By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
Kids are kids, especially when curious Paint Creek second graders fall into the hands of local veterans.
Eighty students asked the most important questions they could think of when touring the Lake Orion Veteran’s Memorial last week, a culmination of hands on learning the second grade classrooms have covered this year about Lake Orion’s history.
Retired Paint Creek Teacher Kathy McMinn has been bringing second grade students to the memorial ever since it was built, and said that this was true learning at its best.
‘Just look at them, they are so enthralled,? she said as students chatted excitedly to the eight veterans who were giving the tour. ‘Many of the children in this neighborhood school live over on the southwest corner of the township and don’t come out this way so this is all brand new to them.?
Her goal is for the students to take this newfound knowledge of the memorial back to their families.
On the same page, the veterans? goal is to explain what the memorial is all about: glorifying the spirit of the men and women who fought for the peace and freedom of this country.
Veterans split the students into groups and explained each of the sites at the memorial, including the Freedom Wall, the Commemorative Walkway, the Pathway to Peace, and the bronze statue of the family titled the ‘Tears of Joy?.
In fact, veteran Dr. Joe Mastromatteo and Bob Watros, manager of the memorial, asked Paint Creek second graders what to include in the memorial years ago before it was built, who came up with the idea behind the Tears of Joy.
And the questions kept coming.
‘They ask very important questions that they need answers to. Tthey don’t know, they’re just little guys. It’s giving them real-world knowledge,? Jim Hubbard, Commander of the Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) Post 334, said..
One of the more popular questions’whether actual bodies were buried around the memorial’has been asked several times over the years, Hubbard said of the traditional field trip.
Many other important questions passed through their lips this time too.
One particular question, why soldiers needed weapons?, was directed at Hubbard while he was explaining a statue of military boots and a helmet.
‘It’s a hard thing hopefully that you children will never have to go through,? he said, explaining that the weapons were not BB guns.
The learning was abundant.
‘I learned about soldiers that were in the army and died, and over there is an army helmet and boots, and there’s medals over there for the army, navy and air force,? Preston Anderson said.
Other students have a more direct connection with the memorial, McMinn said, including a student who stood on his great-grandfather’s donated brick.
Another such student said he knew all about the memorial because his grandfather was in the Marine Corps.
‘One small thing I learned about was the Purple Heart,? Donovan St. Peter said.
One of the greatest things the students could also take away from the field trip was actually seeing meeting a veteran.
‘That’s important for them because a lot of their parents aren’t veterans. They don’t know much about them or what they’ve done for their country,? Hubbard said.
‘It’s making connections. Many of the children don’t have ties to Lake Orion, they come and they live and some settle, but to show them they can have roots no matter how long they’re here is what this is all about,? McMinn said.