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School invites U . S . troops for field day
Story and photos by U . S . Army Spc . Samantha Parks 4th Public Affairs Detachment
What originally started as a day of question-andanswer between U . S . troops and school children quickly evolved into a day of fun , laughter and sports . Liaison Monitoring Team Four visited Kenan Halimi School May 30 to spend the day with the children , participating in activities like soccer , ping-pong , basketball and dancing .
“ The kids were really excited ,” said U . S . Army Sgt . 1st Class Charles Hipple , the LMT 4 noncommissioned officer in charge and Pittsburgh native . “ They were dancing for us , playing football , basketball and ping-pong . It was a really good interaction between KFOR and the students and faculty here .”
Hipple said though the children will run you ragged playing all of the games , the day went very well .
LMT 4 was joined by U . S . Army Command Sgt . Maj . Sheryl Lyon , Multinational Battle Group-East CSM and native of Tompkinsville , Ky .
“ I came to visit the school with the LMTs , at their invitation , to see a little bit of the countryside and a little bit of the communities ,” Lyon said . “ I got to meet with the director [ of the school ] and I was able to ask him a lot of questions about how their school systems run . It has been very informative for me .”
Lyon spent the morning touring the school and meeting the faculty before being taught a dance by the children . She said she had a blast and that dancing with the children was the most memorable part of the day .
“ The kids are wonderful ,” Lyon said . “ They want to laugh and talk and have a good time . They are letting us dance with them and learn their dances and showing us a lot of things , so it ’ s really good .”
U . S . Army Spc . Stanley Walker , a soldier with LMT 4 and native of Brentwood , N . Y ., said they were out as a liaison team , but got to have fun interacting with the kids , building relationships and just getting to know the local community .
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