Kindergartener Camilo Orta stretched his arms up into the air and clung onto the tan painted side rails of the old Army Humvee, struggling to pull himself into the back of the vehicle as his peers ran around the stationary vehicle during the “Day in the Life of the Soldier” event at Jackson Elementary School Friday.

Hundreds of kids fled to the Humvee during the day, eager to sit in the driver’s seat and spin the steering wheel. Scattered on the ground surrounding the Humvee were display pieces from Don F. Pratt Museum including historically accurate dummy weapons, military uniforms and equipment.

“The truck is probably my favorite thing,” Orta said. “But I can see the bouncy castles from here and I am so, so excited.”

Jonathon Willis, a teacher at Jackson, said to celebrate the Month of the Military Child the school committee decided to put together this “Day in the Life of the Soldier” an event to help students understand what their parents do at work, but also to honor the children’s service to the Army mission.

“We want to give the kids a feel of what their moms and dads so, but we also wanted to make it a really fun experience for them,” he said. “So we’ve got tents, cots, MRE’s, Humvees and obstacle courses. We are also making dog tags for the students. This is really just a day to show that we are appreciative of all of the kids and we understand what they mean to the military.”

In addition to the materials provided by the museum, Sgt. Ryan Porter, 21st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, set up his own tent for the children to play in and brought a complete chemical warfare uniform.

“I tried on lots of the clothes,” Orta said. “But they were all too big on me.”

Michele Emmanuel, a parent-volunteer at Jackson, worked the photo booth at the event while her daughter Ariel, visited each station with her kindergarten class.

“The kids are having a blast out here,” Emmanuel said. “I don’t think the kids knew what to expect because they didn’t know what we had planned. They’ve been having so much fun playing on the vehicle and trying on all of the clothes.”

Amongst all of the activities the bounce houses seemed to be the crowd favorite for the children, Emmanuel said. Adding that it was important for the event to have some fun elements to it to celebrate military children.

“The children are in the military too,” she said. “They get the whole experience when their mom or dad isn’t here – they’re deployed, out in the field or at JRTC – it’s important to let them know that we recognize them and their role in this whole Army Family. I think they appreciate that we recognize their sacrifice and we care about them enough to dedicate a whole month to them.”

Emmanuel said the children also seemed to enjoy interacting with the military equipment and role playing with the uniforms.

“Most of them will probably never have the chance to sit in the back of a Humvee like that, hold the old weapons or play with the dummy grenades,” she said. “So this is a fun experience for them that will stick with them for a lifetime.”

Vice Principal April Ennis said this event was a good opportunity for students to better understand what their parents do on a daily basis.

“I wanted the children to learn a little about what their mom or dad might do while they are gone – the things they wear or the things they might eat. The vehicles they are in when they are gone and even the training they go through,” Ennis said.

From an educator’s perspective, she said, it is important to not only celebrate military children, but to consistently support them.

“The children go through a lot as they are transitioning through their lives,” she said. “With the deployment rate we have, a lot of them will lose a parent for 12 to 15 months at a time, then they will be home for a short stint and be gone again.”

Ennis said constant deployments can have a negative impact on a student’s academic career.

“Without the right support system it can be very difficult,” she said. “But our teachers are really great. They are trained to understand the kids when they become upset. We also have a military Family life consultant who is here to help Families coping with deployment, reintegration and divorce.”

Ennis said the consultant works with students to help them cope with their emotions while continuing to maintain good grades.

“We try to support the children in all areas – mentally, emotionally and physically – to keep them healthy.” Porter, a father of three, agreed transitions and deployments can be strenuous on military children, but it also forces children to be outgoing and to experience new cultures.

“One of my sons has been in five schools already and he’s only in the third grade,” he said. “But military kids are exposed to so many different cultures, because the Army is one big melting pot of so many different kinds of Soldiers. The kids gain experiences they may not have had otherwise.”

Porter, who was responsible for overseeing the Humvee station during the event, also supervised the students playing with the dummy weapons insisting students exercise proper gun safety techniques.

“Anytime you handle a weapon, even in the military, gun safety is one of the most important things we do,” he said. “Before we go out to the range we are briefed on gun etiquette, gun safety and the proper way to do things. No matter what we do, safety is of the utmost priority in the military.”

Although the children enjoyed playing in his tent and crawling around in the Humvee, they seemed to enjoy the rubber weapons the most, Porter said.

“It’s not something they get to see every day and certainly not something they get to touch every day,” he said.

First-grader Chloe Reiman, said she was eager to get her hands on the rubber guns because her stepdad had shown some guns to her and taught her how to hold them properly.

“I think my stepdad has a lot of fun being in the Army,” she said. “But sometimes he has to walk like 300 miles and he gets these blisters on his feet. That makes him sad.”

Reiman said in addition to trying out all of the equipment she also tried a bite of a tortilla from an MRE being served at the event.

“It wasn’t that great,” she said.

Through these different stations, Porter said the school had done a good job at showing the children different aspects of a Soldier’s life.

“I think this is a good representation of what we do in the military,” he said. “This gives the children a snapshot of what their Army-parent is going through every day.”

Porter wanted the children to get a glimpse of what it means to be in the Army.

“The truck that we have out here is one that Soldiers still drive today,” he said. “The dummy weapons that we have out here today are ones that we actually use and these uniforms and the equipment here are all things we really use. This isn’t made up.”