Photo By Staff Sgt. Richard Sherba | Students from Sunset Beach Elementary School watch as a fellow student attempts to...... read more read more
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — SURF stands for self-discipline, unity, respect and friendliness and these four core values are the foundation of Sunset Beach Elementary’s school rules. The school’s SURF program is a rewards based program that accentuates and reinforces the positive behaviors of students.
The 303rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade had the honor of hosting a field trip, Oct. 25, here, as a culminating reward for those students that exemplified the values of the SURF program throughout the first quarter of the school year at Sunset Beach Elementary located in Haleiwa, Hawaii.
“A lot of times people focus on the negative things that children do, and we’re trying to turn the focus to the positive. So this is all positive and in response to all the good things the children did throughout the first quarter of the school year,” said Michelle Lorne, behavioral health specialist, Sunset Beach Elementary School.
Students were given little surfboards whenever any school official would see them demonstrating any of the four tenets of the SURF program; the surfboards would then be displayed for the whole school to see and an assembly was held at the end of the quarter which randomly selected students from the surfboard pool of awardees to go on a field trip to Schofield Barracks and spend the day with the 303rd EOD Bn.
“It was really cool. My daughter got to learn about the different robots, the way Soldiers x-ray potential bomb materials, and the way Soldiers go in with bomb suits and remove the bombs. The students also learned about the Stryker vehicles, they really liked being able to get inside the vehicle it was awesome for them,” said Chaney Padaca, field trip chaperone and mother of a 5th grade student at Sunset Beach Elementary.
At the end of day the 303rd EOD Bn. hosted a pizza party, raffle, and cake cutting ceremony in celebration of not just the students’ accomplishments but also a thank you to the teachers for all they do day in and day out.
“Sunset Beach Elementary and the 303rd EOD Battalion have an ongoing partnership; basically we help them in any matters they may need assistance with. Our Soldiers really look forward to working with the teachers and the students. This event here is a great opportunity to show the teachers how much they matter to us. It’s a way to say thank you by simply celebrating the teaching profession, both the incredible commitment it requires and the profound impact it has on the lives of students,” said Capt. Maryorie Johnson, commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 303rd EOD Bn.
Johnson continued, “we [303rd EOD Bn.] just really enjoy this partnership, we really have fun doing it. It brings positive feelings for us during the work day, it’s amazing that we have this opportunity to take a knee [from our daily responsibilities] and provide mentorship and assistance to the children of Sunset Beach Elementary.”
As the day came to an end and the students and faculty prepared to board the buses to return to Haleiwa, Natasha Lowery, educational assistant at Sunset Beach Elementary, reflected on the day.
“I think the children really enjoyed this. This is the best field trip they have ever gone on, they kept saying ‘I love this’, ‘this is the best field trip ever’ and ‘this is so much fun’ over and over throughout the trip,” said Lowery. “I was very impressed, a lot of this is something we did not expect especially the pizza party, cake, raffle and gifts. It was so much and we [Sunset Beach Elementary] came here feeling like we needed to give back to them [303rd EOD Bn.] because they are always helping us.”
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 11.05.2013 20:06 |
| Story ID: | 116340 |
| Location: | HI, US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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