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Chiles Elementary Students Create Memorials

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By MICHELE SAGER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 9, 2007

Tampa Palms - Tampa Palms - Students at Chiles Elementary didn't have to travel far to see some of this country's most famous monuments.

Fourth-graders brought Lincoln, Jefferson and a collection of other memorials to the campus Friday. The students studied and re-created the monuments for a project for Veterans Day.

The idea started when Chiles teacher Alesha Looper visited Washington, D.C., as part of a grant program.

"We visited the sites and had to develop ways to incorporate what we learned in Washington into our classrooms," she said.

So the fourth-graders were assigned memorials to study and re-create. Maya Patel and her team re-created the Korean War Veterans Memorial, honoring a war the 9-year-old knew little about.

"When I started, I knew there was a war, but that's about it," she said. "So we had a lot of work to do."

Maya showed off her newly acquired knowledge to schoolmates Friday. When she presented the memorial, she rattled off the numbers of deaths in the war, the type of material used in the memorial and the challenges faced when building the monument.

"We had a few problems building our own memorial because the papier-mâché soldiers looked more like chicken wings," Maya said. "But we added coats and faces and it looks much better."

The students took about three weeks to craft their creations, which were displayed in the exact layout found in the nation's capital.

Fourth-grader Nicholas Ho, who re-created the National World War II Memorial, said he understands why his class studied the monuments.

"We have relatives who fought in these wars," he said. "It's an important part of history we should learn and tell others about.

His partner, 10-year-old Zack Peitz, said the class projects make him dream of a trip to Washington, D.C.

"Our memorial is really tiny," he said. "I want to see the real thing because I know it must be giant. Some day, I'm going to be there."

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