This past Tuesday, November 11th, our students and staff celebrated our veterans this Veterans Day. It was a privilege to be able to honor those who served, and those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.
Our student body along with our teachers and staff, gathered together in the gym to honor our veterans in our community who served our country. We opened the event with our national anthem, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Senior Bradley Miller read off a few letters written by service members to their service members back home. He did an outstanding job showing his professionalism and respect.
We had a fantastic speech given by senior Jack Brugos. He spoke about the honor that our veterans deserve and have earned. His speech was inspiring and made me realize just how much our veterans have sacrificed.
I had the great honor to talk to Jack in person about his experience and the work that goes into the assembly. He described it as a “great honor,” and I could not agree more. Even though this is his last year here, he said that he would love to do it again if someone asked. When I asked how long it took to prepare, he explained that it took months of planning, basically starting preparation at the beginning of the school year. He claims that he just wants people to know what they sacrificed and if one person takes something from this then it’s all worth it.
Some of the steps he took to ensure the assembly ran smoothly were things I had never even considered. He explained that he had to determine what would be included in the program, which community veterans could attend, whether some of the band members could play, whether the choir could perform the national anthem, and whether the art students could create cards. Another challenge he faced was making sure the event felt meaningful rather than just another assembly. I was amazed to learn how much effort went into preparing an event that lasted only one hour.
A bit more about Jack Brugos: he is an honor student. Outside of school, he is an Eagle Scout and enjoys exercising. When I asked about his academic interests, he said he enjoys history and science, especially biology. He also enjoys reading. He wants to be a biologist and, after high school he plans on going to college to get his PhD. in Zoology. He would like to study orangutans.
I would love to one last time thank everyone for coming out whether you were student and staff. With a special thanks to our veterans for not only coming out, for your years of hard service to our community, but most importantly for serving our country. Thank you all, and remember to thank a service member for all they sacrifice.
