The Villages Daily Sun

LADY LAKE — At one table, fourth-graders huddle around a brown leather photo album with sepia and black and white photographs held down with yellowing tape. At another table, children admire a woman’s medals. Another cluster of kids swoons in unison, “Cool” when they learn that the airplane in the picture they’re holding not only breaks the sound barrier, but flies at 2,000 mph.

Fourth-graders at The Villages Elementary of Lady Lake learned about history from veterans Thursday as part of the Adopt-a-Kid, Adopt-a-Vet program.

The pupils positioned around veteran Eugene Nupp’s table eagerly fired questions at the animated 81-year-old. How many years did you serve? Why do you celebrate Veterans Day? Nupp happily answered each question.

“All of a sudden, in the vague murkiness of the past history, I think they figure out that this happened,” Nupp said, “and there was World War II and people were in it, and these are some of the old guys who were in it.”

One of the reasons Nupp participates in this program, other than his love for the kids, is so that history doesn’t fade from memory. Although the children didn’t retain specific details, they certainly appreciated learning about the wars. Fourth-grader Shane Alexander enjoyed learning about the places where Nupp served and said it’s important to learn about life in the service.

“That’s because if you learn about things you get smarter, and you’ll know about the war,” Alexander said, “and if you want to go in it, you might know more.”

In another room, a group of four children in teacher Jessica Anderson’s class enjoyed talking to veteran Lynn Mazarak so much that they wanted to go to her house for cookies. Mazarak, 83, who served in the Navy during World War II, said she loves answering children’s questions and hopes she has the right answers.

Ashley Recker, 9, was certainly happy with Mazarak’s answers. Her favorite part of the visit was asking questions.

“I think it’s cool because the veterans, when they were in the Navy or something, were fighting for our country,” Recker said.

Though they asked many questions, the answer 9-year-old Dana Bernot found most interesting was what POW and MIA stand for.

“I was kind of shocked and surprised,” Bernot said. “I didn’t know what that meant.”

The program’s title, Apopt-a-Kid, Adopt-a-Vet, is the perfect name, Anderson said, because kids really do adopt their vets. The students run up to the veterans and hug them when they meet again on Veterans Day to read the students’ essays, she said. The vets become become like grandparents in the process of teaching the children about their experiences.

“It gives them a chance to really experience what some of these men and women have gone through,” Anderson said, “and the sacrifices they made serving in the military.”

Teachers as well as students appreciate the learning opportunities this program presents. Fourth-grade teacher Carolyn Lee said not only do her students learn a lot, it has given her a greater appreciation for veterans’ service and sacrifices.