Students

at Fort Dale Academy

are learning

about

their country's

history

while

also taking

an active

role in preserving

it for the future.

Two fourth-grade classes at Fort Dale

began

raising money

on Dec. 7 that will go to help fund the construction of a World War II Memorial

in Washington D.C. Teachers Bobbie Jean Cumbie and Regina Parker have instructed their students to keep a money jar and to ask friends, family and neighbors

to help support the memorial.

"Each child is responsible for his or her jar

or can that he or she uses use to collect

the money," Cumbie said. "Student have been asked to raise as much as they can. Some students have found places

of business that will allow them to leave the jars for donations."

The students began the fundraiser on Veterans

Day

and dedicated that day's class to learning more about the war and the importance of the memorial.

The World War II Memorial will be a tribute to individual Americans who helped lead the allies to victory in the largest war of all time and one of the defining events of the twentieth century.

This will be the first

national memorial acknowledging the commitment and achievement of the entire nation.

The memorial was approved by President Bill Clinton on May 23, 1993, authorizing the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish the World War II Memorial in the nation's capital. Primary funding for the $100 million tribute must be raised from private contributions. Once constructed the memorial will be located directly between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

Cumbie said the fourth graders will learn valuable lessons from their fundraiser and a greater understanding of those who fought for freedom.

"This will give our students an appreciation for the men who fought during the war and a love for their country. It also will help them to not take things for granted and to have a deeper love and understanding for the freedoms we have today.

"By taking a role in helping to build the monument

the students have become more interested in what happened. It is important for their generation to remember the men who fought overseas and those who helped in the effort at home so that they can pass it down to the next generation some day," she said.

By taking part in the fundraiser, the school will have an opportunity to place four veterans of World War II onto the registry of remembrances of the memorial. The names that will be sent in have yet to be determined.

The FDA fundraiser has gone so well up to this point that Cumbie said the classes have decided to reach for a higher goal.

"When we first started we figured we could raise about $200. We have already had several students reach $80 and $100 so we felt we had to raise our goals. They have done a wonderful job so far," she said.

The memorial project will end on March 1, which coincides with the class' study of World War II.