Courtesy Photo | Camden, S.C., native Staff Sgt. Donta Brown with Company C, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor...... read more read more
By 1st Lt. Raymond Ashworth
1st Bn., 64th Armor Regiment
BAGHDAD- The students at Ibn Kaldun Primary School, in the Khadra District of Baghdad, never thought there would be a day they'd want to stay at school any longer than they had to. Up until 11:30 a.m. it was just like any other day for them. That was before Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor, along with Iraqi army troops from 1st Battalion, 6th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division arrived at the primary school with much needed school supplies.
They brought more than 600 backpacks filled with school supplies. Each bag contained a notebook, folders, paper, a ruler, scissors, pens, pencils, colored pencils, pencil sharpeners, and erasers. When the Soldiers finished passing out the bags, they had given out 470 backpacks.
"The size of this school can be deceiving," said Camden, S.C., native Staff Sgt. Donta Brown with Co. C, 1st Bn., 64th Armor Regiment. "The kids seem to come out of the woodwork for such a small school."
Ibn Kaldun Primary School is different from most Iraqi schools. Most primary schools in Iraq start their day at 8 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m. However, Ibn Kaldun is two schools in one. The morning school has traditional hours while an afternoon school is from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Ibn Kaldun also gives remedial classes for older students trying to return to school.
The small size of the school compared to its large roster has not gone unnoticed by the Soldiers of Company C. Enough supplies were brought for both school periods. Due to the school's large amount of students and funding shortages, the students would normally have to share school supplies.
"Anything we can do to bring some normality to these kids' lives is a good thing," said Auburn, Ark., native 1st Lt. James Gallagher, platoon leader for Co. C. "We normally do that by making sure they're safe from al-Qaida. But today we're making sure they don't have to share school supplies by giving them their own."
Gallagher went on to say that they plan on doing more for the school than just hand out school supplies. His company is currently working with the school's headmistress, Amera Abdullah Muhammad, and the Khadra Neighborhood Area Council to get funding to help expand the school by building four to six more classrooms.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 01.28.2008 10:50 |
| Story ID: | 15808 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 65 |
| Downloads: | 55 |
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