H/T Lucianne
WILLISTON -- It's easy to engage middle school students with questions after a presentation that includes a 15,000-pound helicopter landing in the back yard of the school.
Students of the Verve team at Williston Central School peppered three members of a Vermont Army National Guard medical evacuation unit with questions for more than an hour Wednesday afternoon after the ambulance team arrived at the school flying a Black Hawk chopper to talk about their recent Iraq deployment. The presentation closed a two-week interdisciplinary unit on the Middle East that students completed before spring break.
"We chose this unit of study because of the current challenges and conflicts that exist in the region and because the students had limited knowledge of the area," Verve teacher Ann Steinmuller said.
Students chose three seminars out of several offered, including art and culture, economics, natural resources, religion, and women's rights, Steinmuller said. Each student then picked one topic and created an in-depth project that was presented in a Middle East Fair held the last day of the unit.
Sixth-grader Avery Caterer said he changed his view of the region after he learned the Middle East was not all about a "boring desert." Fifth-grader Matthew Howell agreed. "The oil production there is amazing," the 11-year-old said.
Seeing an actual helicopter and real crewmembers who served in Iraq was the most amazing learning experience for the two boys, they said. "I liked the most that I can actually see it and ask questions about what they did in Iraq," Matthew said. The best for Avery was being allowed to climb into the machine, he said.
Fifteen minutes before 1 p.m., the loud, huge flying machine circled the open field behind the school and landed in the green. Once Capt. Doran Metzger of Milton, Chief Warrant Officer Keith Roy of Williston and Flight Medic Sawyer Alberi of Eden descended and turned off the blades, about 80 children ran from the playground toward the helicopter.
Metzger gave a short presentation on the operation of the noncombat unit and the helicopter's technical details. Then, the three Guard members answered the many questions of students and residents who stopped by to see the machine.
In response to a question from a student, Metzger explained medical evacuation units help U.S soldiers, Iraqi civilians, war prisoners and anyone in need of medical treatment and transportation.
"The exact same treatment, the exact same care," he said.