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CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Sept. 5, 2008 – When bells ring for a return to schools throughout Baghdad’s Sadr City district later this month, students at schools renovated by Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers are in for a big surprise. Local contractors in Baghdad’s Sadr City district work on refurbishing the Thatt Al Salasel School, Sept. 3, 2008. Multinational Division Baghdad spearheaded the renovation of 38 schools throughout the area. U.S. Army photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Following the end of hostilities in Baghdad’s most densely populated district, nearly all of the 38 schools in Task Force Gold’s...

Capt. Sean Nolan, of San Antonio, and a soon-to-be student of the newly-refurbished primary school in Jisr Diyala, await cookies and cake during the school's ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 21, 2008. Photo by Pfc. Michael Schuch. COMBAT OUTPOST CASCHE SOUTH — A kindergarten and primary school opened in the She Shon area during ribbon-cutting ceremonies Aug. 21.Soldiers from the 415th Civil Affairs Battalion helped local contractors renovate two schools in She Shon to ensure the children of the area have the opportunity to receive a formal education."We are very thankful this project is now complete," said Fatema Rhady, the headmistress of...

School children of the al-Menahay Primary School pose for a photo at their makeshift school north of Joint Security Site W-1. A house with five rooms near the destroyed school was used for classes until their school could be rebuilt. Photo by 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FOB KALSU — For school children in the south Baghdad area, getting an education has become a difficult, even dangerous prospect in recent years. In some cases, supplies were short and facilities were in disrepair. Sometimes the teachers weren’t there. In a few cases, the schools themselves were all...

Local leaders cut the ribbon signifying the opening of the Salman Pak Girls Secondary School, April 24, in Salman Pak, Iraq. DoD photo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — The only secondary school for girls in the Salman Pak area opened its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 24.Leaders of the Salman Pak Council, the Iraqi Army, the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, gathered in Salman Pak for the ceremony, which marked the completion of a $200,000 project initiated Feb. 28.Members of the Salman Pak Council brought the decrepit school to the attention of 1-15th...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, April 25, 2008 – After months of fighting, coalition forces in Arab Jabour, Iraq, have rid the area of al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists and have turned their attention to rebuilding the community. Army Capt. James Anthony, commander of Company C, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, watches as children play at the Al-Alemia school in Arab Jabour, Iraq. Anthony and his company helped to rebuild the school. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Those efforts have opened numerous schools, water pumps and health clinics in Arab Jabour. The Islah School, Alula School and...

An Adwaniyah middle school student receives school supplies during the school's grand opening. Some of the supplies were donated by American students to Iraqi students. The remodeled school will hold traditional and religious classes. FORWARD OPRATING BASE KALSU — Adwaniyah citizens who were once afraid to leave their homes because of al-Qaeda in Iraq, freely gathered last week to celebrate the grand opening of a middle school and health clinic. Much of the work was done using Commander’s Emergency Response Program funds. Coalition forces assisted in rebuilding the school and clinic but the Government of Iraq was key to the...

First Lt. Greg Highstrom (left), from Cedarburg, Wisc., a platoon leader, and Spc. Nick Waterman, from Princeton, Idaho, an artilleryman, both with Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, speak with students of the Manahel primary school in Kutimiyah, March 30. The school is temporarily using a nearby home to hold classes because al-Qaida insurgents destroyed the school building. Photo by Sgt. Luis Delgadillo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Many schools in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division's area of operation have been rebuilt through the efforts of coalition forces.There were...

An Iraqi worker adds a fresh coat of white paint to one of the buildings comprising the al Nassir School in al Buaytha, March 25. Coalition forces are funding repair of the school's four buildings. Before al-Qaida was driven from the area, the school was hit several times by mortars, causing structural damage. Photo by Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FOB KALSU — The al Nassir Elementary School is once again a kid-friendly place where area children can go to study.The school, which suffered severe damage while al-Qaida dominated the area, is now...

Local workers from Salman Pak, Iraq, and Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, work to refurbish the Zarqua al Yamama Girls’ School, Feb. 28. U.S. Army photo courtesy of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment. FOB HAMMER — U.S. Soldiers visited the Zarqua al Yamama girls’ school in Salman Pak, Feb. 28, to check the progress of a refurbishment project there. The school’s poor condition was brought to the attention of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment leaders by members of the Salman Pak council, said Capt. Mathew Givens, from Columbus, Ga., civil-military operations officer for 1-15th Inf. Regt.“The school was...

AL QA’IM — Iraqi Army Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, along with Marines and Sailors of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, recently arrived at a school here carrying an abundance of tools and supplies. The joint effort had one goal: to provide the children with a school they could be proud of. The school needs a lot of work, but the children deserve it, said an Iraqi Army Soldier who wished to be not named. The school clean-up kicked off with Iraqi Army Soldiers and Marines working side by side, clearing broken windows...

Buffalo, N.Y., native Capt. Joseph Guzowski, the commander of Troop A, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, enjoys a piece of cake with staff members of the Omar Muktar Boys’ School at a grand opening ceremony at the school, Oct. 4. Photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Soldiers from Troop A, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and members of the Salhiyah Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) were on hand at the Omar Muktar Boys’ School, Oct. 4, to...

Brig. Gen. Muhammad Ali Jassim al-Frejee, commander of the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, speaks with children of Luitifyiah, Iraq, upon the re-opening of their school Oct. 1. Al-Frejee's troops and those of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., secure the Mahmudiyah, Lutifiyah, and Yusufiyah areas. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Angela Mc Kinzie. LUTIFIYAH — Attending schools with basic amenities such as libraries, restrooms and desks seems like a given to Americans.However, many Iraqi children have not been afforded the opportunity to attend...

BAGHDAD, Sept. 14, 2007 – Families in a neighborhood that sits between Sunni and Shiia areas of west Baghdad are looking forward to the re-opening of their secondary school. An Iraqi construction crew renovates a school in west Baghdad, a project that will double its size. The project is about 30 percent complete. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thifaf Al Neel School -- near the Baghdad International Airport in the Al Bayaa Beladiya neighborhood -- is being doubled in size, said Maj. Clark Johnson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the...

After leaving a ceremony to reopen the Al Aflaph Elementary School in Salhiyah, Capt. Joseph Guzowski, left, the commander of Troop A, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and Staff Sgt. Justin Miller, stop to play a game of foosball with some of the local children. Photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — One of the biggest changes that Capt. Joseph Guzowski has seen since his last deployment here three years ago is the dramatic transformation of the relationships between Coalition forces and the local...

BAGHDAD — For the second time in a little more than a month, the partnership between the Kindi Neighborhood Advisory Council and the Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment’s Company E, has led to another school being opened in the area. After opening the Waoud Kindergarten in July, the Andalas School, which will serve as a middle and secondary school, was opened Aug. 26. The project, which took nearly two months to complete, was one of the first that Co. E, which is attached to the 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,...

Huda, 4, makes last minute decorations before the grand re-opening ceremony of the Waoud Kindergarten School in Baghdad July 22. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kap Kim, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Waoud kindergartners, 4-year-old Huda and her sister, 6-year-old Sara, waited all day in their fancy dresses and stood in the Baghdad heat to perform the most important duty they’d ever faced: their job was to carry a small pair of scissors that would be used for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at their newly, renovated school. On break from school, she showed up with...

School receives much-needed structural repairs. BAGHDAD, July 30, 2007 — Waoud kindergartners, 4-year-old Huda and her sister, 6-year-old Sara, waited all day in their fancy dresses and stood in the Baghdad heat to perform the most important duty they’d ever faced. Their job was to carry a small pair of scissors that would be used for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at their newly, renovated school. "The renovations make us all very happy especially the furniture and the color; it’s a happy color." Batool Shaker The school’s vice headmistress On break from school, Sara showed up with her mother, one of the...

Charles Lingerfelt and Don English established a New "Kurdish American School" in Kurdistan- Northern Iraq- in the Fall of 2006. They are teaching English as "a second language" to young college-level and young adult Kurdish Students. Also, they're teaching Government, Democracy and Democratic principles. They are returning on September 1, 2007, for the Fall Quarter 2007. For further Info: contact Charles at: Charles_Lingerfelt@hotmail.com

Minnesota Soldiers Build School, Business in Southern Iraq Village children had no school available since before 2003. By Spc. Brian D. Jesness13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)Logistical Support Area Anaconda Public Affairs BALAD, Iraq, June 4, 2007 — Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers opened a new school and a truck stop with a restaurant, May 10, in the village of Um Eneej in southern Iraq. "We insisted the contractor hire local help. He had to hire at least 10 [local] workers, and he hired 20."U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Sarvi “The village elders told us a school was the most...

GEORGETOWN, Pa. (AP) - The number of dead from Monday's Amish schoolhouse shooting could soon rise by one more. A county coroner and a doctor who serves Amish children says it appears that one of the survivors is being taken off life-support and taken home to die. Meantime, the other survivors remain hospitalized and continue to fight their injuries. In Monday's attack, the gunmen sent the adults and boys out and bound the ten remaining girls at the blackboard. He was in the school for about an hour before he shot his hostages and turned the gun on himself as...

My husband and I live in Lancaster County and have of course been following the news of the school house shooting tragedy over the past few days. Friends from around the country have been in contact with us, wanting to know where they can send letters of condolence and contributions to the families of the young victims. I originally had very mixed emotions about contributing to a fund to defray the families’ transportation and medical expenses. The Amish do not believe in insurance of any kind, so surely do not have the means to pay for what will no doubt...

KARABILAH, Iraq (July 7, 2006) -- Thanks to the work of Marines and Iraqi Security Forces, 800 elementary-aged girls will now have a school to attend this fall. Marines from 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment unveiled a brand-new grade school in this city of about 30,000 on the Iraq-Syria border in western Al Anbar Province July 7. About one week before its opening, insurgents planted an improvised explosive device inside the school which would have leveled a good portion of the building, destroying nearly three months of work by Marines and locals, said Gunnery Sgt. Joseph S. Mallicoat, team leader...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 25 — Enrollment in Iraqi schools has risen every year since the American invasion, according to Iraqi government figures, reversing more than a decade of declines and offering evidence of increased prosperity for some Iraqis. Despite the violence that has plagued Iraq since the American occupation began three years ago, its schools have been quietly filling. The number of children enrolled in schools nationwide rose by 7.4 percent from 2002 to 2005, and in middle schools and high schools by 27 percent in that time, according to figures from the Ministry of Education. The increase, which has...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, May 9, 2006) – Recent school renovations have Sadr City children learning in new environments. Among the schools getting makeovers was the Mustafa School, which serves 930 high school students in the morning and 430 elementary students in the afternoon. The $290,000 project included 300 new interior lights, 55 ceiling fans, 11 window air conditioners, 300 square meters of new concrete playground surface, remodeling of restrooms, roof repair, raising the perimeter security wall one meter, repairing all broken glass and installing a steel mesh to protect all exterior windows, painting all interior and exterior walls,...

A boy holding his gift of school supplies salutes, as his classmates express their thanks for the donated supplies after a ceremony to celebrate the completion of renovations at Al Hudaybiya Elementary School in Bakaria, of the Gazaliyah neighborhood, located southwest of Baghdad, April 23, 2006. The supplies were donated by the Family Readiness Group of Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Rodney Foliente Community Celebrates Bakaria School Renovation Local contractors were selected for the renovation project, funded by the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment commander's emergency relief fund....

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2006 – Community members welcomed a new playground for the children of the Al Shrooq primary and secondary school in Taji, Iraq, April 19. Iraqi children from the Al Shrooq primary and secondary school, in Taji, Iraq, help disperse gravel April 19 at the new playground donated by Iraqi and U.S. companies. Iraqi army and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers, along with children at the school, pitched in to help make the school a better place. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Hunt, USA   The playground was a result of hard work and determination by a combined...

U.S. Army Maj. Rhonda A. Keisman (second from right) checks the progress of Iraq's Muqdadiyah Technical School. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Cassandra Groce Iraq's Diyala Province Schools Get a Makeover A U.S. Army civil affairs team and Iraqi engineers monitor reconstruction work on three schools, ensuring the contractors meet the necessary requirements. By U.S. Army Pfc. Cassandra Groce 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment MUQDADIYAH, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2006 — Through the efforts of Iraqi locals and coalition forces, the schools in Iraq's Diyala Province are getting a makeover. "The goal is to turn the projects over to the...

MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 15, 2006 — Teachers and students of the Alabed Middle School in the Palestine neighborhood of Mosul gratefully accepted donated school supplies from the local Iraqi police Feb. 15. The Iraqi police, along with coalition forces, participated in the Operation Iraqi Children effort, bringing much needed school supplies to the children. "This is one of the largest supply operations that has been put together to support school children." U.S. Army Maj. Roy A. Outcelt Maj. Fallah, police station chief, Southeast 6, and his police officers took time out from their daily routines to present the supplies to...

The newly constructed Kovak Primary School sits on a prominent hillside overlooking the entry gate to the city of Dohuk, Iraq. Photo by Derek Walker, Gulf Region North, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Primary School Will Help Mold Iraq's Future School is now complete and ready to house 36 teachers and about 825 students. By Claude D. McKinney Gulf Region North, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers DAHUK, Iraq, Jan. 11, 2006 — Within a community, the activities occurring in two specialized types of buildings hold great sway and influence for the residents of the community – they are...

CAMP LEMONIER, DJIBOUTI – Pointing to his computer screen, Maj. Gen. Timothy Ghormley sounds more like a Peace Corps volunteer showing off holiday photos than the shaven-headed US Marine entrusted with defeating Al Qaeda in East Africa. "That's what it's about right there," he says, stabbing his eyeglasses at the pictures of African children celebrating as water gushes from a new well. "Look at those kids. They're gonna remember this. In 25 years they'll say, 'I remember the West - they were good.' " In 2002, more than 1,500 US troops were sent to this former French colony in East...

Iraqi school children give their unanimous approval as 48th Brigade Combat Team soldiers delivered desks and school supplies to the Nor Al Ukem School. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Britt Smith Soldiers Build and Deliver School Desks Desks will enable students to have their own seat rather than sitting two or three to a desk By Staff Sgt. Britt Smith 48th Brigade Combat Team CAMP ADDER, An Nasiriyah, Iraq, Dec. 16, 2005 — In an effort to make learning a little more comfortable for local school children, the Civil Affairs soldiers from the 48th Brigade Combat Team recently...

MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2005 – Whether the key to a bright future for a country is to educate the children of the present will be tested in northern Iraq over the next generation, based on the work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region North. The 324 schools renovated in Iraq's seven northern provinces under the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund will benefit 42,000 students. All but nine of the schools are completed, and only one of those will not be finished by the end of January, officials said. Officials also noted that under the Commanders Emergency...

QALAT, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Dec. 9, 2005) – A new building to house a girl’s school opened Nov. 21 in downtown Qalat, Afghanistan, thanks to service members of the Provincial Reconstruction Team. “For the past few months the girls have been having classes in tents and are very excited to finally have a real school building,” said Air Force 1st. Lt. Ethan Haynes, general engineer, 37th Civil Engineer Squadron. In Qalat, located northeast of Kandahar in the Zabul Province, members of the PRT also added a basketball court to the school grounds for the girls, said Haynes. As the...

An employee of the Ninewa Middle School for Girls assits members of the 401st Civil Affairs Unit deliver school supplies in the Al-Faisaliya neighborhood Mosul, Iraq, Nov. 29, 2005. The supplies were provided by Operation Iraqi Children. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Clydell Kinchen Iraqi Girls’ School Receives Needed Supplies Iraqi security forces, along with the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion, provided security for the delivery of the supplies. By Multinational Force-Iraq MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 2, 2005 — The Ninewa Middle School for girls in the Al-Faisaliya neighborhood in Mosul accepted school necessities from Operation Iraqi Children Nov. 29. "The...

WESTERN NINEWA PROVINCE, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 23, 2005.) -- Seconds after Col. H.R. McMaster stepped out of his helicopter, the thumping hum of rotating blades became a whisper as the sounds of festive drum beating and blaring horns filled the air in the background outside the village of Tall Qussab, Iraq. Walking toward musicians, McMaster, who commands the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, instantly found himself mobbed by dozens of school-aged children waving Iraqi flags and cheering. After patting several heads and shaking hands with the children, he was finally near the objective of his visit – an Iraqi...

"In a small dusty classroom, dirty with mold but brightened by a red plastic flower in a vase, English teacher Azhar Hashim tells a student practicing the words "I'm from Iraq," to raise his voice when he says that. "We all have to be proud of our country," she says, her black dress stained white with chalk. In the next room, Thanaa Mohamed asks her students to describe the rights of Iraqi citizens. "Equality and freedom," answers 12-year-old Jiwan Arasin. "Who can define equality?" Mohamed asks. "All people were born free," answers Esraa Jabbar. And freedom? "To express your opinion...

TALL AFAR, Iraq, Oct. 11, 2005 — Coalition commanders and 14 headmasters of area schools met Oct. 6 to discuss and coordinate the clean-up, repair and opening of schools here. "As you look around this room, you can see that whether you are Sunni, Shiite, Turkmen or Kurd, you all agree on your children, your future," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Gibson, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. "We hope we can leave those schools as soon as possible but we do not want to do so too early and allow the criminals...

Students at the Gilgamish Primary Girls School proudly show off their new backpacks. U.S. soldiers from C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment and Iraqi Security Forces from the 3rd Public Order Brigade gave bags filled with crayons, pencils, writing tablets and other school necessities to 280 students at the school located near the Salman Pak district in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 21, 2005. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Adam Harris U.S., Iraqi Forces Deliver Donated School Supplies U.S. and Iraqi forces deliver school supplies to the Gilgamish Primary Girls School;the supplies were donated by the Poland School District...

The London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat has published a report by Huda Jasim on changes made to Iraqi schoolbooks following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. The new schoolbooks will be introduced with the start of the 2005/6 school year in September. According to the report, the Iraqi education minister formed a committee of senior educators and specialists to reexamine the country's school curricula for the new Iraq. The committee proposed substantial changes to be made to the school textbooks, with the aim of completely eradicating the Saddam personality cult and placing considerably less emphasis on the Ba'th Party than...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 10, 2005) – Iraqi and U.S. government officials announced Aug. 6 that contracts have been awarded for the renovation of 43 Iraqi schools. As part of the Iraq Relief Reconstruction Fund, more than $1.3 million has been set aside to continue a nationwide school repair program. The renovations, scheduled to take about six weeks, will be complete just in time to allow approximately 18,000 Iraqi school children to attend refurbished schools this school year. Repairs include rehabilitating sanitary facilities, and electrical and mechanical systems, as well as structural repairs to schools in Karbala, Dahuk,...

Baghdad, Iraq—Slightly more than six weeks from now, approximately 18,000 Iraqi school children will sit in freshly refurbished schools when their new school year starts. A team of Iraqi and U.S. government entities announce today that renovations of 43 schools in the northern and southern governorates are funded for repairs, with contracts awarded for the work. As part of the Iraq Relief Reconstruction Fund, over $1.3M was set aside to continue a nationwide school repair program. Repairs include rehabilitating sanitary facilities, and electrical and mechanical systems, as well as structural repairs to schools in Karbala, Dahuk, Najaf, Basrah, and Qadisiyah....

Amid the danger for U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq there's also plenty of hope: The American mission includes reconstruction projects that are revitalizing parts of Iraqi society, especially the schools. Iraqi schoolchildren are eager to learn, and many people say the country's school system is one of the bright spots in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion two years ago. But there is still much to do. Most of Iraq's schools are still run down and out of date. According to the Ministry of Education, 5,000 additional schools are needed, and repairs are required at 80 percent of existing...

BAGHDAD, Iraq-- After years of sending their children to badly neglected, rundown, and outdated schools, the parents of school-aged children in Sadr City are finding hope. Through the combined efforts of the Iraqi Ministry of Education and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the renovation of thirty neighborhood schools will be completed by mid-February 2005. According to Travis Lynch, USACE project engineer, “Plans are in place to rekindle the country’s aging educational buildings.” New metal, concrete, and masonry security fences, roof repairs, gutters, foundations, and exterior walls are at the top of the schools’ repair lists. “Interior work includes...

During a routine mission Saturday in northwestern Iraq, soldiers with the 14th Cavalry, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division popped into a remote school and handed out 150 backpacks and toothbrushes. The visit was a spur-of-the-moment stop for the Stryker Brigade Combat Team members aimed at helping a school that troops haven’t visited in a year, said Maj. Brian Grady, with Company B of the 448th Civil Affairs Battalion. Soldiers piled up backpacks filled with school supplies and warnings about unexploded ordnance on the ramps of two Strykers while soldiers and translators asked the school principal to let the children out...

  Operation Virtual Pencil a By U.S. Army Spc. Al Barrus / 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 15, 2004 — As soldiers pulled up to the gates of a primary school in Al Hateen, children and parents gathered with bright eyes. The soldiers dismounted and gathered at the back of a vehicle, from which they unloaded pallets holding gifts for the children at the school: backpacks for every student without one.The soldiers, assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division's Battery C, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, were taking part in a program dubbed Operation Virtual Pencil....

Soldiers from the 133rd Engineer Battalion are working on a series of projects in the rural village of Hamzan in northern Iraq. The National Guard Soldiers from Belfast, Maine, replaced the village’s small mud schoolhouse with a concrete structure. The new school has three classrooms with plumbing and electricity. As part of an initiative to train former Peshmerga fighters to learn construction skills, the engineers worked with nine former fighters to train them in masonry and carpentry skills during the construction of the school. In addition to rebuilding the village school, the engineers brought in a 20,000-liter water tank and...

AL KABANI, Iraq (Aug. 29, 2004) -- Marines put aside their rifles and broke out their rulers Aug. 26, 2004, as they checked up on one of their investments in Iraq's future by paying a visit to a small local elementary school. The Marines, reservists from the 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, wanted to see the harvest of more than $5,500 they gave the Iraqi government to spend on making improvements to a school in Al Kabani, a fishing village near Camp Taqaddum. Purchasing the school supplies was part of an ongoing effort by the unit aimed at improving the...

AL KALADIYAH, Iraq(June 9, 2004) -- Children from Al Kaladiyah will now have more of a reason to attend school thanks to the Marines from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment's Civil Affair Group. The civil affairs team delivered pallets of bottled water, toys, clothes and school supplies donated by Spirit of America, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization. What the kids like most, though, was the playground equipment for the children Marines began to install. Where there was once a barren dirt lot, now stands the fancy of every Iraqi child. Inside the school playground stood a set of monkey bars,...

  Infantry 'Spartans' Deliver Supplies to Girls' School By Cpl. Benjamin Cossel, USASpecial to American Forces Press Service Baghdad, Iraq, April 2, 2004 – Students of the city's 14th of July Girls' School received an unexpected gift when soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, handed out 500 backpacks loaded with school supplies, candy and other items. Students from the 14th of July Girls' School in Baghdad look over the contents of backpacks donated by soldiers from 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. Located in the Rusafa district of...

Al Fayha School Celebrates Completed Renovations MOSUL, Iraq - The children enrolled at the Al Fayha School in eastern Mosul smiled, danced and clapped as they celebrated the completion of their school's much needed renovation with visitors from Task Force Olympia who played a role in organizing the renovations. Yazi Sulaiman, Al Fayha's headmaster, said the students are very pleased with their new surroundings and that even though there have been many new people from the Coalition forces around, they have worked hard and done well on their latest exams. Having coalition Soldiers in the school "has taught my...