Bristol Bay Elementary Celebrates Veterans

leaders took a multi-day approach to Veterans Day.

Students collected toiletries and other items for soliders serving with a family friend of one of the students and mailed them, along with more than 700 cards, to Kandahar, Afghanistan, about a month ago, Assistant Principal Laura Hatch said. A soldier spoke with about 100 Bristol Bay students on Thursday via Skype, partially to let them know the items had arrived.

Then, school leaders, along with PTO members, hosted an assembly Friday morning with about 25 veterans, whom individual students had invited. The school was presented an American flag that was flown in Afghanistan in the school's honor. Students had breakfast with the special veterans in their lives before the veterans visited classrooms to talk about their service and memories.

Principal Dave Taylor said these types of events help younger students understand the significance of military service and major news events surrounding Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They get to understand it isn't just soliders fighting," Taylor said. "It's their moms and their dads and their uncles fighting. And they connect and they get it."