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Local leaders cut the ribbon signifying the opening of the Salman Pak Girls Secondary School, April 24, in Salman Pak, Iraq. DoD photo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — The only secondary school for girls in the Salman Pak area opened its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 24.Leaders of the Salman Pak Council, the Iraqi Army, the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, gathered in Salman Pak for the ceremony, which marked the completion of a $200,000 project initiated Feb. 28.Members of the Salman Pak Council brought the decrepit school to the attention of 1-15th...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, April 25, 2008 – After months of fighting, coalition forces in Arab Jabour, Iraq, have rid the area of al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists and have turned their attention to rebuilding the community. Army Capt. James Anthony, commander of Company C, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, watches as children play at the Al-Alemia school in Arab Jabour, Iraq. Anthony and his company helped to rebuild the school. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Those efforts have opened numerous schools, water pumps and health clinics in Arab Jabour. The Islah School, Alula School and...

An Adwaniyah middle school student receives school supplies during the school's grand opening. Some of the supplies were donated by American students to Iraqi students. The remodeled school will hold traditional and religious classes. FORWARD OPRATING BASE KALSU — Adwaniyah citizens who were once afraid to leave their homes because of al-Qaeda in Iraq, freely gathered last week to celebrate the grand opening of a middle school and health clinic. Much of the work was done using Commander’s Emergency Response Program funds. Coalition forces assisted in rebuilding the school and clinic but the Government of Iraq was key to the...

First Lt. Greg Highstrom (left), from Cedarburg, Wisc., a platoon leader, and Spc. Nick Waterman, from Princeton, Idaho, an artilleryman, both with Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, speak with students of the Manahel primary school in Kutimiyah, March 30. The school is temporarily using a nearby home to hold classes because al-Qaida insurgents destroyed the school building. Photo by Sgt. Luis Delgadillo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Many schools in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division's area of operation have been rebuilt through the efforts of coalition forces.There were...

An Iraqi worker adds a fresh coat of white paint to one of the buildings comprising the al Nassir School in al Buaytha, March 25. Coalition forces are funding repair of the school's four buildings. Before al-Qaida was driven from the area, the school was hit several times by mortars, causing structural damage. Photo by Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FOB KALSU — The al Nassir Elementary School is once again a kid-friendly place where area children can go to study.The school, which suffered severe damage while al-Qaida dominated the area, is now...

Local workers from Salman Pak, Iraq, and Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, work to refurbish the Zarqua al Yamama Girls’ School, Feb. 28. U.S. Army photo courtesy of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment. FOB HAMMER — U.S. Soldiers visited the Zarqua al Yamama girls’ school in Salman Pak, Feb. 28, to check the progress of a refurbishment project there. The school’s poor condition was brought to the attention of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment leaders by members of the Salman Pak council, said Capt. Mathew Givens, from Columbus, Ga., civil-military operations officer for 1-15th Inf. Regt.“The school was...

AL QA’IM — Iraqi Army Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, along with Marines and Sailors of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, recently arrived at a school here carrying an abundance of tools and supplies. The joint effort had one goal: to provide the children with a school they could be proud of. The school needs a lot of work, but the children deserve it, said an Iraqi Army Soldier who wished to be not named. The school clean-up kicked off with Iraqi Army Soldiers and Marines working side by side, clearing broken windows...

Buffalo, N.Y., native Capt. Joseph Guzowski, the commander of Troop A, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, enjoys a piece of cake with staff members of the Omar Muktar Boys’ School at a grand opening ceremony at the school, Oct. 4. Photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Soldiers from Troop A, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and members of the Salhiyah Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) were on hand at the Omar Muktar Boys’ School, Oct. 4, to...

Brig. Gen. Muhammad Ali Jassim al-Frejee, commander of the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, speaks with children of Luitifyiah, Iraq, upon the re-opening of their school Oct. 1. Al-Frejee's troops and those of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., secure the Mahmudiyah, Lutifiyah, and Yusufiyah areas. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Angela Mc Kinzie. LUTIFIYAH — Attending schools with basic amenities such as libraries, restrooms and desks seems like a given to Americans.However, many Iraqi children have not been afforded the opportunity to attend...

BAGHDAD, Sept. 14, 2007 – Families in a neighborhood that sits between Sunni and Shiia areas of west Baghdad are looking forward to the re-opening of their secondary school. An Iraqi construction crew renovates a school in west Baghdad, a project that will double its size. The project is about 30 percent complete. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thifaf Al Neel School -- near the Baghdad International Airport in the Al Bayaa Beladiya neighborhood -- is being doubled in size, said Maj. Clark Johnson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the...

After leaving a ceremony to reopen the Al Aflaph Elementary School in Salhiyah, Capt. Joseph Guzowski, left, the commander of Troop A, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and Staff Sgt. Justin Miller, stop to play a game of foosball with some of the local children. Photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — One of the biggest changes that Capt. Joseph Guzowski has seen since his last deployment here three years ago is the dramatic transformation of the relationships between Coalition forces and the local...

BAGHDAD — For the second time in a little more than a month, the partnership between the Kindi Neighborhood Advisory Council and the Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment’s Company E, has led to another school being opened in the area. After opening the Waoud Kindergarten in July, the Andalas School, which will serve as a middle and secondary school, was opened Aug. 26. The project, which took nearly two months to complete, was one of the first that Co. E, which is attached to the 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,...

Huda, 4, makes last minute decorations before the grand re-opening ceremony of the Waoud Kindergarten School in Baghdad July 22. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kap Kim, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Waoud kindergartners, 4-year-old Huda and her sister, 6-year-old Sara, waited all day in their fancy dresses and stood in the Baghdad heat to perform the most important duty they’d ever faced: their job was to carry a small pair of scissors that would be used for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at their newly, renovated school. On break from school, she showed up with...

School receives much-needed structural repairs. BAGHDAD, July 30, 2007 — Waoud kindergartners, 4-year-old Huda and her sister, 6-year-old Sara, waited all day in their fancy dresses and stood in the Baghdad heat to perform the most important duty they’d ever faced. Their job was to carry a small pair of scissors that would be used for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at their newly, renovated school. "The renovations make us all very happy especially the furniture and the color; it’s a happy color." Batool Shaker The school’s vice headmistress On break from school, Sara showed up with her mother, one of the...

Charles Lingerfelt and Don English established a New "Kurdish American School" in Kurdistan- Northern Iraq- in the Fall of 2006. They are teaching English as "a second language" to young college-level and young adult Kurdish Students. Also, they're teaching Government, Democracy and Democratic principles. They are returning on September 1, 2007, for the Fall Quarter 2007. For further Info: contact Charles at: Charles_Lingerfelt@hotmail.com

Minnesota Soldiers Build School, Business in Southern Iraq Village children had no school available since before 2003. By Spc. Brian D. Jesness13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)Logistical Support Area Anaconda Public Affairs BALAD, Iraq, June 4, 2007 — Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers opened a new school and a truck stop with a restaurant, May 10, in the village of Um Eneej in southern Iraq. "We insisted the contractor hire local help. He had to hire at least 10 [local] workers, and he hired 20."U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Sarvi “The village elders told us a school was the most...

GEORGETOWN, Pa. (AP) - The number of dead from Monday's Amish schoolhouse shooting could soon rise by one more. A county coroner and a doctor who serves Amish children says it appears that one of the survivors is being taken off life-support and taken home to die. Meantime, the other survivors remain hospitalized and continue to fight their injuries. In Monday's attack, the gunmen sent the adults and boys out and bound the ten remaining girls at the blackboard. He was in the school for about an hour before he shot his hostages and turned the gun on himself as...

My husband and I live in Lancaster County and have of course been following the news of the school house shooting tragedy over the past few days. Friends from around the country have been in contact with us, wanting to know where they can send letters of condolence and contributions to the families of the young victims. I originally had very mixed emotions about contributing to a fund to defray the families’ transportation and medical expenses. The Amish do not believe in insurance of any kind, so surely do not have the means to pay for what will no doubt...

KARABILAH, Iraq (July 7, 2006) -- Thanks to the work of Marines and Iraqi Security Forces, 800 elementary-aged girls will now have a school to attend this fall. Marines from 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment unveiled a brand-new grade school in this city of about 30,000 on the Iraq-Syria border in western Al Anbar Province July 7. About one week before its opening, insurgents planted an improvised explosive device inside the school which would have leveled a good portion of the building, destroying nearly three months of work by Marines and locals, said Gunnery Sgt. Joseph S. Mallicoat, team leader...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 25 — Enrollment in Iraqi schools has risen every year since the American invasion, according to Iraqi government figures, reversing more than a decade of declines and offering evidence of increased prosperity for some Iraqis. Despite the violence that has plagued Iraq since the American occupation began three years ago, its schools have been quietly filling. The number of children enrolled in schools nationwide rose by 7.4 percent from 2002 to 2005, and in middle schools and high schools by 27 percent in that time, according to figures from the Ministry of Education. The increase, which has...