Students pledge in sync

Marisa O’Neil

The words of the Pledge of Allegiance echoed across the playground at

Eastbluff Elementary School in Newport Beach on Wednesday and

throughout schools across the country during a synchronized “Pledge

Across America.”

At 11 a.m., Eastbluff students lined up by class and recited the

pledge in unison -- almost. The words started with the fifth- and

sixth-graders at the south end of the playground and bounced off the

school’s walls as the kindergarteners on the far end recited it a

hundred yards away.

“We do the pledge and sing a patriotic song every day,” Eastbluff

Principal Charlene Metoyer said. “But we wanted to be part of the

Pledge Across America and do this with everyone in the United

States.”

Metoyer used the year’s first fire drill to get everyone’s

attention and get the students out on the playground. When the strong

ocean breezes knocked over an American flag on the playground, school

assistant Carol Bagwell took it up, walked past the students and

waved it as they recited the pledge and sang “America the Beautiful.”

“You did such a good job, I’ve got goose bumps,” Metoyer told the

students after the song.

“Most people think [the Pledge of Allegiance] is really stupid,

but this is really cool,” sixth-grader Courtney Davidson, 11, said.

“Everyone does it across America. Everyone saying the same words at

the same time is really cool.”

At Newport Elementary, students didn’t leave their classrooms for

the pledge, but teachers in the hallways helped coordinate a

synchronized start, school assistant Terrilee Stevenson said.

Because the 11 a.m. time conflicted with lunch, some schools, such

as Paularino Elementary and College Park Elementary, did the pledge

at their usual time in the morning. Paularino teachers encouraged

students to wear red, white and blue to school, and College Park

students learned about Constitution Day and sang “You’re a Grand Old

Flag.”

“There was a lot of flag waiving,” College Park Principal Pat

Insley said.

The first Pledge Across America took place in October 2001.

Celebration, USA promoted the event as part of National School

Celebration and planned it before the Sept. 11 attacks, according to

the organization’s Web site.

Last year, the date was changed to Sept. 17 to coincide with

Constitution Day. Millions of students have participated in the

synchronized pledge over the past two years.