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USS Sampson sailors act as role models for kids
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- Linno Roxcy, a teacher at Tamuning Elementary School, introduces Sailors from USS Sampson to her students during a community relations event. (Contributed Photo)
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- Fire Controlman 1st Class Eric Maier helps solve a problem during math class at Tamuning Elementary School. (Contributed Photo)
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- Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Timothy Lange speaks with a child during Chamorro class at the Tamuning Elementary School. (Contributed Photo)
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- Yeoman 3rd Class Jonathan Douglas listens to students’ questions at Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School. (Contributed Photo)
“It is always good to have guests coming over to our schools, especially with the partnership that the schools have between the military and the public school systems,” said Johansen Punongbayan, assistant principal, LBJ Elementary School and Tamuning Elementary School. “It’s an opportunity for us to work with them and get to know what they do and what the kids do at the school site.”
The sailors spent time helping students doing schoolwork as well as talking about their careers serving in the United States Navy.
“I think it’s important for people to realize we are out here doing more than just floating around and looking for bad guys,” said Fire Controlman 1st Class (SW) Eric Maier. “We enjoy coming to this community, we enjoy supporting the communities that support us.”
Maier helped the students with their class assignments and answered any questions the children had about serving in the Navy.
“I just want them to enjoy the experience and understand that we’re people too, that we’re just out there doing a job and we care about the job,” he said. “We are doing it because we enjoy it and that this is part of reason why we are doing it, for those kids and for their future.”
Jeni Ann Flores, a teacher at Tamuning Elementary School, spoke about how her students enjoyed their time with the sailors and how they made a positive impact on the children during the visit.
“I think the world can always use a positive role model, especially our children,” she said. “And a service member coming here is a big impact on them because here is somebody who cared enough to come and visit and tell about his experiences and it widens the world for them.”
Sampson is a guided-missile destroyer that is making a port call to the island while on an independent deployment to the Western Pacific Ocean. (Joint Region Marianas)
