Havre Lions talk about flag, Flag Day

The Havre Lions Club visited Highland Park Early Primary School's first graders to discuss the significance of the American flag Friday.

Havre Lions Club president Jim Bennett said this is an annual event the Lions do every year around this time of year to celebrate Presidents' Day.

"(We) give a little lesson for all the kids about what the American flag is and what the different components of it stand for and why it's important to our history," he said. 

He said this is important to share with first graders because not only does the flag have components everyone should know, but it aslso has significance to America's history and how to take care of the flag. There are protocols on how to respect the flag.

"One of the other Lions Club members was talking about how they have been doing it for the last 30 years, so he talked about how they helped a student move from Havre to go to college and that student still had a flag from when they were in first grade," Bennett said. "It's kind of a cool tradition."

He said it's a good way for the club to provide service and show the students they care about the community.

"The mission statement (of the Havre Lions) is we serve and we serve in a lot of different ways," he said. 

Highland Park principal Mark Irvin said this event has taken place every year since he has been principal and in years prior.

"At our level, I am an old social studies teacher and government, civics and pretty much all junior high and high school social studies, at one point or another I taught all the histories, so for me, because I see how we have a very limited amount of social studies that we actually teach at this level, I like that because it brings in some history and a little bit with the Lions because it's a community tie-in," he said 

He said he likes that Lions come in and talk about the significance of the American flag.

"With all the things that country has going on right now (this is) something we all can rally around," Irvin said. "We might all be different, but we all can be Americans."

For the students to hear the significance of the flag, what it represents and how it is meant to unify Americans is kind of important, he said, adding that it is also a chance to plug away in the social studies curriculum.

He said for the first graders, it is the grade they are learning the Pledge of the Allegiance and having the Lions come in is a way to show why they do it.

"I think that's just one thing for them to understand we are all citizens, we are all part of this country," Irvin said. "I know they are pretty young, they are 6 and 7 years old, but it's OK to start getting an understanding of that now."

He added that it is one the ways to bind people together when there are many things that divide people as a country. 

"School is one place we are all going to be, so hopefully that's a platform where we can kind of get that unification process started and hopefully it is something that continues in them that we should proud of who we are as individuals, and celebrate diversity, but also understand we also need to be unified and we also need to be able to work together and there are some things that some people sacrificed a lot to get this country to where it is," he said.