Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Nancy Lugo | Capt. Justin Hegg, intelligence officer in charge, 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion,...... read more read more
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Some people volunteer in the community to make themselves feel better, some volunteer because it’s court-mandated and, finally, some people volunteer to make a positive impact on the community. I prefer to volunteer for the latter reason and encourage the Soldiers at Fort Carson to do the same.
As part of the 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion’s Adopt-a-School program, I was invited to North Middle School at the behest of Darian Founds, the North Middle School International Baccalaureate coordinator, to speak to the students there about “global perspective.”
March 20, 2015, I navigated my way to the cafeteria through the labyrinth of middle school children as they filtered into class, where I was scheduled to speak to the entire 240-student large sixth grade class.
As I finished preparing the presentation and myself, the students began trickling in one by one gleefully anticipating the end of the school day so they could begin their weeklong spring break vacation. My biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to capture their attention for the entire 50-minute block allotted to me. Speaking with Founds ahead of time, he hinted to me that the kids always react well to personal narratives and real world applications of what they’ve been learning.
“Don’t be afraid to throw some pictures in your presentation and share your experiences with them.”
I took Founds’ advice and related the overarching topic of maintaining a global perspective and respecting other cultures to my own personal experience. To my amazement the kids loved it. I would show them a picture of me from some of my travels abroad – pictures from France, Spain, Germany, and more – and had them take a guess at where the picture was from. I was able to drive home my point of maintaining an open-mind and empathy when it came to understanding other cultures and it was as easy as relating it to my own experiences that kept the kids engaged.
When I wrapped up the presentation I had a few kids approach the stage to either thank me for coming or to ask a few more questions. Whatever the case, I was just glad my message resonated with some of them. And more importantly there was a uniform with U.S. Army across the chest that they could attach to the message and tell their parents about that night at the dinner table.
Small gestures, like speaking to a cafeteria full of sixth graders, can have far reaching benefits when it comes to community relations between the military and the local population. Students tell their parents, parents tell their co-workers and friends, and soon enough half of town sees how dedicated Fort Carson Soldiers are to the overall well being of Colorado Springs.
Now imagine a few of these community relation events each month by members of the Fort Carson footprint and see how quickly the positive influence of our Soldiers saturates the greater Colorado Springs area.
| Date Taken: | 03.20.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.09.2015 17:15 |
| Story ID: | 159559 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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