Celebrating the grand ole flag

Elementary students across East Meadow thanked and honored military men and women.

Courtesy Alisa Baroukh

Before Independence Day and even the last day of classes, elementary school students celebrated America by honoring the adoption of the United States flag with an array of activities on June 14.

Flag Day festivities were held at Barnum Woods, Bowling Green and Parkway elementary schools. Barnum’s celebration coincided with another annual event: the Walk in the Woods.

Dressed in red, white and blue, Barnum students gathered on the front field under sunny skies for their Flag Day ceremony. The fifth-grade band and chorus opened the event with a patriotic tribute to the U.S. Navy, followed by opening remarks from Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams and Principal Gregory Bottari, who spoke about the significance of Flag Day.

“I am very happy to be here with you today,” Abrahams said at the event. “One, to celebrate Flag Day and show our patriotism to our country, and two, to be a part of [the wellness walk], because walking and exercising strengthens our hearts and allows us to live much longer lives.”

Students in every grade then assembled for the wellness walk through the neighborhood. The youngsters promoted living a healthy lifestyle by holding banners and signs, East Meadow School District officials noted; they also wore patriotic hats and waved miniature American flags.

On the other side of the district, Bowling Green students, administrators and faculty listened to the school band and orchestra play several patriotic songs as the color guard raised the flag. During the ceremony, district officials said one student from each grade read an original piece of writing — including poems, personal reflections and essays — that focused on what Flag Day means to them. They also delivered a brief presentation about the importance of celebrating Flag Day.

In addition to watching similar performances from their own music students, the Parkway community was treated to show featuring Rick Charette, a special guest children’s singer and songwriter.

Following the Flag Day celebration, Charette visited second-graders in their classrooms to help them develop their own songs. The program concluded with a school wide concert with the singer, in which the entire second-grade class performed their two original pieces — “Third Grade, Here We Come” and “Second-Grade Memories.”