we have for ensuring school-age children maintain and expand academic gains made over the past school year. The program is sponsored by the Department of Defense with program content developed by the Illinois Library Association. Interested in a Career in MWR? Check the New Brochure for Details A new, colorful brochure describes the exciting career opportunities that are available within the Armed Forces MWR programs. It was developed because MWR professionals are frequently approached at public events by citizens who are interested in working in military recreation but don’t know how to find employment opportunities. The brochure describes the MWR program and, for each of the military Services, provides a short description and Web site information on how to find employment, intern, and management trainee opportunities. Copies of the professionally-designed brochure have been mailed to each of the military Service MWR departments for their use. The brochure can also be viewed and printed at the MilitaryHOMEFRONT Web site, at http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil/tf/mwr New DoDEA Virtual High School to open in August The new DoDEA Virtual High School will offer 44 courses by the official start of the program this fall. The Virtual High School will assist transitioning DoDEA students by allowing them to take classes they need regardless of their location and enhance curriculum by providing additional resources to fill gaps, assist in transition and provide flexibility in scheduling. Overseas, the Virtual High School will use the same criteria for eligibility as DoDEA schools; eligibility is determined through categories. Eligibility for attendance in DoDEA schools in the continental U.S. remains unchanged – the sponsor must be assigned permanent quarters on the installation and be an active duty or federal civilian employee. Three hubs for the Virtual High School will accommodate the three different areas of the world served by the school. The first hub has already been established in Wiesbaden, Germany. The second will be in Korea at Camp Humphries and the third in Virginia, at Marine Corps Base Quantico. While some learning will be able to take place any time the student chooses (reading, research, etc.) some of the requirements will be to participate in live, on-line discussions and video or audio chats.


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Synchronous support has been part of DoDEA's distance learning program for some time. The new and improved Web-conferencing tools will enhance online instruction and provide students and teachers with opportunities to interact via the Internet. DoDEA Leadership to Meet From June 27 to July 2, 2010, DoDEA principals and leaders will attend the World Wide Administrator’s Conference. This conference marks the first time DoDEA school administrators will gather as one group rather than meet in three geographically segmented groups. The meeting is vital to the ongoing unification of both the overseas and domestic K-12 school systems under DoDEA. The theme for the conference is “Making Connections for Continuous Improvement.“ Other areas of focus include: leadership – connecting roles, responsibilities, and relationships; connecting four C’s of leadership – communication, cooperation, collaboration and coordination; and using data to differentiate instruction. DoDEA Announces Pacific Volunteer Excellence Awards DoDEA Pacific announced this week the selection of the 2010 DoDEA Pacific Volunteer Excellence Award winners. The awards celebrate volunteer contributions made throughout the school year and provide recognition in two categories – individual volunteers who gave countless hours of dedicated service and the military individuals, units or commands that provided exceptional support to the DoDEA mission: highest student achievement. Awardees for school year 2009-2010 are: Volunteer Excellence Award, Area-Level: Ms. Kimberly Funk, Andersen Elementary School, Guam; Military Unit/Commander Excellence Award, School-level: Mr. Akinori Hayashi, Okinawa, Japan; Military Unit/Commander Excellence Award, District-level: Commander Fleet Activities, Chinhae Naval Station, William A. Weedon, Republic of Korea; and Military Unit/Commander Excellence Award, Area-level: The Crew of the USS George Washington, Yokosuka, Japan. Congratulations and Thank you!

Commissary On-Site Sales DeCA is delivering the benefit at the following Guard and Reserve locations: June 11 - 13 Yakima Training Center, Yakima, Wash. June 13 - 148th Fighter Wing, Duluth, Minn. June 18 - 19 Birmingham Army National Guard, Birmingham, Ala. June 18 - 20 Augusta Armory, Augusta, Maine June 18 - 20 Tennessee National Guard Armory, Chattanooga, Tenn. June 20 Guard and Reserve Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kekaha, Hawaii


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In the News

From American Forces Press Service – “Preparation Aids Financial Stability During Deployments” – Preparation and a detailed spending plan can help service members and their families dodge the financial pitfalls that can spring up during and after a deployment, the Pentagon’s personal finance director said June 9th. For more, see: http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=59562 From American Forces Press Service – “Department Teachers Receive Presidential Honor “ – On Tuesday, June 7th, President Barack Obama named two Department of Defense Education Activity teachers as recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the nation’s highest honor for math and science teachers. Timothy Kelly, a math teacher at Baumholder Middle-High School in Germany, and Ray Smola, a physics teacher at Heidelberg High School in Germany, are among the 103 recipients of the award. The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is the nation's highest honor in math and science. For more, see: http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=59529

From American Forces Press Service – “Gates Imparts Advice to Kaiserslautern H.S.” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates shared insights here today from his own life as a student and his decades of public service at commencement ceremonies for Kaiserslautern High School’s Class of 2010. For more, see: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=59605

You can also watch the event on demand at the Web site: www.doddsegrads.net.

Your username: 2010grads

Password: lucky2010

June 11 – Kaiserslautern HS Military Spouse Tip of the Week Be Vacation Ready – Make the most of your summer and your vacation dollars by visiting the Military Recreation page on MilitaryOnsource.com. You’ll find links to military campgrounds and RV parks, military discounts for travel destinations, installation lodging, and more. Make sure to read Quick Tips for Military Travel before you leave on your trip. Nutrition Tip of the Week Walk up the stairs instead of using the elevator and burn up to an extra 100 calories or more in a day. This can help you lose up to 10 pounds a year. For more information on making healthy and nutritious food choices, check out the Commissary’s website at http://www.commissaries.com/ <http://www.commissaries.com/> Financial Wellness Tip of the Week “Find” up to $250 extra per month in your paycheck! Have you ever wondered where your money goes every month? Many Americans don’t keep close track of what they actually spend their money on. While they can stay within the limits set through a


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budget (or using an even better term: “spending plan”), they still don’t analyze their spending habits to see where they might be able to save even more. In following the simple steps below, some families have “found” up to $250 extra dollars per month to use the money for things they really need: Here’s what you do:

1) Using a good, old fashioned pen and paper (or an Excel spreadsheet or on-line account tracking tool if that’s easier), record EVERY THING YOU BUY each day for the next 30 days, whether you use cash, credit card, or debit card at the point of sale or use on-line bill pay. The important thing is to write down what you paid for (and where) and how much it cost you.

2) At the end of 30 days, add up how much money you spent and note where you spent it over those 30 days.

3) You will be surprised how much you spend on items you normally buy each month (“I/we spend $200 a month at Hamburger Hut??” or, “I/we spend $100 per month at the Coffee Corral?” or, “I spend $60 per month on DVD’s at the Exchange?” or, “I/we spend $XXX per month from on-line catalog X?” etc).

4) Once you get over the shock, look for ways you can perhaps reduce some of these expenses, either resolving to only go to Hamburger Hut once a week, renting the same video you would normally buy at the Exchange, cutting back on on-line shopping, etc.

5) Again, after seeing the stark reality of what they spend their income on per month, some Service members have “found” additional savings of up to $250 per month, just by cutting down a bit on the items they like to buy.

6) That $250 can be put toward a vacation fund, investments, or attaining a big, financial goal that you really need instead of just want.

Remember – YOU HAVE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCES! Make your money work for you rather than wonder where it goes every month. Parenting Tip of the Week Do you have a teen planning to apply for a summer job? If so, the U.S. Department of Labor has a website that addresses young workers’ summer job safety and provides other significant resources. Every year, millions of teens work in part-time or summer jobs that provide great opportunities for learning important skills. Whether your teen is interested in working in a restaurant, life guarding, construction, or a variety of other jobs, the website has the resources to help build a safe work foundation. Visit http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/youth/summerjobs/ with your teen for more information.

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