LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band's rock ensemble, "Full Spectrum," performed a concert for approximately 320 students at Armstrong Elementary School in Hampton, Oct. 18.
The event was the culmination of a cultural exchange program the ensemble started with Armstrong students in April when the band visited the school before their deployment to Asia.
The program was designed to take advantage of the band's partnership-building missions while touring Asia and give the students the opportunity to not only learn about different cultures, but share their own.
"The Armstrong Elementary students gave the band pictures and hand-made [items] to present to children in Kyrgyzstan before the band deployed," said U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Justin Lewis, USAF Heritage of America Band flight commander. "The band [returned] to Armstrong to tell the kids about all they learned while overseas."
While touring Kyrgyzstan, the band performed for school children and presented the items before the show.
"It was rewarding to see the children's energy while we were performing; they were pumped up," said Master Sgt. John Cisar, Full Spectrum trombonist. "We take part in [many] international partnership missions, but we don't do many gigs like this. It was incredible to connect these two groups of children."
Since the band returned to Langley Air Force Base in September, the concert was the first event held by Full Spectrum.
"We are [happy] the kids at Armstrong [were] the first to hear the band since [they] returned from deployment," said Lewis. "We were excited to come and share our experiences with them."
Levia Stovall, Armstrong Elementary School principal, said the experience provided an invaluable lesson for her students.
"We want our students to be exposed to and accepting of all cultures and people," she said. "When the band gave us the opportunity to take part in the exchange, it let our students share American culture with children across the world."
Stovall said while the program provided a social studies lesson, she hopes that is not the only lesson her students take from the show.
"At Armstrong Elementary, we incorporate arts into our curriculum," said Stovall. "[It] showed them what you can do when you pursue something you love."
This sentiment was shared by the members of the band, and Lewis said they plan to continue their mission of bridging cultures.
"We hope [this was] a social studies lesson the students will never forget," said Lewis. "Music is a language that can bring diverse peoples together, and this experience showed us the Air Force can use music to build stronger partnerships between nations - one song at a time."