On Wednesday morning, November 9th, our WHS Community gathered in front of our school for a very special Veterans Day observance.
For two weeks prior, students and teachers had been discussing and planning ways to commemorate this year's Veterans Day in appropriate fashion. Some of the opportunities offered to learn about and honor our nation's veterans included: a letter/card writing campaign, a recognition display in which school community members put the name of a friend or family member who is serving or has served in the armed forces on a star which was then affixed to a centrally located wall display, student video interviews of veterans which were placed in a shared folder on one of our servers so that teachers and students can access them to integrate into upcoming instruction, and a visit to a local veterans home to meet with and get to know local veterans.
The centerpiece of our observance was our school-wide assembly on Wednesday morning. The assembly featured our Grade 5 students performing a skit to educate their younger schoolmates about what it is to be a veteran, why our veterans are so important to us, and why we should honor them. Fifth Graders also led us in a flag folding ceremony as our former school flag was retired that day. A new and beautiful U.S. flag was presented to Mr. Ryan Marsh, Director of Student Services for WHS, who then took it through our building and onto the roof for raising. The students followed the raising with a recital of the Pledge of Allegiance. The flag was presented to our school by veteran Paul Boore (father of Grade 5 teacher Monica Boore) during the ceremony who, along with four friends, represented the Patriot Guard who rode to WHS on their motorcycles and trikes. One of the members spoke for some time about the sacrifices of veterans and a homeless shelter for veterans with which she is associated. The weather was amazing for our assembly, as was the reverence of our students throughout the entire assembly.
At Woodland Heights, we are proud of our students, our school, our veterans, and our country.
We have pictures and video from our Veterans Day observance activities, some of which I will look to post on this blog early this coming week.
Thanks for reading!
