Students mark holiday with tributes to military
By Staff Reports
Published in News on November 11, 2011 1:46 PM
Wayne County Public Schools celebrated Veter-ans Day this week through a variety of activities and events.
School is not in session today, so most of the schools held celebrations earlier in the week or will have an event on Monday.
"Being an Air Force community, our schools already have a very special appreciation and understanding of the military," said Dr. Steven Taylor, schools superintendent.
"These events help further educate students about the many contributions our veterans have made, including those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation, and are an example to students on the importance of honoring our living veterans for their service."
Several of the high school JROTC cadets and marching bands were scheduled to participate in the annual Veterans Day parade in downtown Goldsboro today.
At Fremont STARS Elementary, in addition to individual classroom activities, fifth- and sixth-grade students had a special guest speaker on Thursday.
Retired Col. Joe Marm, who lives in the Fremont area, is a Medal of Honor recipient. He shared with students some of his life experiences and about his service in the military.
In commemoration of the holiday at Meadow Lane Elementary School, where one of the students has a parent deployed in Afghanistan, classmates wrote letters that will be distributed to the troops there with him. Students also discussed the meaning behind Veterans Day.
Students at Mount Olive Middle School watched a film on the subject, while fifth- and sixth-grade chorus students performed patriotic songs via Internet to deployed troops.
North Drive Elementary held a special concert as a musical tribute to veterans and staff at the school who served in the military also wore their uniforms to school.
At Northeast Elementary, every grade level did something for the occasion.
Kindergarten students helped make an American flag out of handprints. First-grade students discussed the day in terms of Remembrance Day and made red poppies for display in the hallway. Second-grade students introduced the five branches of the nation's military. Each class chose a military branch and decorated a large medallion depicting the branch's emblem. The five emblems were displayed from a large banner. Stars were also hung from each emblem with names of servicemen related to students. Third-grade students created an American flag surrounded by stars with thank you messages from the students to members of the military and veterans. Fourth-grade students honored deployed servicemen by hanging yellow ribbons around trees. Fifth-grade students decorated sheets with drawings and statements showing why they are thankful for their freedom.
A special program will be held at Northwest Elementary on Monday. One teacher's husband, who recently returned from deployment, will present the school with a flag that flew on his flight back to the U.S. The flight was special, officials said, because he was given orders to fly back on 9-11-11 with six bodies of fallen soldiers.
Will Lane, former bass singer with the professional gospel group Driven will also sing, "I'm Proud to be An American" and former and current staff members who served in the military will also be recognized.
Rosewood Elementary students and staff participated in several activities for Veterans Day, including a donation drive for the Veterans Hospital of Durham. Personal care items were collected for patients and 35 patriotic fleece blankets were made by students. Veterans also visited classrooms and spoke to students about their service to the country, and a reception was held to honor them.
The JROTC at Rosewood High honored veterans, military connected students and local servicemen at a special assembly.
Teachers at Rosewood Middle incorporated the subject into such projects as reflective journals, essay writing and research, as well as writing thank-you notes to deployed troops. Math classes also used data to create graphs and charts.