Elementary Students Send Christmas Cheer To Deployed Marines
(December 13, 2010) |
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| | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT N.C. (MCN - 12/9/2010)
— Hand-crafted Santa hats and reindeer ears sat atop
children's heads as they walked into the Havelock Elementary
School gymnasium, Dec. 3. Immediate smiles and excitement
could be seen as the children spotted the four Marines
dressed sharply in their uniforms. |
Kindergarteners through second-graders celebrated the
importance of giving during the holiday season with a
semester project solely dedicated to deployed Marines of two
Cherry Point units – Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare
Squadron 3 and Marine Attack Squadron 542.
After weeks of filling packages with holiday decorations,
hand-made cards, pictures and letters, students presented
gifts to family readiness officers Ed Price with VMAQ-3 and
Rachael Banton with VMA-542. Students also recorded
Christmas music on CDs to send to the troops. Parents and
staff donated movies, magazines and books to include in the
Christmas packages. This year is the third year Havelock
Elementary School has voluntarily put together the Christmas
project. |
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Havelock Elementary School students state the Pledge of Allegiance while four Marine color guardsmen from the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training present the colors during a holiday celebration at the school's gymnasium, Dec. 3,
2010. The celebration was to present Christmas packages to be sent to deployed service members.
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“The goal was to create a better connection between the
military and the school,” said Lucy Bond, a kindergarten
teacher at Havelock Elementary School. “We want to do as
much as we can for the Marines who are away during the
holidays because we have so many families affected by
deployments. We want to give them the support they need and
deserve.”
During the celebration, members of Marine Corps Family Team
Building presented a puppet show to help children cope and
understand why their family member is deployed.
“Many of the students in Havelock are military, so I think
it's important for them to understand what goes on in the
area they live,” said Andrea C. Sharples, the readiness and
deployment support trainer with Family Team Building. “We
demonstrate a puppet show that talks about deployment so it
helps the child who is part of a military family and to also
show non-military children what their fellow students are
going through.”
Havelock Elementary students not only learned about
deployments, but they also learned another aspect of some
Marines' jobs.
Four Marine color guardsmen with the Center for Naval
Aviation Technical Training marched and presented the colors
in the gymnasium as students pronounced the Pledge of
Allegiance. The CNATT commanding officer then addressed the
students, thanking them for what they did for his fellow
Marines.
“It's Christmas season, and what the children are doing for
these men and women overseas is a great thing,” said Lt.
Col. Paul M. Melchior, commanding officer of CNATT. “We have
Marines, Sailors and service members deployed to Afghanistan
fighting for the men and women who can't fight for
themselves.”
Marines and family readiness officers visited the school
prior to the celebration and educated the children about the
Marine Corps and deployments. Sgt. Avery Washington II, an
instructor of CNATT, volunteered to read books to the
students for the second year in a row.
“Whenever we come out to the school, it always seems to put
a smile on the children's faces,” said Washington from
Bloomfield, Conn. “I just want to help in any way possible
to make sure that our mark is made. I've had children come
up to me a year later telling me they remember when I read
to their school. When that happens, it just leaves you with
the feeling that you're doing the right thing.” |
Article and photo by USMC Cpl. Alicia R. Giron
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Copyright 2010 | |
Reprinted from
Marine Corps News
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