California Educator

To help her students cope, she maintains a stable routine. "They need to know that ever ything is the same at school and they can always come to school and have stability, even if they don't have it at home." Her students also have a "Heroes" wall featuring family pictures and are encouraged to tape pictures of a parent on the inside lid of their supply boxes holding crayons and pencils. Her students are young, but they are not sheltered from the harsh realities of war. "They know a lot," says Alderdice. " They probably know more than we think they know. They talk about it with other kids. They say 'My dad's in Iraq fighting bad guys in the war.' And many of them are only 4 years old." Sixth-grade teacher C arol Dougwillo's students follow the headlines and understand exactly what kinds of danger a parent faces in Iraq or Afghanistan. They also follow the political scene, and there have been heated political discussions in her classroom at times, especially before the presidential election. Doug willo says she 20 California Educator | 8-21 June.09.indd 20 june was surprised that many of her students wanted the U.S. to bring the war to an end. But awareness of what is going on politically in the U.S. or militarily overseas has not made coping with the situation any easier for some students. "It's a strange situation," she says. "You have some kids that withdraw and shut down and don't do well academically. You have others who start misbehaving as soon as a parent is gone. And then you have a few who actually become caretak- ers of their brothers, sisters and even the parent remaining at home. Sometimes you'll hear from a kid that their parent is crying a lot of the time in the bedroom because they are upset. That's the reality out here." Teachers, she says, rise to the call of duty. "You definitely have to do more and take on a counseling role," she says. "You have to be very understanding and compassionate — more so than normally — because these kids are in a very bizarre situation. You have to step up and be more of a surrogate parent and more of a counselor. It's hard. I love these kids like they're my own kids. When they are hurting, it hurts me." Dougwillo pauses, takes a breath and becomes teary. "I tell them that everything will be okay, that mom or dad is ABOVE: Teacher Carol Dougwillo helps sixth-grader Celest Hernandez at Condor Elementary School, located within the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. LEFT: Marisa Alderdice, a kindergarten teacher at Condor Elementary School. 2009 6/4/09 1:58:17 PM

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