TEACHER SENDOFF: Students Say Goodbye | News

A Marshalltown elementary teacher is being deployed to Afghanistan  and today his school wanted him to know how much he’ll be missed.

Woodbury Elementary School held a sendoff assembly for second grade teacher, Richard Ortega. The students dressed appropriately in red, white and blue for the event. Ortega will be gone for about 9 months with the US Navy Seabees. He’ll work on construction projects while overseas.

“I’ve been there before. I’ve been to Kuwait but this is Afghanistan, now it’s a little bit different. Today it’s pretty overwhelming. I didn’t expect all this sendoff stuff here.” When commenting on his emotions, Ortega had this to say, “Nervous, exciting, a little bit scared, but it’s all good.”

This is Ortega’s second deployment.