{"id":38791,"date":"2022-12-31T19:04:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-01T00:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=38791"},"modified":"2022-12-27T15:08:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T20:08:14","slug":"first-lady-welcomes-ohio-national-guard-to-participate-in-roundtable-discussion-for-military-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/first-lady-welcomes-ohio-national-guard-to-participate-in-roundtable-discussion-for-military-children\/","title":{"rendered":"First Lady Welcomes Ohio National Guard to Participate in Roundtable Discussion For Military Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, right side of table, is joined by National Guard family members, state adjutants general and National Guard senior leaders for a roundtable discussion on support for National Guard children in the White House Roosevelt Room, Washington, D.C., Nov. 28, 2022. Veronica Ballard, left side of table, of Fredericktown, Ohio and daughter of Ohio Army National Guard Maj. Andre Ballard, was one of seven National Guard children from throughout the United States who were invited to share their experiences with the first lady. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Zach Sheely)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., Ohio adjutant general, and Ohio Army National Guard Maj. Andre Ballard and his daughter Veronica were invited to represent Ohio during a recent roundtable discussion in Washington, hosted by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, on ways to support National Guard children as part of the ongoing Joining Forces initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conversation focused on the experiences of seven National Guard children, who traveled from throughout the United States<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to participate in the roundtable, and how their communities and schools can support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was clear from the start of the meeting that Dr. Biden was interested in Veronica\u2019s opinion,\u201d Harris said. \u201cVeronica shared the importance of her father visiting her school and explaining to her classmates what serving in the military means to him and his family. As one of only seven children selected from across the United States, Veronica\u2019s experiences that she discussed at the roundtable will help shape how schools and communities can better serve our military children in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ballards reside in Fredericktown, Ohio. Maj. Ballard works full time for the Ohio Army National Guard as a logistics officer and is assigned to 73rd Troop Command, headquartered at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 2011, Joining Forces is a White House initiative to support military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors by focusing on the areas of employment and entrepreneurship; military child education; and health and well-being. Learn more at: https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/joiningforces\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., Ohio adjutant general, and Ohio Army National Guard Maj. Andre Ballard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2230,6,2301],"tags":[16980,16974,16978,16973,16979,16975,16977,5774,16976],"class_list":["post-38791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-community","category-community","category-general-news","tag-army-national-guard-sgt-1st-class-zach-sheely","tag-first-lady","tag-fredericktown-ohio","tag-jill-biden","tag-maj-andre-ballard","tag-national-guard","tag-veronica-ballard","tag-washington-dc","tag-white-house-roosevelt-room"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t