Pearl Stephens ES invites all to ‘Remember Our Fallen’ in April

It’s a “21” salute of a different kind taking place each morning for the remainder of April at Pearl Stephens Elementary School. April is the Month of the Military Child, and because of its proximity to Robins Air Force Base, this means much more to this particular school with its close connections to the nation’s servicemen and women.

Pearl Stephens is “Remembering Our Fallen” with walls full of displays featuring those from the state of Georgia who lost their lives in the line of duty since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. A ceremony commemorating the remembrance of those lost and the youth whose lives are influenced every day by the military took place Tuesday at the school with some special guests in attendance.

Joe and Stewart Sulewski are the handlers of a retired military dog they brought along to meet the students. This Alpine Shepherd is 13 ½ years old, and for Joe Sulewski the animal is a certified diabetic alert service dog and goes with him everywhere.

“Other things military working dogs do is they go out and track people down,” said Joe. “There are other dogs trained to protect things.”

Once a military child, always a military child, so says the much grown up Sonya Jenkins. She is the daughter of Fred Wilson, chairman of the Houston County Board of Education and 22-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Jenkins gave the children in the school a lesson on colors, particularly stating the reason why purple is the color associated with Month of the Military Child.

“It was an awesome experience,” said Jenkins about her family travels growing up both in the United States and Europe. She attended three elementary schools, two junior high schools and two high schools. “What an amazing opportunity to learn about things most people only get out of books.”

Jenkins then showed the children all the colors of the spectrum, one of them being purple or violet. She then asked what the three strong primary colors are, and somebody answered, “red, yellow, blue.” These are the colors that cannot be made mixing other colors together.

“Red and blue (make purple),” said Jenkins. “The color for the military child. Purple combined the stability of blue and the energy of red. We military children have to be strong. The color red is like a power color. Sometimes you have to be strong.

“Sometimes you have to be calm. That is the blue. Purple is a strong color, too. It means loyalty, nobility and prestige.”

Was there a lesson also for the color yellow? Jenkins showed a photo of a well-known yellow fruit, the lemon. She said nobody really likes to eat lemons on their own, but there is so much else that can be added to lemons to make desserts and drinks.

“That’s what a lot of times military children are asked to do,” said Jenkins. “We’re asked to take lemons – maybe dad or mom is deployed, or you’re the new kid at a school and ‘I don’t know anyone’ – sometimes that’s the lemon. But you have the opportunity to take the lemons … and make lemonade.

“This is such an awesome community … to military families. But my students, we need your help. It’s not just for the grown-ups who own businesses. If you have a new student who comes to your school because their mom or dad changed bases, they are going to need some new friends. Some of you have been friends since Pre-K, but some of these guys are just coming here. It’s easier for mom and dad to know their daughter or son has friends they can play with.”

Pearl Stephens principal Amanda Brantley said the school has more than 100 students and 25 faculty members involved in active military. With more than 200 names represented on the school walls, 21 each morning are being read with not just the name, but hometown. The first 21 were read at Tuesday’s ceremony.

The display is open to the public for viewing until April 30 each school day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

HHJ News