Hampton Street Students Celebrate Patriot’s Day

Every morning, students at the rise, put their hand over their hearts and recite the words to the Pledge of Allegiance together before starting their classes.

For Flag Day, the school holds a special ceremony that gives the children a fun way to commemorate the Stars and Stripes. The school’s annual “Patriot’s Day” assembly was held Wednesday morning in the auditorium as each class in grades one through five, performed different songs and musical numbers to pay tribute to Old Glory.

“We’re honoring our American Flag, and our American Flag stands for our great nation,” school principal Dr. SueCaryl Fleischmann told the audience. “We benefit greatly from many, many freedoms.”

The walls of the school auditorium were covered with American flags, provided by the school’s art teacher, that added to the festive atmosphere. Five members of marched out carrying the flags as part of the Color Guard Processional starting the event.

The assembly typically is held on Flag Day, June 14, but was pushed back because of a scheduling conflict. According to assistant Gina Hahn, the ceremony was moved so "all the students to be able to participate in it."

Parents were also in attendance to see their children – who were wearing special headbands for the assembly – sing tributes to the flag.

“Our music teacher, Mrs. Crawley, really is in charge of the whole thing with the music and patriotic songs,” Dr. Fleischmann said. “And the children all get red bandanas that were all donated by the Veterans several years ago. We look forward to it every year, and I know our students and parents look forward to it.

For the next hour, each grade got to take the stage and demonstrate what patriotic songs they learned for the occasion. The first and second grade classes started the festivities with their rendition of “Grand Old Flag” and “This is My Country,” followed by the school’s String Orchestra performing a medley of American songs, including “Home on the Range.”

Accompanied by music teacher Mrs. Crawley on the acoustic guitar, the third graders sang the Woody Guthrie classic “This Land Is Your Land.” The Hampton Street School band followed with "Yankee Doodle Dandy." The fourth and fifth graders then sang “Fifty Nifty” with a multimedia background that went through all 50 states and showed the lyrics to the Ray Charles song.

Mrs. Doherty’s Golden Showstoppers ended the ceremony with a display that included twirling batons and waving American Flags, leading to an ovation from the audience.

“Think of one thing you appreciate about your country, and look around at all of your parents, teachers, helpers here,” Fleischmann said to her audience. “It’s because of what this flag means that we are here together.”