TIFTON —
When school started in the fall at Tiftarea Academy and teacher Natalie Rippy assigned “The Diary of Anne Frank” to her English classes, her students never imagined they would have a visitor who would travel over 4,400 miles to share with them about his own family’s experiences during WWII.
A few months after the completion of the novel, the eighth grade students hosted two visitors to the Chula campus in February with an assembly for the sixth to 12th graders.
Buddy Bryan of Tifton recognized the contributions of local soldiers who died during WWII while telling the students that one of the first shots of the war was by a soldier from Tifton. Bryan reminded the students that many of the soldiers were close to their age as they fought for the freedoms of others. He also noted the great sacrifices made by these men and their families.
Ivan Steenkiste of Deinze, Belgium shared his knowledge of WWII and his own parents’ experiences. His father spent many of his teenage years in hiding when the Nazis occupied Belgium so he could avoid having to work for their government. He shared pictures and stories from WWII and current photos of the same locations in his country and throughout Europe.
Instrumental in getting a road in Belgium named after Tifton’s own Col. Harold Cohen, Steenkiste spoke about the Battle of the Bulge, WWII bloodiest battle and the liberation by the American forces. His extensive presentation included details about life before, during and after the war for these soldiers, civilians and his own family.
The assembly concluded with a question and answer session followed by a presentation of a gift from the eighth grade class.
Special guests included Marty and Debbie Cohen, son and daughter-in-law of Col. Harold Cohen.
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Tiftarea Academy’s eighth grade students are pictured with Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Steenkiste, and Mr. and Mrs. Buddy Bryan. Contributed Photo
Belgian guest brings WWII to life for Tiftarea Academy students
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