What began as an overcast Wednesday turned into a beautiful day for the Hillcrest Elementary School Olympics, a yearly event that gets teachers and students involved in end of the school year festivities.

Just about all class work is finished before this last week of school, so time is used to have fun and do all the things they wish they could do the rest of the year. On June 15, 13 volunteers from Patrol and Members of Reconnaissance Wing 10 and Patrol Squadron One (VP-1) showed up to lend a hand to help make the day a major success through the Partners In Education program. The program is designed to involve local military servicemembers with the Oak Harbor School District and provide positive role models to elementary school children.

Among the week’s attractions are a movie time “campout” in one classroom and various other fun activities, the highlight of which is the midweek “Olympics” which consists of a variety of team games and relay challenges.

This is the second year that volunteers from Wing 10 have run the events, and many of them are looking forward to the next school year.

One event, overseen this year by Aviation Warfare Specialist Second Class (AW) Rachel Stuart, was the “sit ‘n’ pop,” where students run with a balloon from the starting point to a folding chair 30 feet away and sit on the balloon to pop it, then run back to the start to tag the next runner.

“It’s a lot of fun to watch these kids running around, having such a good time, but the best part of this event is the surprised look on their faces when the balloon pops,” Stuart said.

Over the last few years, Wing 10 and several squadrons within the Wing have been volunteering at the school on a regular basis, but the “Olympics” is a great opportunity for the folks that don’t get the chance to help out regularly to join the fun.

Principal Laura Aesoph praised Wing 10 and VP-1 for their participation. “They come and set everything up and have fun,” she said. “This is a great way for the military folks to volunteer. Anyone can come out and help, and we love having them here.”

She added that aside from the big Tug-O-War event at the end of the day that everybody gets a ribbon and a popsicle.

Asked what the best part of the day is for the kids, fifth grade teacher Harry Toulgoat huddled with several of his students and said, “It’s warm out, it gets them out of schoolwork for the day, and they have a great time playing and competing with each other.”

One of the principles he teaches in his class has even become the class word: “perseverance.” He often uses the adventures of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, who brought home every member of his crew when his ship was crushed in the Antarctic ice.

One of the best parts for the teachers was the rubber chicken relay overseen by Aviation Electrician’s Mate Second Class (NAC) Kevin Hamblin. After receiving an anonymous request to help wear out the kids for the afternoon, he helped out by lengthening the relay and modifying it to resemble ladder runs.

Hamblin laughed about the request. “It’s a good thing they’re so young, so they can have fun with this one,” he said. “They probably won’t recognize the ladder run until they hit high school sports.”

Kitty Broderson, a fourth grade teacher in her fifth year at Hillcrest said she loves it when Wing 10 comes to help with this event.

“The military seems to organize themselves very well, and makes it really easy for the kids to have a great time with so many events...and for the teachers to be able to relax a little bit,” she said.

Chief Aviation Warfare Specialist (AW) Ronald Williams worked hard to organize volunteers from the Wing, and was pleased with how the event turned out.

“I really like bringing the Navy guys out here,” he said. “It’s awesome to be a positive role model, and have so many kids look up to us. It makes me strive to live up the hero that these kids see in us.”