Salcha sixth-graders show their respect

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Yash Rojas
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Honor Guardsmen from Eielson Air Force Base visited Salcha Elementary School to help children learn how to honor the American flag Dec. 9.

Sixth-graders from Salcha Elementary School were placed in charge of raising and lowering the school's flags each day -- both national and state.

What better way to learn than to ask Honor Guardsmen, Staff Sgt Aaron Stamm, 354th Maintenance Squadron avionics production supervisor, and Staff Sgt Frances Hernandez, 354th Logistics Readiness Squadron logistics planner, to show Salcha's youth how to render honors to the national colors.

"It was an opportunity to show children how to properly respect the [American] flag and let them know it is not just a piece of fabric," said Hernandez.

We were really excited to come out here to teach young people and get them involved, added Stamm.

Annie Keep-Barnes, Salcha Elementary School principal, thought the children would appreciate the meaning behind honoring the flag by seeing it first-hand from Eielson Airmen.

"I did not want this to be just another chore for [students] to do," said Keep-Barnes. "I wanted them to understand their role [as citizens] and the importance the flag plays in our lives. It is really important that we pass a sense of dignity and decorum that is essential to understanding what it means to be an American citizen."

Stamm and Hernandez demonstrated the proper method to fold and unfurl the flag while volunteers from the student body read important facts about our 'red, white and blue.'

After the demonstration, children walked outside in single-file to watch as sixth-graders raised each flag with the help of the Honor Guardsmen. The students briskly raised the flags and secured them as directed by the two staff sergeants.

As the younger children rushed out of the snow to eat lunch, several stopped with admiration to watch the older sixth-graders.

Much to the Principal's delight, the demonstration made a positive impact upon Salcha Elementary. While the younger students do not yet have the responsibility of maintaining the American flag and the Alaska state flag, all of the students have a better understanding of how to properly honor the nation's flag.