Veterans Get a Heroes Celebration at Spring Hill Elementary

Robert Ryff, U.S. Coast Guard, salutes students as they welcome him to the Veterans Day assembly.

Students dressed in red and white and holding American flags lined the hallway of Spring Hill Elementary to welcome over 60 veterans who were honored at the school on Veterans Day.

Both retired and active service military personnel from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, and Coast Guard were recognized and thanked for their service and sacrifices. The students recited “Heroes Die for Me” and sang “Song for the Unsung Hero,” among a number of other patriotic songs, as their honorees watched and listened from the stage of the school’s cafeteria.

Among the honored guests was Lt. Col. (Ret.) Sharon Collins, former assistant principal of Spring Hill Elementary and mother of Army 1st Lt. Robert Collins who was killed in Iraq earlier this year. All staff members wore a star with Robert Collins’ picture in his honor. Also among the veterans honored was the school’s principal, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Randy Hudson.

Students presented each veteran with a special medallion to commemorate the day as their names and branch of military were announced. Veterans who fought in WW II, the Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom were in attendance.

Each grade level, K through fifth, also presented a HeroBox to Tyrone resident Ryan Housley, founder and executive director of HeroBox.org. Each box contained food, personal hygiene and entertainment items that have been requested by deployed soldiers. The third grade was declared the grade level winner, collecting the most items in the shortest amount of time.

“It is people like you that enable us to support our soldiers and give them what they need,” Housley told the students as he explained the mission of his organization and that it started because his brother, Evan, who was deployed to Iraq in late 2007, noted that the typical care packages soldiers receive were generic and did not always provide items they need.

HeroBox.org is a nonprofit organization that gives deployed service members the ability to request specific items while providing Americans with a way to directly support the troops. HeroBox.org was launched in 2008.

Major Robert “Josh” Woodruff was the Master of Ceremonies. Teachers Shelby Garner, chairperson of the Rays of Sunshine Service Committee, and Karen Neuner, music teacher and head of the Veterans Day Activity Committee, organized the program.

Following the assembly, the veterans enjoyed a reception in the media center and visits to classrooms.


Photo Source: Fayette County Board of Education
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Schools Set to Honor Veterans on Veterans Day

Veterans and active military personnel from throughout the county will be special guests of Fayette County Public Schools this Veterans Day as they attend assemblies, parades, and other special events recognizing their service and sacrifices for our country.

Students and teachers have been planning and organizing events for weeks. Preparation began with classroom instruction about the significance of Veterans Day and why it is important to remember those who have, and are serving in the United States military.

Combined with their studies, students have been working on songs, skits, short plays and assemblies to which they are inviting veterans from their school communities to attend. Here is a brief rundown of events happening at schools around the county on Veterans Day, November 11:

Braelinn Elementary will host a breakfast from 8:30-9:15 a.m. for veterans and active military personnel with a flyover, weather permitting, from 9:15-9:45 a.m.

Brooks Elementary is serving lunch to veterans from 11 a.m.-noon followed by an assembly featuring the Sandy Creek High School Air Force Junior ROTC Color Guard. The school’s annual Veterans Day Parade will take place 1:15-2 p.m. with music from the Whitewater High School Marching Band.

Cleveland Elementary fourth and fifth grade students will perform a musical titled “Faces of Freedom” at 7 p.m. The program will also feature a kindergarten soloist.

Crabapple Lane Elementary will hold an assembly at 8:30 a.m. to honor veterans in its school community. Immediately following the assembly, the students will line the halls for the Veterans Walk. The walk was one of the most touching moments from last year’s celebration, according to Principal Doe Evans. “One of our grandfathers, who has difficulty walking, would not ride in a wheelchair, but insisted on walking the entire distance. Our students cheered him on. It brought tears to our eyes,” she says.

Fayette Middle will have its annual Veterans Day program at 9 a.m. in the gymnasium with Principal Sharlene Patterson’s twin sister, USAF Colonel Shirlene Ostrov, as one of the speakers. A reception will follow in the media center.

Huddleston Elementary will begin its annual Veterans Day assembly at 8 a.m. in the school’s gymnasium.

Peeples Elementary will invite past and present military personnel to join them at 1:45 p.m. for a walk around the school. Students will honor them by lining the hallways, waving flags and singing patriotic songs.

Sara Harp Minter Elementary will invite veterans to join students for a special assembly featuring The Voice of Veterans.

Spring Hill Elementary will have a daylong celebration for veterans beginning with a Patriotic Parade in the school from 9-9:15 a.m. immediately followed by an assembly where each veteran will receive a medal in honor of their service and sacrifice. Students will also perform a Patriotic Musical Salute. The school will host a reception after the assembly and veterans will visit classrooms.

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