Jason Cata’s fourth-grade class looks at the flag they created in honor of the tragic events of Sept.11. The flag hangs in the main hallway of South River Elementary School.
SOUTH RIVER — The 28 students in Jason Cata’s fourth-grade class have learned valuable lessons about mathematics, social studies and patriotism simply by creating an American flag.
The flag, which hangs in the main hallway of South River Elementary School, is made of ordinary construction paper and glue. But to the students, as with all Americans in the days since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the flag means much more.
Cata’s class has named their flag, "The Us Flag." They feel this brings their school together as a community to take pride in their flag and their country. Each teacher in the school was given a star to write his or her class’s name on, so it could be added to the flag.
"This very flag will represent the things it always has, and forever will, but this particular flag will represent us as a school as well," Cata said in a statement posted next to the flag.
Cata was able to incorporate math lessons, while the students re-created the flag that was already hanging in their classroom. He showed them how to measure the length of the stripes, the size of the stars and the blue background in order to make the larger flag proportional to the standard flags.
Cata said he also discussed the different names for the flag, such as "Old Glory" and "Stars and Stripes."
He told the class about the symbolism of the American flag, and how the 13 stripes of the flag represent the original 13 colonies of the United States — and, of course, the 50 stars representing each individual state. They were told about the colors of the flag and what each one stands for as well.
In his statement, Cata said, "Students found that while looking at and constructing the flag, they had feelings of safety, friendship, love and patriotism."
As we now fight to defend our freedom, many Americans have had surges of these same emotions.
Cata and his fourth-grade class have shown that these emotions can continue to be passed on from generation to generation as the flag flies high.