Photo By Spc. Dakota Vanidestine | CE Jacobson Elementary School’s first grade class poses for a picture with 1st Lt....... read more read more
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What did you want to be when you grew up? The typical response for first graders include occupations such as astronaut, doctor, or even famous athlete.
The hopes of 1st Lt. Tabitha Nessel, 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, is that she inspired some of the first graders at CE Jacobson Elementary to become Soldiers in the U.S. Army after speaking with them via video conference from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Nov. 14, 2019.
Although Nessel was born in Wild Rose, Wis. – her family has close ties to Rush City, Minn. where CE Jacobson Elementary is located.
“The teacher at CE Jacobson Elementary, Laura Nelson, is a family friend of ours,” Nessel said. “My husband’s parents and grandparents went to Rush City, so there’s ties back to the school district on his side of the family, as well.”
When Nelson found out that Nessel was deployed, she surprised Nessel with gifts from the class.
“Mrs. Nelson wrote me a card and had all of the kids sign it,” Nessel said. “They all colored me pictures and signed their names. Since then, they have all been asking about me, so the best thing I could do is video conference with them, which helped me match faces with names.”
As a deployed Soldier, Nessel understands the value in making the commitment to serve her country, and she hoped to inspire others to do the same.
“I remember back when I was a first grader – you’re asked what you want to be when you grow up,” Nessel said. “I hope that when I talked to the students that some now want to become Soldiers. I hoped to be that inspiration and role model for those kids.”
The video conference was mostly meant for the students; however, Nessel did not want to leave the adults in the room left unnoticed.
“I wanted the kids to have an idea of how much it meant for me to get those pictures from them,” Nessel said. “It’s important to give back and make sure that not only the kids see how thankful we are, but also that the community really understands how grateful the service members are to get this support while we’re here.”
Above all, there was an underlying concept that Nessel wanted to communicate while speaking to the first graders at CE Jacobson Elementary.
“The biggest thing that I wanted them all to understand is that their support is so important, and it doesn’t go unnoticed,” Nessel said. “There are so many people, no matter how old, who are supportive of the troops and want to show their support in different ways. Whether we know who’s sending the care packages or not, we all appreciate the time and effort they take to do that for us.”
| Date Taken: | 11.16.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 11.16.2019 08:23 |
| Story ID: | 352034 |
| Location: | KW |
| Hometown: | RUSH CITY, MINNESOTA, US |
| Hometown: | WILD ROSE, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Junior Officer Aims to Inspire First Grade Class, by SPC Dakota Vanidestine, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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