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airview High School and Lewis F. Mayer Middle School students learned about service and sacrifice during an emotional Veterans Day assembly on Nov. 10.
“It was stated to me that it’s been a very long time since this had happened,” Campus Principal Chris Vicha explained. “It probably had not been done since the mid to late nineties, and that was confirmed by a few other longtime staff members. Our goal moving forward is to do this every single year.”
Recognizing veterans was more than just the assembly. Weeks before the event, students were encouraged to invite military family members to the school for a special breakfast. Students also prepared to welcome veterans by creating red, white and blue paper chains with handwritten notes for veterans. Approximately 9,000 links of the chain were created for the hallways in the school.
“This group of veterans was a group that didn’t necessarily know each other because the connections are through our students,” Vicha said. “It was neat to see one Marine meet another Marine and to hear the stories between them at their first meeting. Seeing that excitement and impact as they compare old war stories, for lack of a better term. That was neat.”
After breakfast, all 847 middle school and high school students gathered in the FHS gymnasium for the assembly. The ceremony was conducted by students who had a connection to a family member who served in the Armed Forces.
“I feel like the program brought more recognition for veterans to all the students,” Nichole Conlan, an eighth-grader who led the moment of silence at the assembly, said. “Some students might not have known the importance of it.”
Recognition of veterans included signing the National Anthem by the Scarlet Singers and a salute to our Armed Forces by the Fairview High School band. In an especially touching moment, two students played Echo Taps after the moment of silence in recognition of fallen heroes.
The assembly also featured Danielle Krakora, an Army combat veteran, who spoke to the audience about her journey and why it’s important to celebrate Veterans Day.
“Her one line in there, which I loved, was you don’t have to wait until Veterans Day to thank a veteran,” Vicha said of Krakora’s speech. “The way you thank a veteran is to be a good citizen of the United States, every single day. And that was so true.”
Another important part of the ceremony was the recognition of current Fairview Park City School District employees who served in the military. These four staff members, Kale Chevalier (Mayer Middle School), Brian Miller (Transportation), Sean Ranc (Fairview High School), and Cory Szucs (Transportation), were publicly recognized and thanked by the school for their service.
“It was a great opportunity for all of our kids to learn more about them and the path that led them to working here every day,” Vicha stated. “All four of them had completely different stories, completely different paths, and completely different experiences.”
The response to the assembly was extremely positive. Vicha stated that the school’s staff thought the ceremony was professionally done and poignant. Families who attended the event were thankful for the time the students put into making the recognition special for veterans.
“We knocked it out of the park. Our kids were phenomenal,” Vicha expressed. “I heard that from our family members that were there. It was so nice to see so many kids in one place who were able to participate and listen and learn from an event like this. A lot of positives all around.”