Staten Island elementary-school Principal Diane Hesterhagen believes you can’t just teach patriotism, so she invites veterans to meet her students at “ice-cream socials” and tell them how and why they served their country.

After hearing their stories, “some of the kids walk up and give them a hug,” said the principal of the St. Adalbert Roman Catholic School.

“They’ve made the connection that everything they have is a direct result of people who sacrificed for them along the way.”

The mother of four boys, who was nominated for a New York Post Liberty Medal in the Educator category by Korean War veteran Raymond Melnik, said her goal is to send the children out “into the community to be good citizens.”

The pupils also host a Veterans Day breakfast. This year, 150 vets told stories ranging from Pearl Harbor to Afghanistan.

“We are careful to explain to the children that not all military service is about war, it’s also about serving in peacetime,” she said.

The sixth- through eighth-graders interview the vets and have written two books, titled “Hometown Heroes.”

Thanks to a grant, the books have been given to other nearby schools and a third is planned.

The children “come out of the interviews and say things like, ‘Mrs. H, I had no clue. Now I know what “war is hell” means,’ ” Hesterhagen said.