Photo By Staff Sgt. Gene Arnold | Capt. Jeremy White, a logistics officer from Headquarters, Headquarters Troop, 1st...... read more read more
CLAY CENTER, Kan. – In honor of the 150th year that Kansas has been a state, Garfield Elementary School in Clay Center, Kan., held a Kansas Heritage Day celebration, Jan. 28.
Capt. Jeremy White, a logistical officer with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, gave the students a presentation of the military’s history in Kansas.
“I felt pretty honored when [I was told] that [the school] needed someone to come here; so, I volunteered to go,” White said.
During White’s slide show presentation, he told stories of how cavalry soldiers wore their uniform, and showed the students props such as a replica sword, riding boots, ammunition belt with sword hook, a uniform with Stetson and gauntlet gloves. He also gave a brief history on the purpose of Fort Riley and the Big Red One.
“Kansas Heritage day is something that we’ve been doing to celebrate our state’s birthday,” said Connie Frigon, a fourth-grade teacher at Garfield Elementary School. “This is a way that we can celebrate and learn about our past and appreciate our heritage.”
Fort Riley has been an intricate part of the surrounding communities for many years. This event is one of many that will help foster positive community relations needed to make an unbreakable bond.
“We have a lot of students in this building whose parents are deployed,” said Beth Catlin, a fourth-grade teacher at Garfield Elementary School. “I think it’s very reassuring for them to know that their parents are being supported even though they are not here.”
“Getting in touch with the kids is really important,” White said. “It establishes a good foundation and trust. So, when they grow older and want to join the military they saw someone that showed them a good example.”
In addition, the students were able to experience a wide variety of examples of what life would have been like as a child 150 years ago. The students were given a presentation about Native Americans present in Kansas during the Indian Wars, held a make-believe campfire and sang “Home on the Range.” They also learned about different instruments, made homemade bread from scratch, hand-churned butter and made home remedies used before the creation of antibiotics.
| Date Taken: | 02.10.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.14.2011 10:55 |
| Story ID: | 65410 |
| Location: | FORT RILEY, KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 179 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Dragon brigade Soldier talks Kansas military history with students, by SSG Gene Arnold, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
