A group of Smoketree Elementary fourth-grade students arrived to class Monday to find the room empty of all desks, chairs, school supplies and textbooks.

WWII Veterans Leo Arsenault and Ace Johnson answer questions asked by Smoketree Elementary fourth-grade students Monday afternoon. The two men were invited to the classroom in honor of Veteran's Day, in which the children also sang a song to show their thankfullness to the Veterans. Jillian Danielson Photo/Special to News-Herald

“It was awesome. When students came in, in the morning, all desks and chairs were removed from the room,” said Mrs. Bridget Hagest, fourth-grade teacher at Smoketree.

Hagest instructed students to be seated on the floor and to answer the two prompt questions she had written on the board.

“I asked them, ‘If you could thank two people for your education, who would it be?’ and I asked them ‘Who do you think paid for the desks and chairs you sit in and what did they pay with?’ It was interesting because I didn’t say anything about much more than that,” Hagest said.

As the students mulled over the questions, Hagest overheard students discussing that the desks and chairs must have been removed because there is no more money for the school since the override didn’t pass.

During the lunch break, Hagest wrote the youngsters’ answers on the board.

“For the first question, they thanked me, the principle and their parents for their education,” Hagest said. “For the second question, they said the teacher and the principle paid for the desks with ‘cash’ and our own money. One student said taxes — which was awesome — and one child said the school district,” she said.

The true lesson came to light about 1 p.m. when two local WWII veterans arrived to the class, each pushing a desk in front of them.

“I have some gentlemen here who paid for desks, but didn’t pay with money,” Hagest told the class of fourth-graders. “These veterans paid the price with their service to the country, so you could have the freedom to get an education. So don’t ever forget that.”

The living history lesson was presented by local veterans Ace Johnson, U.S. Air Force, and Leo Arsenault, U.S. Marine Corps.

Hagest said the presentation was a lesson on appreciation of Veterans Day. That is not just a day off of school for kids to go to the park. It is a day to appreciate the price soldiers have paid for freedom.

“It was amazing to listen to these real life stories. It was pretty powerful,” Hagest said. The veteran lesson is the first of its kind in Hagest’s classroom, however she intends on bringing it back in a year or two in order to not spoil the surprise of why all the desks are removed.

As a thank you, the class sang a song for the veterans, which they had practiced before a Patriot Days field trip to the traveling Vietnam wall in September.

The song is spin off of rock band Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, Hagest said.

“We changed the lyrics to ‘we will thank you’ and sang it again (Monday). The veterans loved it,” she said.

“Veterans Day comes and goes, but kids don’t really know what the day off is for,” Hagest said. “I really do think that years from now this (lesson) will stick in (the students’) minds. It will be something they can remember for a long time.”

Hagest has been teaching fourth grade at Smoketree for five years.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.