Monrovia teacher inspiring students to live by the values of the Medal of Honor

An eighth grade teacher at Monrovia Middle School was honored recently by the ones who have exhibited the highest level of honor and bravery for our country. Mark Lambert, a social studies teacher at Monrovia, was awarded the Medal of Honor Excellence in Character Education Award. It was presented by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.

Lambert is the first Alabama educator to receive the prestigious award and the only middle school teacher to receive it this year.

“It is quite an honor to be selected to receive this award,” said Lambert, who lives in Madison.

The award recognizes one elementary, middle school, and high school educator in the nation each year for excellence in teaching the Medal of Honor Character Development Program. This program encourages teachers to inspire their students to live by the values of the Medal: courage and sacrifice, commitment and integrity, citizenship and patriotism.

“Students need to understand the sacrifices our military men and women have made,” Lambert said. “It’s important they know that ordinary people can face great challenges and they can make the world around them a better place. The freedoms we enjoy have come at a very high price and today’s generation must understand what patriotism and service really mean.”

Lambert organized a Veterans Day assembly at Monrovia Middle School with over 70 veterans attending. In preparation for the assembly, he collaborated with other teachers to create lessons in English, history, art and band about veterans and our military.

The sixth, seventh and eighth graders rolled out the red carpet for the veterans, who served in a variety of branches and conflicts, from World War II on. The morning of gratitude began with a breakfast, with each veteran receiving cards and letters specially made by the students. The meal provided an opportunity for the veterans to spend time with each other, and share their experiences with the next generation.

At the school assembly the veterans were met with an avalanche of thunderous applause, screams, pounding feet and a string of standing ovations, as the community’s brave men and women who served in uniform were welcomed for a celebration of their service and sacrifice.

Students joined a Medal of Honor Club sponsored by Lambert where classes heard stories from Medal of Honor recipients and engaged in creative activities about them.

Lambert said passing on the heritage of duty and service to country to the next generation was a major point of the event, “sowing the seeds of honor, patriotism and respect.” Lessons incorporating those themes were taught leading up to and after the event.

That’s exactly what the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation is encouraging teachers to do. The Foundation was founded in 1999 by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, which consists exclusively of the living recipients of the Medal of Honor. The Foundation’s mission is dedicated to educating and inspiring Americans about the values embodied in the Medal of Honor: courage and sacrifice, commitment and integrity, citizenship and patriotism.

Lambert attended a seminar in Huntsville by the Foundation over a year. There he was introduced to the Medal of Honor Character Development Program and all it stood for. “I just ate it up,” Lambert said. “It was something I knew we could do to help our students connect to the characteristics of our brave veterans and inspire them to give their all for our country.”

To receive the award, Lambert and his wife, Sylvia, were flown to Los Angeles for a weekend ceremony at the Jonathon Club. There they met seven Medal of Honor recipients, along with Foundation officials and local dignitaries.

“It was an amazing opportunity. They treated us like kings,” Lambert said. “Here were these great heroes of our nation’s freedom treating us like we were their heroes. It was very humbling.”

Lambert said he soaked up the opportunity to sit and talk to the Medal of Honor recipients and hear their stories, something he has brought back to the students at Monrovia.

“I want to say thank you to the veterans. Without them my country would not be what it is today,” Lambert said. “And the kids need to understand that freedom isn’t free. These men and women have given us the opportunity to live in the land we live in. They need to know that and appreciate these veterans and understand that they’re real people as well.”