Seedling Mile students, staff honor National Guard war vet

Seedling Mile kindergartner Kylee Vrba only received an "honorable mention" school attendance award Wednesday for missing just one day of school this past year.

The reason Kylee didn't get a perfect attendance award received her own recognition from the school on Wednesday.

Kylee's mom, Brandi Hoffman, was honored for service in Iraq as part of the 600th Transportation Company of the Nebraska National Guard.

Hoffman was deployed almost exactly a year, serving from May 29 through May 9 when the National Guard Unit was greeted during a homecoming ceremony in Lincoln.

May 9 was Kylee's birthday and the kindergartner was in Lincoln to see her mom be welcomed home.

"That's why she didn't receive a perfect attendance award," said Hoffman, who attended Wednesday's ceremony that recognized Seedling Mile students for numerous achievements this past school year.

Then came the surprise recognition as Hoffman was called to the front of the gymnasium to be acknowledged for her service in Iraq.

Seedling Mile special resource teacher Leigh Ann Miller and kindergarten teacher Mandie Julesgard each helped welcome Hoffman back, with the reading of three separate poems.

Miller teared up as she read a poem called "Sunshine" that described the thrill of welcoming military personnel home. Her poem concluded with the lines, "Streams of joy, streams of peace, Everything is not complete. What a day this has been, We're going home again."

Miller said she got tearful not just because of Hoffman's service in Iraq, but because she was also remembering her brother-in-law's return from Iraq in April.

"The emotions come back," she said.

After Miller read her first poem, Julesgard thanked Hoffman for her service, noting that, "We know what you had to leave behind and we are thankful that you returned home safely."

What Hoffman had to leave behind more than anything was her young daughter, Kylee, who lived in Grand Island with Hoffman's sister, Heather Tjaden, Heather's husband, and their two children.

Hoffman lives in Lincoln, so Kylee had her first year of school in a new community. She said the situation worked out well.

"I love the small school here," Hoffman said.

Tjaden, who also attended Wednesday's ceremony, said Kylee knew at least two students at school -- her son, Noah, who also entered kindergarten this year, and her daughter, Ariel, a second-grader.

But Tjaden said Kylee would have fit in at Seedling Mile even if she didn't have two cousins at the school.

"She's pretty sociable," said Tjaden, who noted Kylee quickly made friends with lots of Seedling Mile students who live in their neighborhood.

Hoffman also got to know Seedling Mile students, from kindergartners all the way through fifth-graders, because each of the students wrote her Christmas cards this past year.

She noted that she and other troops in the National Guard unit received letters from many schools during their deployment, including letters from her current home of Lincoln and her hometown of Clearwater, as well as many other schools.

Hoffman, her sister, her mom and Kylee kept in contact this past year through a variety of methods, including cell phone calls, e-mails and instant messaging and also Web cams.

Despite the constant communication, Hoffman was completely surprised by the reception she got at Seedling Mile. The entire family was able to keep the recognition ceremony secret.

Hoffman's mother, Chris Verba of Silver Creek, and her grandmother, Twila Allemang of Clearwater, were both at Seedling Mile because they knew Hoffman was going to be honored.

Kylee also knew about it and even she was able to hide the covert ceremony from her mom, although she came closest to revealing the surprise.

Tjaden said she was driving her car while Kylee was on a cell phone call to her mom, who had then made it back to Fort Bragg, N.C.

Tjaden said that during the call Kylee asked Hoffman, "Mom, did you get all the cards the students made?"

Overhearing Kylee's remark, Tjaden prompted her niece to correct her slip-up by saying, "You mean for Mother's Day?"

Kylee quickly recovered by quickly repeating her aunt's line that the student cards were for Mother's Day.

On Wednesday, each grade from kindergarten through the fifth grade presented cards written by each class member. Kylee and her cousin, Noah, presented the cards from the kindergarten class.

Hoffman also was presented with a memento that lights up and carries the inscription, "Land That I Love."

The entire Seedling Mile student body concluded the ceremony by rising to their feet and singing "God Bless America" in honor of Hoffman's service to her country.