Photo By Capt. Peter Shinn | U.S. Army 1st Lt. Scott Rottinghaus of Waterloo, Iowa, production agriculture...... read more read more
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KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – “What kind of training did you go through? What’s the weather like there? Do they grow corn and soybeans in Afghanistan like they do here in Iowa?” These were just some of the questions fifth graders from Sigourney Elementary School in Sigourney, Iowa, had for members of the Iowa National Guard’s 734th Agribusiness Development team during a video chat Nov. 12.
U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rick McLain of Stockport, Iowa, the ADT’s program manager for the Khas Konar District of Kunar province, set up the video conference call with the fifth graders.
“I used to work with [U.S. Army] Maj. David Harper who was in the [Iowa National Guard’s] 224th Engineers. He’s an administrator for the school district Sigourney is in,” McLain said. “He put me in touch with Amy Jones, who teaches fifth grade for Sigourney, and we got it set up by exchanging a few e-mails.”
According to Jones, the video chat is part of a broader effort she has undertaken to educate her students about the “sacrifices made by veterans and soldiers who are constantly helping to secure our country’s freedom and helping others all over the world.”
Jones also described the interaction between the ADT members and her students as an unqualified success.
“I felt that this went over very well,” Jones said. “To quote a fifth grade girl, ‘It was amazing to see them halfway around the world and talk to actual soldiers!’”
McLain was just as enthusiastic about the results of the video chat. He called it a “real morale booster” for the members of the ADT who participated.
“We sure had a lot of fun,” McLain said. “In fact, it was probably the best time I’ve had since we left Iowa.”
Jones pointed out the video chat would have been technically impossible even a few years ago. She added she plans to connect her students to other deployed soldiers in the future.
“I see [video chat] as a great connecting tool,” Jones said, “and I plan to continue making contacts to broaden my students’ perspective.”
Even with 21st century technology, the video chat was a technical challenge for the ADT. The ADT dedicated all the bandwidth of the personal Internet service purchased by ADT members to the computer used to conduct the video chat.
McLain, however, is ready to do it again.
“I hope we get even more of the ADT in on the next one,” McLain said. “It’s about as rewarding as you can get.”
| Date Taken: | 11.12.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2010 14:43 |
| Story ID: | 60348 |
| Location: | KUNAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 138 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
This work, Iowa ADT chats with fifth graders, by CPT Peter Shinn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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