Soldiers teach elementary teachers to lead

  • Published
  • By Mary M. Rall
  • USARAK Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Soldiers with 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion taught the staff of Ursa Major
Elementary School lessons in leadership by hosting a leader reaction course at the school Monday.

The event kicked off the school year for the partnership between the unit and the school in support of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson School Partnership Program, said Ursa Major Principal Ben Hardwick, who hoped the event's activities would stress the importance of collaboration to the 42 participating staff members.

"I wanted to get an experiential activity together that shows teachers what can be accomplished when they use teamwork to accomplish what they couldn't do on their own," Hardwick said.

The need for cooperation was stressed through four interactive activities the Soldiers set
up for the staff members to rotate through, said Army Capt. Anthony Stong, the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 17th CSSB commander.

Success at each station could only be achieved when the participants worked together to navigate their way through mock quicksand, minefield, broken window and river-crossing scenarios.

"Hopefully at the end they're thinking as a group," Stong said, emphasizing that the teams reviewed the challenges they faced following each scenario to better understand their successes and failures. Some of the teachers were surprised at how difficult something as simple as shuffling a blindfolded team across the gym floor on a poncho could be.

"I didn't think we'd be able to get through it, to tell you the truth," said teacher Jeannette Hayden, who discovered that being blindfolded was the most daunting aspect of the task. "It threw off my balance," she said.

Teaching such lessons in teamwork and communication to Ursa Major's staff is just the first part of the leadership training to be implemented at the school, Stong said.

"We're using this as a foundation, and then we'll transfer that to the sixth graders," Stong said, noting that the students are apt to be drawn to the course's entertaining, yet educational activities.

"It is fun, but it really does foster leadership," he said.

According to Hardwick, the leadership reaction course is the first of many upcoming activities the school has lined up to enhance the educational experiences
of the school's students with the support of the 17th CSSB school partnership volunteers.

"We have a plan in place, we have a commitment to follow through with the plan, and we have planned experiences with teachers to help them know who to turn to for support," he said.

Emphasizing the need to meet the volunteer needs of the school is integral to the success of the unit-school partnership, said 17th CSSB Commander Lt. Col. Brian R. Formy-Duval, who is now in his second year as the commander of a partnership unit.
"We owe that to the school. We owe that to the community," Formy-Duval said.

Many of his Soldiers have students attending Ursa Major, which gives them an opportunity to volunteer in support of their children as well.

Formy-Duval said he makes a point of meeting with Hardwick monthly to better understand the school's needs and how his Soldiers can help contribute to the students' academic and civic success.

According Sgt. Lanita Clark, the 17th CSSB partnership noncommissioned officer in charge, 28 unit volunteers contributed 451 hours of volunteerism to that end last school year and are poised to exceed that goal this year.

In addition to leadership training, Stong said the Soldiers interacted with the students and their families at the school's Back to School Bash and challenged older students by teaching them arctic survival skills.

"We're fostering that skill set to another generation of Alaskans," Stong said, noting one more aspect of the volunteers' military training that can set the students, Soldiers and the unit-school partnership up for success for many years to come.