​Second grade students give quiet comfort to veterans

Second graders at the recently opened Eagles Elementary School in south Fargo recently completed a service learning project to help and honor U.S. military veterans. Second grade students in the classrooms taught by Vanessa McNutt, Reiko Barnett, and Mya Heston researched patriotism, including history and symbols. The students were also visited by three officers from the Fargo VFW Post 762.

On October 25 – 27, students made cheerful, personalized thank you and “thinking of you” cards for military men and women receiving medical care. They also collected and boxed up hygiene and personal care items and snack foods with the cards to be shipped via Operation Quiet Comfort to these military men and women.

Operation Quiet Comfort is a nonprofit organization run completely by volunteers, to provide basic hygiene and personal care items to service men and women receiving medical care at military facilities abroad. According to their web site, Operation Quiet Comfort “exists solely for the purpose of honoring and comforting America’s military men and women who become sick and injured while serving in harm’s way. We also provide support to those who care for them.”

The organization packages and ships supplies to military men and women who are receiving care at medical facilities abroad. This is important, because injured military men and women often arrive for medical care “without their belongings, and it can take weeks before those belongings catch up with them – and sometimes they don’t arrive at all. Even when injured our troops need items like hygiene and grooming products, clothing, entertainment and support from the home front.” 95 percent of funds raised are used for programs of providing comfort items for wounded military.

Reiko says that this project supports student learning, particularly in writing and social studies, at “the applicable level.” “Most of all,” she explains, “they are using skills and applying them, rather than just practicing.” Reiko further explains the project: “Students started with a vague understanding of what our military service men and women do.”

Dave Rice, Post Commander; Steve Hoikkala, Junior Vice Commander; and Ron Freed, Post Surgeon all visited the combined three 2nd grade sections at Eagles Elementary. The content of the visit included information about the American Flag and its symbolism and meaning, freedoms that are inherent to being a United States citizen, the military system, those who serve, and veterans.

Commander Rice says, “I spent some time talking to the students about the military and the men and women serving in uniform, and I also talked about the many people in our country looking out for us every day and night, like police, firefighters, EMTs, doctors, nurses, etc.” He included information on military tanks, ships, airplanes and how they “protect us and our country,” but that “what makes us strong is our people, the Citizens of the United States of America and that the more you learn in school, the more respectful you are and the better citizens you will be.” All three of the VFW officers spent time talking about overseas service in the various arms of the service. The students had numerous questions.

Commander Rice makes these types of presentations throughout the year to first graders in the Fargo, West Fargo, and Harwood area.

Reiko elaborates: “After hearing the veterans speak, they became more respectful about the flag, in particular, saying the pledge of allegiance with respect. The veteran’s stories brought the purpose of our project into perspective, as they shared stories about the conditions in which they lived while serving.” Students also collaborated with peers to create posters using symbols they had read about in books: “They were excited to include those symbols in their cards to the soldiers and on the posters.”

Commander Rice says, “We think it is important for students to hear from service members who have made sacrifices to serve their country and make sure they realize how good we have it here – all the freedoms we enjoy. We need to respect our Flag because of all the things it stands for. Being we were asked to come back next year I’d say it went fairly well.”

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Web site: http://www.operationquietcomfort.org/