As our students read, Veteran’s Day is about showing appreciation for living members of our community that served in the armed forces.  We do our best to say thank you to them for their service, dedication, and commitment to our safety.  In order to say thank you though for the service these members have provided, we need to come to understand what they did and why it means so much to us.  We brought into school a former Marine (who currently works at the VA) to share a little of his story and to answer questions.  This opportunity provided many students with the answers to their questions and shed a light on some of the great acts this service member (and many more) did and do for us.

It was great to get the entire 5-8 grade together to be able to share in this question and answer session.  Our guest was incredibly kind, thoughtful, and certainly shed a light on some of the questions our students had.  Afterward, I had a discussion with the 8th graders about their experience with this guest.  Their reactions were mixed, but it was amazing to hear them analyze and critically think about this visitor, pointing out things they liked and did not like (all respectfully of course).

Overall, thank you veterans for your service.  Hopefully our students now have a better understanding of some of the sacrifices you have made.

Our students listening (and some actually taking notes) on what our guest had to say about his military service.

Our students listening (and some actually taking notes) on what our guest had to say about his military service.

Our guest telling an interesting story about his military service.