In honor of Veterans Day, on Monday morning, Union Elementary School held a brief ceremony to honor veterans and then set up an obstacle course for students to test their mettle against some real military exercises.
Though winds blew hard and cold, staff at Union Elementary endured the frigid November weather that occurred early Monday morning for their second annual Veterans Day Fun Run. The event aimed to teach the young scholars of the school the importance of veterans while still providing a fun way for students to get their steps in. Staff at the school were joined by Union High’s JROTC chapter as well as some local veteran friends of the school. Though the event was meant for Veterans Day, it coincided with the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps.
The fun run race featured many exercises that you would see at real military bases for general training such as push-ups, burpees, army crawls and much more. As students progressed through the race course, they would stop at stations where Union High JROTC members would assist them in each exercise. At some stations, exercises were swapped out for military trivia games that would ask students to name three or four different pieces of military equipment or something similar.
The event is the brainchild of Union Elementary’s physical education teacher Kristen Fowler, who has taken the idea of the race with her across three different schools including Union Elementary. Fowler herself is former military, having served in the U.S. Army. The teacher came up with the idea as a fun way for young students to learn about veterans and teach them that Veterans Day is more than just a day off from school.
“It’s about service,” said Fowler. “It’s about honoring the men and women who fight for us and our freedoms every single day. Most importantly, it’s about honoring the fallen. The race serves as a way for students to learn about Veterans Day, while still incorporating some physical activity.”
Fowler sat down with students prior to the race to teach them why we celebrate Veterans Day before letting the children run loose and have fun on the course.
“Veterans fought for our freedoms,” said Fowler to the students. “Our freedom of religion, our freedom to choose what college we want to go to and even what we want to do when we grow up.”
The race was a big hit with the school’s kindergarten classes, who were so excited to get outside and run around that the obstacles and exercises became somewhat of an afterthought to them. The JROTC members who where assigned to man each station had to stop many students from running around the obstacles and ensure that each obstacle was completed. On the sidelines, the school’s Pre-K students cheered on their fellow classmates as they ripped through the course.
The winning students were given colorful dog tags and challenge coins to award them for their quickness and dedication to the race. Dog tags were given to the winning students by retired Navy cook, John Outlaw, who reminisced with students about his days in the service.
“Sometimes on aircraft carriers, me and a few other cooks had to cook for around 7,000 people three times a day. Can you imagine that?” said Outlaw. “It was hard sometimes, but I had a blast doing it.”
The event would continue on throughout the day to ensure that each class got a chance to get in on the fun. To see that every student walked away with something, Fowler and Outlaw gave each student a camo rubber bracelet.