Dec 02 2019
Herald-Mail Media
GREENCASTLE, Pa. — Dressed in red, white and blue for the day, Greencastle-Antrim High School students honored veterans during a special Veterans Day assembly.
The students also are once again sponsoring a service project fundraiser to benefit two veterans' organizations.
The annual Veterans Day assembly was held Friday, Nov. 8, during school hours. Air Force Master Sgt. Stacey Little was the school's featured speaker at the assembly.
Deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Little currently serves as a senior contracting specialist with the District of Columbia Air National Guard at Joint Base Andrews.
Little incorporated the drill, "I'm up, they see me, I'm down," to encourage students that, no matter what they are facing in life, to not "stay down." She encouraged students to get back up and try again to demonstrate the importance of resiliency.
An honor guard that included local veterans from the American Legion and VFW Post 6319 led the ceremonial placement of the flags and they were honored by the students during the assembly.
Teachers Curtis Martin and Abby Wishard sang the national anthem and the Greencastle-Antrim concert band performed several patriotic selections under the direction of Peter Vincenti.
The winners of the VFW’s "Voice of Democracy" speech contest also were announced.
Blake Dixon finished in first place, Kiersten Gorman was second and Ashley Widder earned third-place honors.
All three students, who are in English teacher Brandon Solomon's speech class, will compete at the next level of competition. The contest has been sponsored by VFW Post 6319 for the past 10 years.
Student Davin Potter, who is an intern with teacher Tara Clopper in the STEAM department, created a video that featured students interviewing their fathers who are veterans.
Student Madison Kirkwood interviewed her father, Todd; Wesley Shubert interviewed his father, Mark; and Olivia Winslow interviewed her father, Jim.
All three veterans spoke about the impact their service had on them and their families and about the importance of honoring veterans.
As part of the annual Veterans Day project, the social studies department kicked off a fundraising activity by selling patriotic buttons during school lunch periods.
The buttons were designed and produced by students from classes taught by Clopper and John Bartram.
The money raised will benefit two veterans' organizations — the Nine Line Foundation, which is dedicated to helping the most severely wounded combat veterans rebuild their lives; and the Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation.
The purpose of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation is to honor Gold Star families by establishing scholarships for eligible Gold Star Families and establish permanent memorial monuments throughout the country.
Students from Ellen Kirkner’s civics classes and Meagan Brockway’s American History classes will sell the buttons Friday during Heritage Christmas activities in downtown Greencastle.
