A class from Queen Creek Elementary attended a special experience last week as they got to witness an oath of re-enlistment.
Ashton Murphy is currently a student-teacher at Queen Creek Elementary. Prior to pursuing an education degree, Murphy served in the U.S. Army for five years.
“I knew I wanted to serve my country in some capacity,” said Murphy. “While I was in the Army, I was a military intelligence analyst, and my favorite job while I was there was called a fusion chief analyst. I helped train and execute training for a larger group of people, and my favorite part of that was teaching.”
Although she is no longer in the Army service, Murphy was able to perform the oath in the classroom. Dressed in her Army uniform, Murphy explained to the class how she was going to help a former Army colleague, Sgt. First Class Jarrett Edgeman, take the oath. Edgeman is required to retake the oath as he will soon be promoted to master sergeant which is the second highest position to have in the military.
Edgeman connected to the class in Queen Creek via video chat from his station at the Pentagon.
Before the oath took place, students in the class had the opportunity to ask Edgeman questions about his service such as: “How many countries have you been to?” “Do you drive a tank?” “What made you join the Army?”
Students then stood still and quiet as Murphy read the oath with Edgeman repeating it. A moment Murphy says she was happy to share with the class.
Murphy plans to finish her education this year at Grand Canyon University. After she has her second child (a girl), she hopes to teach within Queen Creek Unified School District in the next school year.
