Yesterday, Discovery Communications announced that it will work with the White House to support military families through Discovery Education, TLC, Military Channel and Discovery’s social media division. The support, which will take place in schools, on-air and online, will generate awareness for returning troops and America’s military families as part of Joining Forces, a national initiative launched yesterday by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden.

In addition, MythBusters Jamie Hyneman and Grant Imahara will join Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden at Fountain-Fort Colorado High School in Colorado Springs tomorrow for a special event showcasing the initiative’s commitment to education for military children. Military children make up almost half of the student body at Fountain-Fort Colorado High School, and the event will highlight the the unique challenges military children face. Discovery Education is providing Fountain-Fort Carson High School educators with free access to a customized professional development webinar series featuring a unique collection of career video clips, learning activities, and related content that highlight the connections among science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). MythBusters, with its mission to show that science can be fun, informative and inspiring, in collaboration with Discovery Education, is a longstanding partner with the Obama Administration’s campaign for STEM awareness.

Here are just a few examples of how Discovery Communications will support the national initiative:

• Discovery Education will provide to DODEA Schools (schools for children of military members stationed at various bases in the United States) access to its digital curriculum services through the end of the school year, as well as professional support for DODEA teachers. Discovery Education will also launch a Help the Homefront classroom challenge for children of military families in which students will undertake projects in their communities to improve the lives of military families.
• TLC will film a special episode of What Not to Wear featuring a military spouse who is trying to prepare for job interviews to re-enter the workforce. The episode will be supported by special messages from the hosts of the series and will provide resource information about employment and career development opportunities for veterans and their spouses.
• Military Channel, the only 24/7 network devoted exclusively to honoring and recognizing the U.S. Military, will film a PSA campaign focused on expanding employment and career development opportunities for veterans and their spouses, and will create user-generated and Military Channel-generated crawls on-air emphasizing the importance of supporting military families through its “Send a Salute” program.  A companion social media campaign will broaden the reach of the messages on the network’s social media platforms and website.

Discovery Communications President and CEO David Zaslav was present for the Joining Forces announcement at the White House yesterday, which can be seen here: