Students at Buckley Country Day School in Roslyn show love to veterans

Kathryn Downing, a third grade teacher at Buckley Country Day School in Roslyn, got choked up as she read her students’ messages to military veterans.

"I hope I am as brave and as strong as you one day," read one.

"You are so inspiring," read another.

The messages were among more than 200 notes and letters written by students at the private school, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, and intended for veterans at area nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.

Students placed the messages in a box decorated with hearts, which was then presented to Matthew Gangone, a Marine Corps veteran and Buckley staff member. Gangone then dropped the messages off at the Nassau County Legislative Office for distribution.

Dominick Acquista, 9, a fourth-grader at Buckley, said it felt good to honor the service members. Dominick drew an American flag on a white piece of paper with colored pencils.

“Thank you veterans,” read his message.

For Downing, a Franklin Square resident who comes from a military family — her brother is in the Army and her brother-in-law is a Marine Corps veteran — the project connecting grade-school students with vets hit close to home.

"They get to put in their own words the gratitude they feel for being supported by the military ... and how the military really makes a difference in the lives of people in the United States, and elsewhere," Downing, 34, told Newsday on Sunday.

“They are there for us, and we need them or America wouldn’t be a free country,” he said.

Students at Buckley have written Valentine-themed messages to veterans for about five years, said Elizabeth Lyons, head of the lower school at Buckley, which includes grades 1 through 4. The school offers classes from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

The format of the messages varies based on age group, Lyons said. While younger students might cut out paper hearts, older students, like those in Downing’s class, typically write letters.

Lyons said it’s meaningful for the students to understand the sacrifices made by members of the military.

"These are people that have helped to maintain our country, to maintain some of the freedoms that we still have," Lyons said. "I think it’s important for children to realize that. We live in a great country, and the freedoms we have, people don’t have all over the world. And so I think it’s important for the children to understand that, and have an appreciation for one of the reasons we have these privileges, is because of our veterans."

Downing, who has been a teacher at the school for more than a decade, took the opportunity to engage her class in more involved discussions about the military.

"We were able to do a deep dive into what is a hero? How do people serve our country? How does it look when people get deployed?" Downing said. "We really got a chance to not just make the Valentines, and do the creative part, but also do a deep dive into some of the vocabulary."

Downing distributed sheets of paper with images of military figures and American flags, as well as lines for the students to write their own messages. She then guided her class in a discussion about bigger themes, like heroism and sacrifice, and let the students write their own letters.

"They really come out very heartfelt," Downing said. "You get to really see what it means to them. Sometimes students have the purest outlook on things."

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.