Kids meet American heroes at Waterloo museum
'Veterans Day' is every Wednesday as veterans, Museum School kids come together
WATERLOO — Psst. Here’s something not many folks know: Kids love veterans and veterans love kids.
If you find that hard to believe, come to Waterloo’s Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum between 10 a.m. and noon every Wednesday.
And believe.
You’ll see a large flock of third graders from local elementary schools interacting with dozens of veterans like they’re rock stars or superheroes. It’s a thrill for the kids and gratifying for the veterans. The kids are in touch with living history and it gives the veterans hope for the future.
The veteran-student interaction is now a regular part of the Museum School program for third graders at the Grout Museum District, explained Benjamin Miller, director of education at the Grout.
“This program has truly become one of our favorite changes we’ve made to Museum School and the feedback we’ve received from teachers and the veterans has been overwhelmingly positive,” Miller said. “Having the chance for kids to interact and talk with veterans is incredibly impactful and we are proud that we are able to facilitate that within Museum School.”
The happy confluence of young and old was born out of adversity, as Grout staff, veterans and the kids’ teachers rose to the occasion to surmount some challenges of finances and physical facilities facing the museum district to still provide the students with a meaningful experience.
The Sullivan Brothers museum, an addition to the Grout Museum District, is named for five Waterloo brothers killed in World War II but dedicated to telling the story of the service and sacrifice of all Iowa veterans. It has hosted free veterans coffees every Wednesday since the addition was built in 2008. Attendance has grown from about a half dozen veterans to a solid 50 veterans every week of all eras and branches of service, dating back to the Korean War.
It’s a relaxed environment for veterans to interact, have some fellowship and hear about upcoming veteran-related activities. Counselors and local veteran clinic representatives are on hand to address individual concerns.
The Grout also has hosted Museum School for third graders in various schools and school districts in the Cedar Valley and Northeast Iowa for about 25 years. Each school’s third graders spend a week learning about the Grout’s various history and science exhibits and programs.
Kids and veterans have mingled informally from time to time as the children worked their way through the museum’s various offerings. Individual teachers, like Kelly Sullivan, who teaches third grade at Lincoln Elementary School in Cedar Falls — and is the granddaughter and grandniece of the museum’s namesake Waterloo’s five Sullivan brothers — made it a point for her students to meet with the veterans coffee attendees and present them with greeting cards thanking them for their service.
Now, however the museum has been more intentional in making kids’ interaction with veterans a regular part of Museum School.
“We began integrating Museum School with Vets Coffee this year after receiving requests from the veterans to be part of Museum School in some capacity,” Grout education director Miller said.
“After having discussions with Kelly Sullivan about which ways we could do that effectively, we ended up developing our Veterans Cards program,” Miller said. “At the beginning of each Wednesday, the students attending Museum School learn about what a veteran is, the sacrifices they make, why veterans are important, and how the museum serves veterans. The students then each make a card for a veteran. They write messages to the veteran thanking them for their service and decorate the cards as well.
“Afterwards, we take them down to vets coffee with their cards where they get to pass out their card to a veteran and ask them questions,” Miller said. “In exchange for the cards, the veterans pass out American flags for each student.”
The students and the veterans also recite the Pledge of Allegiance together and also pose for a group picture.
Roger Pease, a 95-year-old U.S. Navy Korean War veteran from Cedar Falls, came up with the idea for the veterans to hand out flags to the kids. In fact, he paid for the first 600 out of his own pocket. The veterans wanted to have something to give the kids in exchange for the cards, and Pease reasoned there was nothing better than an American flag.
“It makes me feel great and I think this adds a little patriotism to their life, in addition to saying the Pledge of Allegiance with us and visiting the museum,” Pease said.
Others thought it was a great idea and followed Pease’s lead. He also gave a persuasive nudge to others to match his gesture. Metro area plumbing and heating contractor and developer Rick Young and Cedar Falls Robert Hibbs Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3896 also paid for additional flags.
There’s no virtue like necessity, the saying goes, and integrating the veterans coffee into the Museum School programming was born out of a couple of challenges.
First, the Grout’s Bluedorn Science Imaginarium building permanently closed Oct. 4, due to prohibitively expensive maintenance costs with the 60-year-old former bank building which housed it. Many of those hands-on science displays are now being moved into the main museum building. Funds are being raised to renovate a part of the building to accommodate them.
Also, the Grout is facing the potential phaseout and loss of a special “cultural and scientific” property tax levy the voters of Waterloo approved in 2015 to finance museum operations. It makes up 40 percent of the Grout Museum District operating budget. The museum stands to lose the levy, or see it phased out, as an indirect victim of collateral damage from the Iowa Legislature’s property tax reform initiatives.
Consequently, the Grout has had to constrain its programs to the main museum building and rethink and “re-imagine” the Museum School curriculum.
And where one door quite literally closed, another opened.
Kids attending the vets coffees also get to see special events held in conjunction with them, such as a recent Quilts of Valor presentation to a group of vets by the local chapter of that national organization.
According to its website, Quilts of Valor was founded in 2003 by the mother of an Iraq war veteran moved by the plight of one of his comrades. It’s a nonprofit organization that aims to honor and comfort military service members and veterans by awarding them with handmade quilts, created as a symbol of gratitude for their bravery and sacrifice while serving the country.
But the biggest reward the veterans get from having the Museum School kids at their coffee is the big “THANK YOU!” the kids tell them in unison.
And the kids get a booming “Thank YOU!” back from the vets.
Grout Museum District executive director Margaret Moye says it costs about $60 per student to put on Museum School and the district is seeking sponsorships and donations from businesses, institutions and individuals to sponsor Museum School and support the district’s other offerings.
More information may be obtained by calling the museum district at (319) 234-6357, by email at info@gmdistrict.org or visiting the district website, groutmuseumdistrict.org, or by clicking on the link here.
Pat Kinney is a freelance writer and former longtime news staffer with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and, prior to that, several years at the Ames Tribune. He is currently an oral historian with the Grout Museum District in Waterloo. His “View from the Cedar Valley” column is part of “Iowa Writers Collaborative,” a collection of news and opinion writers from around the state who previously and currently work with a host of Iowa newspapers, news organizations and other publications. They are listed here. Clink on their individual links to check them out, subscribe for free - and, if you believe in the value of quality journalism, support this column and/or any of theirs with a paid subscription. Thank you.
The Iowa legislature really has done so many horrible things, re: "Also, the Grout is facing the potential phaseout and loss of a special “cultural and scientific” property tax levy the voters of Waterloo approved in 2015 to finance museum operations. It makes up 40 percent of the Grout Museum District operating budget. The museum stands to lose the levy, or see it phased out, as an indirect victim of collateral damage from the Iowa Legislature’s property tax reform initiatives."
Or St Ed’s in Waterloo. I’ve heard it both ways. https://cvcatholic.org/photoalbums/st-edward-students