A Lakeside Elementary School first grade student got a sweet surprise today!
The school’s first grade classes were outside learning about Patriot’s Day and “Month of the Military Child”, when one student’s father walked up to surprise him by getting home early from a six-month deployment with the Navy.
As part of the lesson, the students were being read patriotic books and had been given the American flags to hold, according to the Clay County School District.
6-year-old Aden Lawrence’s dad, John Meredith, is a Navy aircraft mechanic based at NAS Jax. This deployment took him to El Salvador, Colombia, Japan, and the Philippines over the last six months, and he was due home in about a week, but instead, Aden’s teacher helped organize today’s surprise.
That teacher, Danielle Knotts, spoke with Aden a few days prior to the homecoming surprise.
What an awesome start to celebrate #MonthoftheMilitaryChild! One of our Lakeside Elementary students was surprised by his father, who came home early from deployment. Thanks to all the service members and families who sacrifice for our country! pic.twitter.com/HntgjVyuNy
— Addison Davis (@AddisonGDavis) April 8, 2019
😭*GRAB THE TISSUES* 😭
— Ryan Nelson (@RyanANJax) April 8, 2019
Clay County 1st grader Aden thought he was about 6 days away from seeing his Dad John Meredith again, a #Navy aircraft mechanic.
Little did he know ... It was a matter of minutes. #Military #Veterans #America 🇺🇸@ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/saWjb7CQR8
