Students, faculty, and veterans filled up the main gym on November 11th for the Veteran’s Day Assembly. Social Studies teacher John Fields coordinated all of the day’s scheduling to honor the visting veterans.
This event start about nine years ago when the Social Science department chair Bill Jirkovsky, a veteran himself and now retired, proposed the idea and had to petition to the government for the school not to have the day off and host this event. He liked the idea because he wanted to honor the veterans and give the students a learning experience. The petition passed and this tradition has been carried on ever since. “It is great to have our veterans come to tell of their experiences to the students,” said Fields.
Over one-hundred veterans attended the event, ranging from World War II to present day wars in the Middle East. The jobs each veteran had ranged from a machine gunner to a repair techinician that fixed fighter jets. Many of the vets have relations to the school such as social studies teacher Dan Monahan’s father and Fields’ father.
“Seeing my dad come and to see how happy it makes the him and the vets, it really makes a difference,” said Fields. It was the first time that Fields set up this event with the help of Mary Ann Nardi, the superintendent’s secretary. This made the day especially important to him and his family. “The veterans all had a great time and the students learned from this experience, it was very successful,” said Fields.
Veteran’s Day is a very important day to remember and honor all the men and women who put the time and effort, and risked their lives to protect our country. And we thank those veterans for their service.
