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South Putnam students lay wreath at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
ARLINGTON, Va. — As if a fall break trip to the nation’s capital and surroundings weren’t enough of an opportunity, four South Putnam Middle School students got a once-in-a-lifetime experience last week.
On a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, students Nolyn Birkemeier, Caden Tinsley, Kaitlyn Barber and Bryan Bye had the honor of laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The four students were selected through an essay contest about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, so all four certainly had some idea of the significance of the task for which they were chosen.
Barber had visited Arlington and the tomb this past summer, where she observed the changing of the guard, so her essay had focused on what a serious ceremony it is.
“It was so quiet, you could hear every step they made,” Barber recalled.
Birkemeier focused on the opportunity he had before him, something he truly learned when he arrived.
“I wrote what a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it was,” Birkemeier said, “and when we were there I realized it.”
In researching for his own essay, Bye learned how meticulous the guards must be, taking up to eight hours of preparation simply to get ready for a shift guarding the tomb.
The biggest struggle for all four was containing their comments to the 300-word limit of the assignment.
They were then selected anonymously by a panel of eight South Putnam faculty members who read the essays.
Once chosen, though, the students had some rules to learn.
“We had a huge trouble trying to find me a dress to wear with all the rules and everything that goes with it,” Barber said.
Upon arrival, they were greeted by sentinel who took them through he process and rules step by step. The students had to balance the pressure of the job at hand with the fact that there was quite a crowd watching.
“There were a lot of schools there,” Bye said.
“I just kept going over what we needed to do because I didn’t want to forget,” Birkemeier said.
“I just did what you did,” Tinsley added.
In the end, things went off without a hitch, even if the students were a bit intimidated.
“The first guy made it sound way harder,” Birkemeier said. “I got confused so I just went in the back.”
“I didn’t want to make the flowers fall off or break it in some way,” Barber added.
She also said she was so caught up in the moment that she didn’t even know the wreath said “South Putnam Middle School” until her dad showed her Facebook photos afterward.
The students also got to see the precision of the changing of the guard, as well as recalling other details of the ceremony such as the inspection of the guard’s gun with white gloves.
The visit to Arlington was a small part of a weeklong trip for seventh- and eighth-graders through Appian Tours, chaperoned by teachers Mandy Wells, Cameron Frazier and Elaine Bye as well as adult relatives of student travelers.
The itinerary was packed with a mix of fun, historical, cultural and sightseeing opportunities that included the Gettysburg battlefield, Cyclorama, George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, the White House, Washington National Cathedral, Smithsonian museums, U.S. Holocaust Museum, Capitol Hill and the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court and lots of monuments and memorials. The group also took a ghost tour in Alexandria and dined at Medieval Times.
