WIESBADEN, Germany - Two Hainerberg Elementary School teachers were honored with Global War on Terrorism Medals during a ceremony in the school's Media Center Feb. 19.
Col. David Carstens, U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden commander, recognized Georgene Zaydell and Kelly Dorsch for having volunteered to serve in Afghanistan for a year, helping Afghan service members improve their English language skills.
"This demonstrates once again that you do not need a uniform to serve," said Carstens. "Not only do we have teachers who do that every day, these two individuals put themselves in harm's way and volunteered to do so."
The two, who both have a master's degree in English as a Second Language, applied to take part in the civilian expeditionary workforce through the Defense Language Institute the spring before, after DoD put out the word seeking volunteers." Once accepted into the program, they headed back to the United States for predeployment preparation at Camp Atterberry, Ind., before traveling to Afghanistan.
"There were quite a few DoD teachers who did this before us," said Dorsch, explaining that that helped in gearing up for the year in the program.
While Zaydell worked with members of various Afghan military organizations in Kabul, Dorsch taught select groups of Afghan pilots in Shindand.
"It was a unique situation where we actually lived with our students," said Dorsch, explaining that every Thursday she and fellow members of the staff had Chai (tea) with the students. "I''m still friends with quite a few them today.
"It really was a great experience," she said, "that you take away so much from. You want your Afghan students to remain safe after you leave."
Despite some challenging times, such as an active shooter on one of the bases where Zaydell lived and worked, and tension during Ramadan, she said she "would go back in a heartbeat. I felt secure with the NATO forces there.
"We were serving our country in a different capacity," she added, "serving as ambassadors. It was an honor."
Both longtime Hainerberg Elementary School teachers said they wanted to go "to a country that was trying so much to help itself -- to help the people have a better future -- help them grow."
While deployed, Dorsch kept a blog (sandthroughmytoes.com) detailing her experience and communicated with the Wiesbaden school on a regular basis.
"We got to send care packages to them throughout the year," said Penelope Miller-Smith, Hainerberg Elementary School principal.
"I think it really connected our staff with an experience that really hit home with them," Miller-Smith said. "This was a real, personal connection to what many of the parents of our students go through."
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