ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
Military members and veterans from the local community taught the meaning of Veterans Day to students at Berry Elementary School in Waldorf, Md.
Team Andrews members Lt. Col. Steve Jackson, 99 Airlift Squadron assistant director of operations and father of Nick Jackson, a first grader at Berry Elementary; (ret.) Capt. Brenda Smith, Family Advocacy nurse and New Parent Support program manager; Tech. Sgt. Michael Towne, 316th anti-terrorism squadron and Tech. Sgt. Carlton Young, 744th Communications Squadron, were among the 10 active duty members and three retirees who took part in the "Veterans Teach" event. The annual event is part of the Charles County's American Freedom Week.
As part of the day's festivities, guests were treated to a West Lake High School's JROTC Drill Team and Color Guard performance and a presentation by Explosive Ordnance Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Moretti, stationed at Anacostia Naval District of Washington. Petty Officer 2nd Class Moretti, who fought in Afghanistan, presented a flag to Berry Elementary, which flew over Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 11, 2008 in their honor.
"I taught the children the history of and significance behind the military coin," said Ms. Smith. The military coin is a long-standing military tradition. "The students did their very own coin design. On one side, it was their school mascot, the Jaguars, and on the other side of the coin, it read, 'Be Responsible. Be Respectful.' It was exciting."
As part of Ms. Smith's presentation on the military coin, she incorporated an esprit de corps theme by including the tradition of a "coin check."
Colonel Jackson said it was his goal to share three important topics with the children. "First, I wanted them to know why they didn't have school on Tuesday," explained Colonel Jackson. "Most of them knew it was Veteran's Day, so I asked them to take a minute during their day off to think about someone they knew in the military and thank them for their service.
"Next, I wanted to make sure they knew that, as much as the military is out fighting in places in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are also in many countries helping them during times of crisis or natural disaster. Then we talked a bit about what I did as a pilot for the 99th transporting our nation's leaders and some of the places we went and how important it is for us to do our jobs here at Andrews."
"Mrs. Conte, the guidance counselor at Berry, has set up some great programs at the school over the years and I have been asked to attend their career day for the last three years," said Colonel Jackson.
Jennifer Conte, Berry Elementary professional school counselor and coordinator of Veterans Teach, said the school was honored to have the veterans attend. "The students were so very grateful and thankful for our war veterans and our veterans said how grateful they were because they needed to hear support from our community. It was a great day."
"As a child from a military family," Ms. Conte said, "I think it's important to recognize that we have a very large military community at Berry. Through the Veterans Teach program, we have the opportunity to share with the children that they can go to school without costs and without being afraid to go to school everyday--they just don't know how well they have it."
Colonel Jackson said he believes it is essential to attend the school's Veterans Teach Day. "I think it is important to attend because, any time a school takes the time to teach the kids about the sacrifices the military has made, the rights we have, and how the military has helped to make us remain the land that we are, is a good thing," said Colonel Jackson. "In this area, we obviously have a lot of military families between Andrews, the Pentagon, Bolling and so on. For kids to see military folks talking about our country and our freedoms is good for everyone."
What did the children find most interesting in Colonel Jackson's speech? "I think the kids were mostly interested in how fast aircraft fly and how quickly they can get to places," said Colonel Jackson. "We talked about the aircraft here at Andrews and they were very impressed that our customers can check email and make phone calls on the jet. In most cases I used their teacher as an example of how important he or she is and she needs to get to California. I then told them how we would get them there, the things they could do on the jet like make phone calls and watch DirecTV and emphasized how the jet was really a flying office that we use to get their teacher their safely, on time, and rested so they can head off to their meetings as soon as we land. They thought that was pretty cool. They also wanted to know all of the places I had been in the world. It sort of became a contest to see if they could name a country I had not been too. It was fun."