Students Honor Veterans

The Wahkiakum High School leadership class put together a heartfelt ceremony to honor our local veterans on Thursday, November 7th at the high school gym. Over ____ veterans were in attendance as the students from the high school and middle school paid tribute to their time as service men and women.

The program kicked off with a robot parade created by Mrs. Olson’s 4th and 5th grade students. Robots were decorated in red, white, and blue and were programmed to create a heart shape formation as patriotic music played in the background. This entertaining idea was to make a fantastic way to start the program to honor the veterans.

ASB President, Parker Leitz, opened the ceremony with an introduction and shared the significance of the day with his school peers. Fellow student leaders followed up with a description of each of the armed forces, sharing the military branch motto to conclude each branch.

A staff member of Wahkiakum High and Army Veteran, Josh Miller, addressed the crowd and spoke to the importance of his time in service and how life impacted his time in the Army. “Working in a high stress environment, and with every type of personality you can think of, gave me a lot of skills in how to communicate with people from all walks of life. The veteran’s day programs really brings to light the community involvement and care when it comes to its veterans,” shard Miller.

Following Miller’s speech, Mrs. Brown’s 5th grade class presented America’s White Fallen Soldier Table. They shared the significance of the circular table, ladened with a white tablecloth, a single rose, a plate of lemon and salt, the black napkin, an overturned glass, and a single empty chair. Aa a symbol of missing and captive service members, the Fallen Soldiers Table originated during the time of the Vietnam War.

Next, the Senior Class created a candle arch as the names of local veterans were read, walking in with a single lit candle one by one. The presentation is humbling and brings a direct connection to the students in the audience as they heard the names of family, friends and community members being honored for their service.

To conclude the ceremony, the high school band played the service branch theme songs and invited veterans to stand and be honored as their branches piece was played. Anna Vik belted out the masterpiece on her trumpet, as supporting band members brought each piece to full honor. It was an incredible performance by Mrs. Mead’s band.

The program is an annual event that is anticipated by local veterans each year. Veterans attended the ceremony then enjoyed a nice brunch provided by the leadership class following the assembly.