Soldiers from 6th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), assisted Barkley Elementary School with the first day of school at Fort Campbell, Ky., August 4.
The Soldiers raised the flag over the school for the second year in a row. Once the flag was raised, the Soldiers stayed to work as crossing guards to ensure students arrived safely.
"I think this is a great program," said Rhonda Pawlawski, principal, Barkley Elementary School. "The Soldiers come out every morning and put up the flag and make sure all the cars are watching the children and that everyone is being safe. At the end of the day, the Soldiers come back and make sure that everyone leaves as safely as they arrived."
This is not the first year that Soldiers from 6th Bn., 101st CAB, Shadow of the Eagle, has come out on the first day of school.
"Sixth Battalion has been with us for the last three or four years," said Pawlawski. "The past two years 6th Battalion has been very active."
"Our battalion has adopted this school," said Staff Sgt. Robert Trigg, Family readiness liaison, 6th Bn., 101st CAB. "We've done this for a few years, now. We come out on the first day of school to greet the children and the parents. We greet the kids off the buses and make sure everything happens in a safe manner."
Safety is only one part of what adopting a school is about. Volunteering at schools is one more way that Soldiers are able to give back to the communities that they live in.
"This is our second year helping with the first day of school," said Command Sgt. Maj. Galu P. Satele, 6th Bn., 101st CAB. "We're here to show Barkley Elementary School that 6th Battalion is back on track to support the school and provide anything that they might need from us. So far, our battalion has helped out with their Thanksgiving meal, we provide the color guard and we've arranged for field trips out to the unit so that the kids can see things from a different perspective."
With everything laid out for the road ahead, this is still the first step. When Soldiers help out at a school on the first day, it brings back memories.
"Even though I don't have any children, I think it's a great program," said Trigg. "It's good to see the kids coming back and it reminds me of my parents dropping me off on the first day of school when I was a kid."
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