By Julie Johansen
San Rafael Middle School presented its 42nd annual Veterans Day program on Monday to say “thank you” to all veterans. This has become a cherished tradition at the middle school.
To start, Ferron American Legion Post #43 presented the colors with WWII, 93-year-old veteran Grant Nielson posting the American flag. As it is the 100-year anniversary of the armistice of WWI, a video explaining and documenting that war was shared with the students and guests attending the program. School principal Doug Mecham told the students that a memorial was dedicated in Washington D.C. on Sunday. He also requested that the students live in such a way as to say thank you to all those who have served.
Next, the eighth grade chorus directed by Mr. Carroll sang “Red, White and Blue.” Mr. Horrocks, the school’s social studies teacher, then introduced nine members of the student council who gave a narrative defining freedom and how to preserve and respect it. The presentation included a story of a social studies teacher who, in 2009, took all the desks out of her classroom and told the students they had not earned them. Veterans then brought the desks into the classroom and sat in them. The teacher explained to many teary-eyed students that it was the veterans who had earned the freedom for them to have education.
A reminder was given to the audience that it was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when the armistice was signed to end WWI. This holiday was first called Armistice Day but was later changed to Veterans Day.
