"Emotionally Powerful" Moments At School's Arlington Cemetery Replica

The project began at 8 a.m. – but by the end of the school day, they weren’t even close to being done.

After all, there were more than 400 new white sticks this year.

Last week, the staff and students at Clover Park High School spent two days setting up a miniature replica of Arlington National Cemetery with wooden stakes bearing the name of every U.S. serviceperson killed since 2001 in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Clover Park Principal John Seaton called the project one of the school’s “guiding forces.” 

“I don’t think we have ever done something that has connected with the community more powerfully,” he said. “For four days, this really takes on the character of sacred ground, and it is really incredible to watch (those) who have lost someone come and find that name, have a moment of silence and leave a memento.

“It is an emotionally powerful moment.”

The service-learning project, which began in 2008, has evolved into a school-wide tradition. Humanities teacher David Russell, a Gulf War veteran, started the project to teach students the meaning of Memorial Day.

The makeshift memorial, just miles from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, strikes a chord with students and staff alike as they set up the markers, each two and a half feet from the next one. Many students are enrolled in Clover Park’s Air Force JROTC program, and being the high school for residents of McChord Field and parts of Fort Lewis means that it isn’t uncommon for students to know people who have served – their fathers, their mothers, their siblings, their friends.

“You will find that as students volunteer, sometimes they will find the name of a relative they just hadn’t thought of in a while,” Seaton said. “It’s not uncommon for a student to have to get up and walk away or go visit the school counselor.”

William Syhlman, a junior at Clover Park, called the experience “a real reality check.” His father served in the Air Force and often spoke of Navy SEALS he met during his service. He said he didn’t know what ended up happening to them.

When Syhlman came out to help as a freshman, the first name he encountered on one of the stakes was a Navy SEAL.

“It really shocked me,” he said, “so I decided to start helping.”

Syhlman, who is enrolled in the school’s JROTC program, said that he understands on a personal level, too.

“They gave their lives for our freedom,” he said. “Down the road, I might have to, too.”

Senior Cinthia Vazquez, who is also a member of the JROTC program, said that she didn’t know much about the project when she arrived at Clover Park as a freshman because she doesn’t come from a military background. However, through volunteering, she has come to understand the deeper meaning of the makeshift cemetery, which the students will begin to dismantle on Tuesday.

“It’s not just a stake,” she said. “It’s an actual person, and seeing families (here) … It’s their son. It’s their mother or father.

“It’s very touching knowing that we have people out there willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe.”