ROCKWALL, TX (Feb. 14, 2015) Music teacher Jan Stonestreet’s desire is for her students to understand why the United States military should be honored and for them to personally meet the veterans and understand what they and their families have sacrificed and what it means to serve your country.
For the past 16 years, she has been doing exactly that. She’s teaching her wonderful kids good old fashioned patriotism, as each year in February, the Starlight Singers of Amy Parks Heath Elementary have presented the USO Show, honoring veterans and teaching the students about history, geography and the musical history of each war era they are featuring. These children receive a firsthand experience of how precious freedom really is, and it was a delight to see how these students respected these men and women that have served so faithfully. They take the veterans’ stories with them and share them with others, hoping they will not be forgotten.
Jan is pictured with Marine Sergeant Jerry Howell, one of the veteran special guests. Sergeant Howell was joined by representatives from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force.
Captain Eric Kenzik is the adopted soldier of the Starlight Singers and they send him care packages twice each year. Captain Kenzik is on active duty with the United States Air Force and is stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
This year’s USO event was at Cain Middle School as Jan’s Starlight Singers presented The USO Dinner, Dance and Show on Friday and Saturday evenings. The choir boasted over sixty very talented kids, who served tables and greeted the guests before they performed, then took the stage and thrilled the audience with a great performance of music and fun. The music took us back to the Desert Storm days of 1991 with great hits like Achy Breaky Heart and remakes such as Pretty Woman and Unchained Melody and many more.
Chris Childs and Janice Longino were the Master and Mistress of Ceremonies and they stretched our memories with Desert Storm trivia questions. Questions such as, “Which branch of the military began Desert Storm…What was the ‘Mother of all Battles’ and who said it?” were all impressively answered by people in the audience.
TI would encourage you to put it on your calendar and be sure not to miss it next year.
Thank you, Jan Stonestreet, for teaching your students the value of our freedom and for introducing them to the men and women that have served to secure that freedom. Your students will treasure this in their hearts for the rest of their lives.
By Blue Ribbon News special contributor John Adams of Rockwall. John serves as an Associate Pastor at Poetry Baptist Church. He is active in the Rockwall Breakfast Rotary. Visit his guest columns at BlueRibbonNews.com and his blog at written4u.com.
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