Each day surprises us with a different colour palette
American Marines and Slovene Soldiers Painted Smiles
On Friday, the 29th of May, 2015, our school hosted some very important guests:
-U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia, Ambassador Brent R. Hartley and his wife,
-Defence Attaché Lieutenant Colonel Todd A. Scattini,
-Marines from The Embassy of the United States Ljubljana,
-U.S. Navy sailors from the USS Sampson Battleship and
-Slovene Soldiers from Koper and Novo mesto.
The morning started with a welcome and a short cultural programme prepared by the children. The American and Slovene soldiers were then joined to different workshops.
Slovene soldiers and two marine helped our pupils to paint two of our many classrooms. They worked extremely hard and fast. The children had a lot of fun with them.
The parking area in front of the school was painted with colour for concrete. The grey escarpment was painted with many different patterns and themes; like animals, numbers, letters etc. The children helped the navy sailors to learn the names of Slovene numbers from 0 to 10.
Another workshop was making Slovene and American flags out of paper and wodden plates. They were also making a mosaic out of ceramic plates. As it shows, our children were much more skilled for that.
The soldiers also mowed the school lawn and helped with the gardening. The school has a new addition to the garden, which will be used for planting herbs.
Slovene soldiers built a small range for the pupils to try on and test their motor skills. Later in the day was a football match among the American soldiers and our pupil took place. Our pupils won.
Our teachers and children baked over 200 pancakes to treat the hardworking soldiers.
Our day together ended by the friendship bench that was set up for his occasion. The firefighters from Črnomelj joined us as guest as well. The soldiers and sailor were presented with small gifts from our pupils. The navy soldiers brought gifts for our children to, a cap with the symbol of the USS Simpson battleship.
It’s nice to have the power and the strength to brighten someone’s day and not to expect anything in return but gratitude. Your visit has painted so many happy and smiling faces.
We will always remember your visit.
A special thanks to the firefighters from Črnomelj, which helped with the organizing and planning.
Elementary School Milka Šobar- Nataša and its employees
