Middle Gate Elementary School fourth grade teacher Linda Baron ran a Flag Day assembly on June 10, and students and special guests were treated to history lessons about the Stars and Stripes.

“We’re here to learn about Flag Day and the Flag Day holiday,” Ms Baron explained.

Nearby, visiting guests — State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28), First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, Board of Education Chair Michelle Embree Ku, and Senior Vice Commander and Chaplain of American Legion Post 202 Donna Randle — listened as students discussed the importance of America’s flag.

Flag Day is officially celebrated on June 14.

Students shared information about how the American flag can be displayed and how to properly treat a flag.

Later, the visitors were asked to speak about what the flag means to them.

The “beauty of our community,” Mr Rosenthal shared, is reflected in the fact that the flag can mean different things to everyone. When looking at the flag, Mr Rosenthal said he thinks of sacrifice, especially this year, the 75th year since D-Day.

Senator Hwang said the flag represents the “American Dream.” When traveling outside of the country, the senator said the students will realize the flag is a reminder that they live in the “greatest country” and they will understand all of the freedoms they have.

For Ms Ku, the flag reminds her that “we are serving a greater good.”

Ms Randle spoke as a parent and as a representative of American Legion Post 202, saying the flag represents the same dream for everyone. That dream, she continued, is America is a great country with the opportunity to “be all you can be.”

Later, Middle Gate parent, veteran, and a Boy Scout Troop 270 representative Jeffery Jorgenson led a group of Boy Scouts in a demonstration to properly fold an American flag.

“To me, it is all about freedom and remembering those who sacrificed to give us those freedoms,” Middle Gate Principal Christopher Geissler told the assembled students near the end of the event. He added later, “We are many different states, and we are all united as one.”