Each stick carries a name. Each name has a story. And thousands of the short, white stakes fill the front lawn of Clover Park High School. “Every stick represents a fallen soldier,” Joshua Howard said, “so it’s not just a stick. It’s a person.” A sophomore class at the Lakewood high school is honoring American service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan with a mock-up of Arlington National Cemetery.

Row upon row – more than 4,500 sticks are included – carry the name of every service member killed in action.

A teacher collected and painted the wooden sticks – the kind used for stirring paint. Students wrote the rank and nameof a fallen service member on each one. More than 30 people started driving the sticks into the ground at 7 a.m. Thursday.

The layout is based on the Virginia cemetery, complete with walking paths between the memorials. Each stick is spaced 2 feet apart – the exact distance of the honor guard’s stride at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“They’re learning to think outside themselves, to honor those who sacrificed for our way of living,” teacher Bryan Winkler said. “They also understand that we’re also honoring our living servicemen and women. It shows that we care what’s going on.”

Winkler, the advisory teacher to a group of sophomore boys, said he wanted to connect their community service project with Memorial Day. Another teacher, David Russell, came up with the idea after showing the class a video on Arlington.

The school’s administration was quick to lend support, Winkler said, and several businesses in the area helped out with donations of equipment and materials.

Clover Park draws heavily from military families stationed at Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base, and many students have felt the impact of the wars personally. When Winkler asked how many had a family member or knew somebody who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan, he said two-thirds raised a hand.

“They learned the gravity of this,” he said. “When you look at all of this, it affects you. When they were writing down the soldiers’ names on each marker, they were affected. They had sheets, and each sheet had about 40 soldiers on it. We had 111 sheets just for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“They saw the volume of it. And this goes way beyond the classroom.”

Drivers honked in support as they sped by. Several students who aren’t in Winkler’s advisory group took time from classes to help drive the sticks into the ground.

Kirstin Satterfield’s brother will deploy to Iraq with the Washington National Guard in August, and she received permission to miss class and help out all day. She wore a pink National Guard T-shirt while leaning over to pound in the stakes with the side of a hammer.

Russell, an Air Force veteran who served in Desert Storm, hopes the memorial will also remind people that Memorial Day isn’t just an excuse for a long weekend and deals on a new car.

“The whole message is that freedom isn’t free. It comes with a price,” he said. “And people sometimes forget the purpose of Memorial Day. You get bombarded with ads for sales. But it’s about honoring those who sacrificed.”

Scott Fontaine: 253-320-4758

The Arlington Project will remain in place through Tuesday. Visitors are encouraged to walk the grounds in front of Clover Park High School at 11023 Gravelly Lake Drive S.W. in Lakewood.

There are numerous ceremonies and other events scheduled over the next several days to observe Memorial Day. If yours isn’t listed here, contact military reporter Michael Gilbert at mike.gilbert@thenewstribune.com.

Saturday

War Memorial Park, Sixth Avenue at South MacArthur Street, Tacoma, 3 p.m.; Day of Remembrance memorial service

Sunday

Fir Lane Cemetery, 924 E. 176th St., Spanaway, 12:30 p.m.

Vaughn Bay Cemetery, 1 p.m.; “Aisle of Honor” observance by the Key Peninsula Veterans Institute

Auburn Veterans Memorial, 405 E St. N.E., Auburn, 2 p.m.; Veterans and Friends free concert

Monday

Washington Soldiers Home, Orting, 10 a.m.

Washington Veterans Home, Retsil, 10 a.m.

Sumner Cemetery, 12324 Valley Ave. E., Sumner, 10 a.m.

Mountain View Cemetery, 2020 Mountain View Drive, Auburn, 10 a.m.

Artondale Cemetery, at Hunt Street Northwest and 54th Avenue Northwest, 10 a.m.; joint observance by the Greater Gig Harbor American Legion Post 236 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1854

Bethany Cemetery, 26418 Mountain Highway E., Spanaway, 10:30 a.m.; C-17 fly-by from McChord Air Force Base

Capital Rotunda, Olympia, 11 a.m.; Thurston County Veterans Council Memorial Day observance

Calvary Cemetery, 5212 70th St. W., Tacoma, 11 a.m.; Pierce Transit Route 220 buses will take passengers into the cemetery throughout the weekend.

Fort Lewis Cemetery, 11:30 a.m.

Tahoma National Cemetery, 18600 S.E. 240th St., Kent, noon

Pioneer Park pavilion, Puyallup, 1 p.m.; speakers are I Corps Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe and Washington Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Sweeney.

Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 11111 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle, 1:30 p.m.; speaker is Mike Gregoire, the governor’s husband.

Mountain View Funeral Home, 4100 Steilacoom Blvd. S.W., Lakewood, 2 p.m.

Veterans Memorial at Triangle Park, Milton, 2 p.m.; Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 11401 observance

Vietnam War Memorial, Olympia, 2 p.m.; Vietnam veterans and members of the area’s Vietnamese community will gather for speeches, flowers, flags and a balloon release.

Memorial Day Thunder Run leaves Destination Harley-Davidson in Tacoma at 11 a.m., Northwest Harley-Davidson in Lacey at noon, then arrives for the ceremony at the Vietnam War Memorial on the Capitol Campus in Olympia.

Want to visit?

The Arlington Project will remain in place through Tuesday. Visitors are encouraged to walk the grounds in front of Clover Park High School at 11023 Gravelly Lake Drive S.W. in Lakewood.