Thrasher Elementary School on Signal Mountain is working with Chattanooga’s Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center to develop what could become the nation’s first Medal of Honor elementary school designation, an initiative that could eventually serve as a model for schools across the country.
Heritage Center President and CEO Tom Mundell announced the initiative Oct. 10 during an event featuring actor Kelsey Grammer at the center in downtown Chattanooga.
“One of the schools we work with, Thrasher Elementary School, asked us a question we weren’t quite prepared for,” Mundell says. “They wanted to know, ‘What would it take to become a designated Medal of Honor elementary school?’”
Mundell said the center has been working with the school’s leadership for several months to develop a program that would make the designation possible.
“No elementary school in the nation has that designation, so we’re hoping Thrasher will be the first,” he says. “We’ve been working with the school’s leadership for the past couple of months and expect to unveil the program soon. We hope it will become a model for schools across the country.”
Thrasher, a Hamilton County public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade, is located at 1301 James Blvd. on Signal Mountain. Melissa Coffelt is the school’s principal.
The proposed designation would build on the Heritage Center’s existing educational programs, which use the stories of Medal of Honor recipients to teach students six core values: courage, sacrifice, commitment, integrity, citizenship and patriotism.
Mundell said the center works with students from kindergarten through 12th grade, emphasizing lessons that extend beyond military history and can help young people navigate challenges throughout their lives.
“We’re not a military museum,” Mundell says, describing the center instead as a place where students can learn lessons that extend beyond military history.
Although many of the students participating in the center’s programs will never serve in the military, Mundell said the lessons are intended to help them develop the character and judgment needed to make ethical decisions.
He said students will face their own battles throughout their lives, and the center wants to prepare them to confront those challenges with integrity and honor.
The proposed partnership with Thrasher Elementary would provide an opportunity to extend those lessons into a schoolwide initiative while potentially establishing a framework that other elementary schools could adopt.
Mundell did not announce a timetable for the designation or provide details about the requirements a school would have to meet.
The initiative reflects the Heritage Center’s broader mission of preserving the stories of Medal of Honor recipients while using their examples to educate future generations.
Chattanooga has a special connection to the medal’s history. The first Medals of Honor were awarded to Union soldiers who participated in the Great Locomotive Chase during the Civil War, an event associated with the Chattanooga region.
For Mundell, however, the center’s educational mission is as much about preparing young people for the future as preserving the past.
“If we can actually touch some of those students, we will have done our jobs here,” he says.