To Jarhead, Ol' Sarge, LarryJ, Varmit and ALL WHO SERVED - "THANK YOU, SOLDIERS"

[Warph]

"THANK YOU SOLDIERS"

Brought to you by: The Third Grade Class of Tussings, Elementary - Colonial Heights, Virginia

http://colonialhts.net/index.cfm?SecID=T&PageID=56

COLONIAL HEIGHTS - A song giving tribute to those in the military is turning third-graders at Tussing Elementary School in Colonial Heights into a hit all over the Internet.
The entire third-grade class performed an original song, "Thank You Soldiers," for Veteran's Day. After posting the video to YouTube and various video-hosting Web sites, it has now received over 63,000 views and e-mails from all over the country and the world.
Michael Souders, Tussing's music director, co-wrote the song with his wife Angela.
"The purpose was to have the kids sing a song not about the soldiers, or for the soldiers," Souders said, "But to the soldiers."
The school's music department puts on an annual performance, usually with a patriotic theme, for Veteran's Day. For last year's show, Souders wanted the students to send a personal message to the soldiers and their families. The music director loves patriotic songs, but he wanted the soldiers to receive a personal "Thank You," for serving our country.
Souders said he has a deep appreciation for those who serve and have served. He wanted soldiers and veterans to be able to watch the video from wherever they are, even if they are currently serving overseas.
"I don't have money, but the one thing I can do is write a song," Souders said. "I would like to desperately thank as many soldiers and veterans as I can."
The video is a three-minute montage of photographs of soldiers who have served and are serving today while the children sing.
The students are mesmerized by the amount of feedback they have received from people who have watched the video. Souders is also surprised by how many people the video has reached already. He keeps a chart at the school for the students to record the number of daily responses as it continues to grow.
Most of the comments praise the video, including posts such as this: "I love this one, This should be sung daily in every school in the USA! Thank you for the beautiful, meaningful words and joyful voices of the children!"
"My plea is for everyone to send the video to as many soldiers and veterans as possible to thank them for their service." Souders said.

THIRD GRADE - Tussings Elementary
Devin Pope                                    History
Mishaal Gilani                                History
Alexa Hirn                                      History
Clay Ackerman                Science, History
Emily Carroll                                 Science
Amaris Correll                                   Math
Cameron Cox                                 History
Erin Hood                              Math History
Tiffany Kong                                  History
Michael Laine                                History
William Lund         History, Reading, Math
Ben Napier                         Math, Science,
                                        History, Reading
Morgan Reamy                             Reading
Joe Robinson                                Reading
Casie Slaybaugh   Math, History, Reading
Jessica Stutz                  History, Reading
Madison Whitfield              Math, Science,
                                           History, Reading
Dade Zoldork                               History
Roy Chini                            History, Math
Joseph Dando                              History
Danae Hammond                        Reading
Anthony Jennings                         History
Jacob Marks                                 History
Inaara Mohammed                          Math
Katelyn Nester                             History
Tamara Bowen                            Reading
Makenzie Cloninger                      History
George Greenwald                        History
Sonali Luthar                     Reading, Math
Matthew Mehfoud                          History
Katelyn Rivera                   Reading, Math
James Smith                        Math, History
Jackson Steele                                 Math
Briann Wray                        History, Math

[larryJ]

Great post! What a great bunch of kids!     

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

Well, now is that perfect or what. Ahem.... Written by A TEACHER ! What a wonderful gesture.

[jarhead]

Yes Diane, Michael Souders is the Music director but he was a Marine fighter pilot before becoming a teacher and his wife Angela was an Army nurse and ------------------OK, I'm blowing smoke up your rear. I aint got a clue what they did before they were teachers but that sounds good.
Thanks WARPH

[Diane Amberg]

Sorry, I'm not in cardiac arrest nor am I native American (well just a little) so my rear is not available for smoke or anything else.