An Honor to Honor

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I was raised in the military.  My father was an officer in the United States Air Force.  I was always filled with such pride when military personnel would salute my dad.  I love my country and I love those who serve in the Armed Forces.  Up until 9/11 it was difficult to get students to truly understand Veterans Day.  They often confused it with Memorial Day.  They couldn't really grasp the concept of modern day Veterans because we were in peace time. They saw a veteran as being only a soldier from WWI or WWII.  They thought of their great-great grandfathers.  The unfortunate events of 9/11 lead to our country engaging in military actions in various places throughout the world. Our students soon experienced fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, neighbors and friends being deployed overseas to defend our freedoms.  The term "veteran" gained a whole new meaning and perspective in their lives.  

Every year I volunteer to conduct Veterans Day activities at my elementary school.  Some years I have brought guest veterans to speak to our students at an assembly. One year I put together a truly heart wrenching video that included pictures submitted by over half of our 800 member student-body. personally spotlighting the veteran dearest to them.  One thing I always do is create a bulletin board with the assistance of our students.  We've mounted letters of thanks, stars of honor, and even a miniature monument.  The students and faculty all proudly honor "their" veterans.

Last year I chose to display dog tags. Each student was given a set of paper dog tags.  They wrote their veterans name and branch of service.  I then strung gray yarn on them and hung them under the appropriate branch heading.  The display was stunning.  As parents entered the building they would immediately to into the office and ask if there were dog tags they could fill out to honor a veteran they knew.  It was a wonderful tribute and a community building activity.

This bulletin board has become a favorite spot every Veterans Day at Whittier Elementary in Salt Lake City, Utah.

It was so amazing to see how quickly the bulletin board grew as students saw others honor veterans they knew.  It was also fun to see students, especially non-native students, who don't know any veterans, ask teachers to tell them names of veterans that they could make dog tags for.  Yes folks, we had dog tags for George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and of course, my dad, Wayne S. Bullock.

I hope many of you are as enthusiastic about honoring our veterans as I am. Perhaps this can give you an idea on how to involve your entire school.  Don't forget to play TAPS at 11 am.  I get on the intercom and ask the students and faculty to stop what they are doing, stand quietly as we play TAPS in honor of all veterans past, present and future.

Taps mp3 free download

I love the pride our faculty, students and parents display and express at our school every year on Veterans Day.  It is truly and honor to honor those who have proudly served.