Several military parents, including personnel from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, volunteered to speak to children at Hollywood Elementary School about their service April 19 during Month of the Military Child.

The volunteers were parents of children who attend the Hollywood, Maryland school and the school's military life counselor asked them to speak.

Chief Culinary Specialist Andrae Keith, NAS Patuxent River unaccompanied housing leading chief petty officer, spoke to Hollywood's 5th grade class about his service in the Navy.

"I shared with them how long I've been in the Navy, the ships that I've served on, and what my job was in the Navy," said Keith. "The most impressive part of my visit was when I gave a little history lesson of the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), the last ship I served on. What the ship was named after, who wrote the Star Spangled Banner, the War of 1812 and its location. The students were very knowledgeable about the War of 1812 and the significance of it. It's evident that they are being taught well at Hollywood Elementary School."

Keith said after he spoke he answered students' questions about the Navy while his daughter, Aaliyah, answered their questions about being a military child.

"I get to travel a lot and have made a lot of friends at different schools and my dad brings me lots of gifts from around the world when he goes on deployment," said Aaliyah, though she added one of the cons was, "I don't get to spend a lot of time with my dad when he is on sea duty."

Keith explained the importance of all students understanding what it is like for military children, who often change schools a number of times through their parents' careers.

"Many times, my daughter has been forced to adapt to new schools that are unfamiliar with the challenges of military life and all the changes that military children go through," said Keith. "Hopefully, this brief presentation was very informative to the students and staff. I believe this is a huge step in the right direction to accommodate military children; with the help of the military family life counselor at my daughter's school, I look forward to volunteering more and making more tremendous impacts on the youth in the community."

For more news from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, visit http://www.navy.mil/.