{"id":5637,"date":"2016-10-14T12:27:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T16:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=5637"},"modified":"2016-10-19T08:24:54","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T12:24:54","slug":"schools-celebrate-u-s-navys-241st-birthday-navy-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/schools-celebrate-u-s-navys-241st-birthday-navy-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools celebrate U.S. Navy\u2019s 241st birthday with Navy volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joshua Lytle\u00a0doesn\u2019t like to be the center of attention. The Navy Petty Officer admitted he even felt uncomfortable being in the spotlight at his promotion ceremony.<\/p>\n

However, PO2 (AW\/SW) Lytle was willing to be the center of attention for hundreds of high-fiving Ocean Lakes Elementary School (OLES) students arriving to school Thursday.\u00a0He was among the many volunteers from area Navy bases who visited schools Oct. 13\u00a0to celebrate the U.S. Navy\u2019s 241st<\/sup> birthday.<\/p>\n

\"picture-1-oles-lytle\"<\/p>\n

\u201c241 years,\u201d remarked one OLES fourth-grader. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty old!\u201d<\/p>\n

Fourth-grade classes joined Lytle and CPO (AW) Autumn Barnes for a flag-raising ceremony in front of the school.\u00a0Both serve with Strike Fighter Squadron-81 (VFA-81) based at NAS Oceana.<\/p>\n

\"picture-2-oles-pledge\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really humbled that they let us be here today because it\u2019s a big day for us,\u201d said Barnes. \u201cI was incredibly humbled to see the kids out this morning singing the national anthem and welcoming us to the school.\u201d<\/p>\n

A similar ceremony was being held across the city at Green Run Elementary School (GRES). Petty Officer Second Class Sharek and Petty Officer First Class Padilla helped GRES safety patrols Carissa Volmer and Makailah Crayton raise the school\u2019s flags.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

The celebration continued throughout the morning at many elementary schools with Navy personnel visiting classrooms to answer questions, read stories and help with activities.<\/p>\n

At Shelton Park Elementary School, Navy personnel not only helped in class but joined in on the fun. Volunteers were active participants in physical education class, including doing pushups and racing four-wheeled scooters with students.<\/p>\n

\"picture-4-shelton-park\"<\/p>\n

Sailors from the USS Arlington took questions from Pembroke Meadows Elementary School\u2019s SCA representatives.<\/p>\n

“Have you ever found sunken ships?”\u00a0asked fifth-grader Brooklyn Smith. Students learned the sailors had found some, especially in shallower waters.<\/p>\n

“Do\u00a0you ever get seasick?” fifth-grader A’ine Jardine asked. Sailors admitted to feeling queasy at sea at times.<\/p>\n

Sailors from the USS Oak Hill also answered student questions while visiting classes at Glenwood Elementary School. The volunteers also spent time with students during their lunches.<\/p>\n

\"picture-5-glenwood-es\"<\/p>\n

Salem High School NJROTC cadets led their own ceremony to celebrate the Navy\u2019s birthday.\u00a0Chief Warrant Officer Ronald McMiller was the keynote speaker for a ceremony that also featured cadets sharing historical information about the founding of the Navy. A birthday celebration would not be complete without cake, and cadets cut the cake with two ceremonial swords before sharing pieces with guests.<\/p>\n

\"picture-6-salem-hs\"<\/p>\n

Back at OLES, Barnes and Lytle visited kindergarten classrooms to read books and answer questions.<\/p>\n

The questions started the moment Barnes entered Sherri Willett\u2019s classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you in the army?\u201d asked a kindergartener seated on the carpet.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, but the men and women in the Army are my brothers and sisters\u201d responded Barnes.<\/p>\n

When she shared she serves in the Navy, there was a chorus of excited responses all at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s in the Navy! My mom\u2019s in the Navy! My uncle is in the Navy!\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the group sharing of stories quieted, the kindergarteners continued with their questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you ride on airplanes?\u201d asked a student.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ride on airplanes all the time,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cCurrently, right now, I am a production foremen for F-18s. F-18s are fighter jets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh! Oh!\u201d interjected an excited student sitting on the carpet. \u201cMy dad goes on F-18s!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re awesome!\u201d agreed Barnes. \u201cThere\u2019s not enough room for anyone to fly on them except for the pilot. But when we travel with them, we go on other planes and land on the aircraft carrier or go by helicopter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"picture-7-oles-questions\"<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you go to the airport?\u201d asked another 5-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot very often. The airport for me in the Navy is the flight deck of an aircraft carrier,\u201d clarified Barnes. \u201cThat\u2019s a ship. It\u2019s a REALLY big ship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, you\u2019ll be the last one Connor,\u201d announced Winnett so the birthday guests could visit another classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you help people?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do<\/em> help people,\u201d said Barnes. \u201cThe Navy is actually responsible for helping out with community relations during disasters and such. Did everybody fair well during Hurricane Matthew? Hurricane Matthew went through a few other countries, and we\u2019re down there bringing food and supplies to those people who are in need right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students joined Winnett in thanking their special guest, and OLES assistant principal Ryan Simpson escorted Barnes and Lytle to their next class.<\/p>\n

Both volunteers wanted to share with students that they value serving their country as well as the experiences they have had as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to share with students that I\u2019m just a kid from Charleston, South Carolina, who, over the past six years, has been to over 20 different countries and seen a lot of cool places,\u201d said Lytle. \u201cThere are a lot of good opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I want to thank them,\u201d he continued. \u201cI know a lot of people like to thank us, but I want to thank them for this port. I got A LOT of high fives coming in this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"picture-8-oles-high-fives\"<\/p>\n

Visit the VBSchools Facebook page<\/a> to view more photos of how schools celebrated the Navy\u2019s 241st<\/sup> birthday with Navy personnel.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joshua Lytle\u00a0doesn\u2019t like to be the center of attention. The Navy Petty Officer admitted he even felt uncomfortable being in the spotlight at his promotion ceremony. However, PO2 (AW\/SW) Lytle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[121,101,29,152],"class_list":["post-5637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-green-run-elementary","tag-ocean-lakes-elementary","tag-salem-high","tag-shelton-park-elementary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5637"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5648,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5637\/revisions\/5648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}