LONGBOAT KEY, FL, October 12, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dr. Jean L. Silvernail has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Driven to serve as an educator since coming of age, Dr. Silvernail holds a bachelor's degree from Trenton State College, a Master of Science in curriculum development and a Master of Science in administration and supervision from the University of Scranton. Likewise, she was bestowed with a Master of Arts in the Social Sciences with an emphasis in gifted education from the State University of New York (S.U.N.Y.), as well as a Doctor of Education from Oklahoma State University. Professionally, Dr. Silvernail began her teaching and administrative career in Iran, an experience that instilled within her the importance of meeting the emotional and academic needs of gifted children and children of U.S. military families.
As advocate and specialist in the education of gifted students, Dr. Silvernail served as a consultant for the New York State Department of Education where she trained educators, authored guidebooks and implemented grants to develop state model programs for the disadvantaged gifted. Elected to the Board of Directors of A.G.A.T.E. (N.Y. state's Advocacy for Gifted and Talented Education), she implemented their first state-wide conference to promote awareness of the needs of gifted children. Serving as Coordinator of Gifted Education for the Vestal School District, instructor of graduate-level courses in gifted education for S.U.N.Y. at Binghamton, and member of the State Commissioner of Education's Advisory Board for Gifted Education, her impact on the state was significant.
Dr. Silvernail joined the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity in 1987 serving as a gifted education specialist in Italy, K-12 school administrator in Italy and Germany, professional development specialist for the United Kingdom District including Iceland and the Azores, and later as worldwide head of Education Equity for their overseas schools. In 2001, she was selected by the Department of Defense as Chief of Military Child in Transition and Deployment. As director, Dr. Silvernail developed and implemented programs, policies and procedures on state, national and worldwide levels to promote the well-being and academic success of 1.2 million children of military families. She established the Military Child Education Advisory Council promoting working relationships between the Services at the highest level to support the needs of children whose education was often disrupted by frequent moves and whose lives were impacted by parent deployment, injury or death.
Employing the research expertise of Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, she sponsored numerous publications, financed research, and promoted the establishment of the Military Child Initiative: The National Center for Military Child Education. In addition, Dr. Silvernail requisitioned an on-line graduate course, "Educating the Military Child," offering the latest research and intervention techniques to promote the emotional and academic success of school-age military children. Appointed to the Board of Directors for the Military Family Research Center at Purdue University and Board of Directors of F.O.C.U.S. (Military Families overcoming Under Stress) at U.C.L.A., she also partnered with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Division to advance her advocacy. She sponsored the longitudinal study, "Military Child on the Move," with Purdue University; served on the Sesame Street Military Advisory Board and assisted in their creation of productions supporting young children during deployment. She commissioned the publication of a 3-book series, "Military Students on the Move," a set of highly successful toolkits designed for school leaders, installation commanders and military parents. Her creation, MilitaryStudent.org, designed to aid students in acquiring skills and resources to address their challenges, won national acclaim as the featured website for the 2004 National Science and Engineering Technology Conference in Charleston. Determined to promote a more level playing field for children who moved frequently from state-to-state and country-to-country, Dr. Silvernail was an original proponent and designer of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children.
Appointed to the Department of Defense (DoD) team working with the Iraq Ministry of Education, her responsibilities included revitalizing the educational system and increasing female student attendance. She was the DoD representative to the Department of Labor and their international conference, "Children in the Crossfire," addressing concerns of child soldiers in war-torn nations. Her advocacy for children of the military continued with her appointments to the Robert Wood Johnson's National Commission for School Connectedness; Rosalynn Carter's National Panel on Education Training and Support and National Quality Caregivers Consortium; and President George W. Bush's Freedom Corps Advisory Board.
In 2007, Dr. Silvernail became Director of Military Child Education for the U.S. Pacific Command, stationed at Pearl Harbor. Her area of responsibility included educational venues for 81,000 school-age children of active duty, National Guard and Reservist families assigned to the Pacific Command in 42 countries, U.S. territories, Alaska and Hawaii. As a member of the University of Hawaii Council on Education and the Joint Venture Education Forum, she worked with the state government to advance education opportunities for children of the military. She headed the commission of military service representatives to evaluate DoD schools in Guam, mainland Japan, Okinawa and Korea and was featured as the subject-matter expert in the PBS documentary, "Coming Home: Military Families Cope with Change."
Throughout her career, Dr. Silvernail has been awarded numerous commendations from military communities and commanders for her service to children of military families. She was the first educator to receive the prestigious National Military Family Association's Service to Military Families Award in the U.S. Capitol in 2006. Upon retirement in 2012, Dr. Silvernail was honored with outstanding civilian commendations from U.S. Marine Headquarters, Air Force, Army and the U.S. Pacific Command. She received the esteemed Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in recognition of her career achievements on behalf of military children.
In conjunction with her work, Dr. Silvernail volunteers with the Pearl S. Buck Foundation where she was selected Volunteer of the Year for her role as chair of Education Programs and founder of the research group exploring the archives of Princeton University and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation. Their original research has contributed substantially to the body of knowledge regarding the estate of Pearl S. Buck and the global impact of husband and publisher, Richard J. Walsh. Dr. Silvernail was selected to present the group's findings at the Pulitzer Prize Conference: The Pearl S. Buck Living Gateway, 2018. She is a member of the Bucks County Women's Chorus performing in venues in the U.S. and Europe. She is currently writing a book chronicling the adventures of camping through communist bloc countries with her daughter, Allison, in 1988.
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