At Creekside Elementary School on Friday morning, 41 sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln kicked off what the school hopes will become a lasting relationship.

Melissa Zawadny, a first-grade teacher who coordinates volunteering at the school, said a sailor on the aircraft carrier, which is home-ported in Norfolk, contacted her with the offer of volunteers.

“I was super-excited,” she said. “We’re very excited to have them in our building, interacting with our students and beautifying our campus.”

The sailors arrived about 9 a.m. for a breakfast put together by school staff and later enjoyed a potluck lunch.

In between, they got to work weed-whacking, leaf-raking, hedge-trimming, window-cleaning and more.

They also went into classrooms to assist students and read to them.

“We are trying to build a relationship between the Navy and the community we are currently assigned in,” said James Parrott, speaking on behalf of the sailors from the carrier’s supply department.

After returning in 2012 from a deployment to the Middle East as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Abraham Lincoln is being refueled at Newport News Shipyard, Parrott said.

Zawadny said many Creekside students have a parent deployed with the military. For them, she said, seeing the sailors in uniform helping out around school is a great comfort.

“Seeing the military presence in the community makes them smile,” she said.

The school has signed a Partners in Education agreement with the Abraham Lincoln, according to Zawadny.

“We have invited them back,” she said. “I would love for them to come back, even if it’s a smaller group.”

Parrott said the students were curious about the sailors. “More or less, they just want to know what we do, and how we are different than the other branches,” he said.

“A couple of kids were telling me they have family members in the Navy.”

Parrott added that the sailors were having a good time helping out. “Any chance they have to help the community and build relationships, everybody gives it 110 percent,” he said.

“We’ll volunteer anywhere in the community, if anyone needs help.”