Prairie Grove District 46 Named Freedom Award Recipient

Source: Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award press release

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense program, announced last week that Prairie Grove Consolidated Schools District 46 has been named a recipient of the 2016 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

Fifteen employers from across the nation received the prestigious award, the nation’s highest honor given to employers for exceptional support of guard and reserve employees.

"The extraordinary support these employers provide contributes greatly to the readiness and resilience of our Guardsmen and Reservists,” said Defense Secretary Ash Carter. “Their support allows those troops to serve our Nation at home and abroad knowing their civilian careers are secure, and is vitally important to the success of our national security strategy.”

Below are highlights of Prairie Grove Consolidated Schools District 46s’ support of guardsmen and reservists:

• While physical education teacher Lt. Col. Patricia Klop was away on military orders, the school district made 2.5 years of full contributions to the employee’s retirement fund, contributions worth approximately $6,500
• The organization gave her an additional two weeks of paid leave to help her prepare to deploy.
• The school collected donations to ship to Lt. Col. Klop’s unit in Afghanistan, which included morale items for the troops, as well as goodwill items for the Afghan locals. Ten boxes of items were shipped.
• One language arts teacher dedicated a writing assignment for his students to write letters to combat vets receiving medical attention where Lt. Col. Klop was stationed. The letters arrived close to Veterans Day, and were distributed to wounded warriors.

"I have repeatedly been assigned military orders due to the nature of global events and the continued high-tempo operations demanded upon my units,” Klop said. “My employer enabled me to answer the call of duty without consequence and with their utmost support, which I cannot express into words how grateful I am. I truly share my Marine Corps career success with Prairie Grove, as I could not have achieved the rank or accomplished the missions without their unwavering and unequivocal support."

This year’s recipients will be honored in an Aug. 26 ceremony at the Pentagon. A complete list of the 15 recipients can be found athttp://tinyurl.com/h8mjomt.