{"id":335974,"date":"2024-12-19T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=335974"},"modified":"2024-12-20T18:30:24","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T18:30:24","slug":"sharing-holiday-traditions-1st-cavalry-division-visits-local-polish-school-in-wysoka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=335974","title":{"rendered":"Sharing holiday traditions, 1st Cavalry Division visits local Polish school in Wysoka"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Chaplain (Cpt.) Aaron Means, chaplain of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, engages with Polish teachers during a school visit in Wysoka, Poland, Dec. 19, 2024. Engaging with students in local schools across Europe during a rotation allows soldiers to learn about the culture and history of the host nation. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jasmine McCarthy)
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\n Spc. Katarzyna Roguska, a network communication systems specialist and Polish-American with Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, explains about the history of the stetson with local students during a school visit in Wysoka, Poland, Dec. 19, 2024. Engaging with students in local schools across Europe during a rotation allows soldiers to learn about the culture and history of the host nation. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jasmine McCarthy)
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\n Troopers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, enjoy a slice of Polish cake during a school visit in Wysoka, Poland, Dec. 19, 2024. Engaging with students in local schools across Europe during a rotation allows soldiers to learn about the culture and history of the host nation. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jasmine McCarthy)
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\n Polish students sing local Christmas carols for 1st Cavalry Division troopers during a school visit in Wysoka, Poland, Dec. 19, 2024. Engaging with students in local schools across Europe during a rotation allows soldiers to learn about the culture and history of the host nation. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jasmine McCarthy)
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\n Troopers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, pose with a local student during a school visit in Wysoka, Poland, Dec. 19, 2024. Engaging with students in local schools across Europe during a rotation allows soldiers to learn about the culture and history of the host nation. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jasmine McCarthy)
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\n Troopers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, pose for a photo in front of a school during a visit in Wysoka, Poland, Dec. 19, 2024. Engaging with students in local schools across Europe during a rotation allows soldiers to learn about the culture and history of the host nation. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jasmine McCarthy)
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WYSOKA, Poland \u2013 There are several towns in Poland with the name Wysoka, which roughly translates to high or noble, but in a small village 50 minutes away from the nearest U.S. Forward Operating Site, lies a small public primary school named after W\u0142adys\u0142aw Stanis\u0142aw Reymont, a Polish novelist and Nobel Prize winner in literature. Chaplain (Cpt.) Aaron Means, the battalion chaplain for Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, was invited with 10 volunteers to visit the local school Dec. 20, 2024, where they interacted with the students sharing their culture and Christmas traditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are having a community engagement, with really, a group of all ages from the ages 5 to 14,\u201d said Means, an Ohio native. \u201cThey just want to interact with us, share some of their culture, and ask us questions from something as simple as do we have siblings or how many pets we have to what we do in the Army.\u201d<\/p>\n

Means previously served in an inner-city mission for several years, before he chose to leave the ministry for personal reasons. After much deliberation and prayer, he was encouraged to go back to the ministry by his wife and he became an Army Chaplain in January 2018. This is his first time ever doing a school engagement, especially in a foreign country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was rewarding for me to see all the kids, to see the smiles and the waves. They were very loving and excited to see us,\u201d said Means. \u201cBut at the same time, I don\u2019t think they know how much I got touched just hearing them singing Christmas carols. Even though I couldn\u2019t understand the language, I could feel the spirit of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the 10 volunteers was Spc. Katarzyna Roguska, a network communication systems specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division and a Polish native. Roguska came to the United States in 2006 where she eventually became a naturalized citizen and joined the active-duty Army from the reserve in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s visit is full of emotions, being Polish,\u201d said Roguska. \u201cIt reminds me of the time when I was in school, when we were preparing for Christmas time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming to the school brought back many fond memories of her time growing up in her homeland. At the same time, Roguska feels there is value in visiting the school for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can exchange our experiences with Polish and American culture, and how we are celebrating Christmas and preparing for the holiday season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The visit consisted of a Christmas carol concert performed by the students, free time with the soldiers, and a sweet break of cake and tea with the village elders and teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalking with some of the teachers and leaders, they live for it,\u201d said Means. \u201cThe next person who is replacing me here, I\u2019ll make sure I share their contact information so we can continue this because they enjoy it, and I think the soldiers would get a lot. It\u2019s a moral booster, really.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Chaplain (Cpt.) Aaron Means, chaplain of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, engages with Polish teachers during a school visit in Wysoka, Poland, Dec. 19, 2024. Engaging with students in local schools across Europe during a rotation allows soldiers to learn about the culture and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335976,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-335974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=335974"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335983,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335974\/revisions\/335983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/335976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=335974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=335974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=335974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}