Educators in the Locust Valley Central School District spent the week of the Remembrance Bowl teaching age-appropriate lessons on World War II to students from kindergarten to 12th grade.
District teachers worked throughout the summer to prepare a wide array of lessons focusing on the bravery of Allied soldiers who liberated Locust Valley’s sister city Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France nearly 80 years ago. The Remembrance Bowl is a flag football game played between the 101st and 82nd Airborne units in Sainte-Mere-Eglise to honor the Allied soldiers who fought to liberate Europe. The game came to the Locust Valley district through a partnership between Locust Valley’s own Operation Democracy and the Patton Legacy Sports organization.
At Bayville Primary School, Victoria Shishkoff’s first graders learned about paratroopers and got their own paratrooper toys to test out on the playground on Sept. 20.
On the same afternoon over at Locust Valley Intermediate, third, fourth and fifth grade students learned about the evolution of the United States flag, flag code and how to fold a flag during an assembly.
On Sept. 21, Locust Valley Middle School students filled the auditorium to watch a documentary called “Mother of Normandy” about the beloved wife of Sainte-Mere-Eglise’s mayor Simone Renaud. After the film, students participated in a question and answer session with director Doug Stebleton and the author of the book of the same name, Jeff Stoffer. Maurice Renaud, the son of Simone, came from France to participate in the week’s events and spoke to students after the film, as well.