Although students at Oakton Elementary may not have had family members away in the military, that didn't stop them from sending their holiday wishes to the troops through the magic of video.
"You don't even know us, yet you risk your lives for us," said one student in Keri McCluskey's sixth-grade class as a Circuit City representative recorded the students’ greetings with a digital camcorder.
Sixteen classes at Oakton Elementary gathered in December to send messages to the troops abroad, through a message program set up by Circuit City. The students from all grades sang songs and recited poetry and words of goodwill to troops stationed in Afghanistan and other points abroad.
Circuit City will compile all the greetings and distribute a DVD in January or February to the troops. For the second year in a row, from Dec. 1-31, 2002, the chain recorded greetings from local citizens and groups.
"We've been doing schools all over this country," said Asad Farooq, sales manager at the Circuit City in Fairfax.
Second-grade teacher Tonya Dobson heard about sending greetings to the troops after watching a TV commercial by Circuit City advertising the free service. She and her family went to the local store for the taping and discovered that only five people had come in to send their wishes to the troops.
Knowing that one Oakton Elementary teacher has a husband overseas, she suggested to colleagues that students could send their wishes as well.
"I mentioned it to one, and it kind of snowballed," Dobson said.
Principal Sara Acuff was one of Dobson's colleagues who agreed to the idea.
"We had all these other people who also wanted to do it, and the children were enthusiastic," Acuff said.
In the hallway next to the main stairwell and the school office, students patiently waited as classes lined up to cheer and serenade the troops. Dobson's class sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," while other classes displayed patriotic signs and spoke encouraging words.
'It's great. I think it will cheer them up a lot," said sixth-grader Sheridan Brown after her class finished its taping session.
Her classmate Kayla Zellmann agreed. "I think that what the troops are doing in Afghanistan is really courageous, and that their families are cheering for them and praying for them," Zellmann said.
For Dobson, watching the students' enthusiasm topped the afternoon's activity.
"So many people want to participate, and it makes a little difference," Dobson said.