In recognition of Veterans Day, schools from across the William Floyd School District engaged in various projects and activities that emphasized the importance of recognizing our nation's veterans! Please see a recap below!
William Floyd Elementary School
In honor of Veterans Day, William Floyd Elementary School created a Hallway of Heroes to recognize and celebrate the brave men and women that have served in the United States Armed Forces! The hallway was filled with "Hero Stars" that students created with their families to honor a veteran or a future veteran (active-duty service member) who is special to them. The honorees ranged from family members, family friends and neighbors! All of the stars that were created by students and staff members where then organized, collected and displayed in the hallway by WFE teachers Mrs. Danielle Mocera and Ms. Nikki Strull. Additionally, Ms. Linda Lutzen, art teacher, designed the banner for the Hallway of Heroes and had her students create a version of poppy flowers, which are commonly associated with Memorial Day, and the remembrance of fallen soldiers.
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Moriches Elementary School
Moriches Elementary School displayed their 6th annual "Wall of Honor" in recognition of Veterans Day! The wall was decorated with "My American Hero" activities, which were completed by students with the help of their families. In this activity, the students and families chose someone they know who has served the country and detailed their name, service branch and years of service. They then decorated an American flag and placed a photo of their honored veteran at the center. In addition to this beautiful "Wall of Honor," Moriches also hosted a Spirit Day on Monday, November 10 and encouraged everyone in the building to wear camouflage in honor of Veterans Day.
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Tangier Smith Elementary School
On November 10, Tangier Smith Elementary School students in Ms. Montalbano, Mrs. Contes and Mrs. Burkhardt's third-grade classes were proud to celebrate the U.S. Marine Corps' 250th birthday alongside Corporal Heather M. McMahon! Cpl. McMahon, who served in the Marines from 1996-2000, spoke with students about her experience on a Google Meets session. Students asked Cpl. McMahon questions while exploring Google Meets for the first time. They loved hearing about their new favorite Marine Corps veteran, while learning about Google Meets' various features including the hand raising tool, the chat, the mute button and video button. Thank you for your service, Cpl. McMahon!
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Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School
Students in Ms. Erika Redmond's class had a great day celebrating Veterans Day! They learned about the six branches of the military and the purpose of each. Together, they read poems that celebrated the bravery of our veterans, and created a personal thank you card to teaching assistant Wilma Amaya's husband who is a veteran and is also currently serving with the National Guard. They also made "thank you" hats to support our veterans (pictured)!
Students in Ms. Krystina Stevens' class also learned about what a veteran is and the different branches of military. They also talked about ways to show how thankful they are for their service, and created Veterans Day themed arts and crafts activities!
The Nathaniel Woodhull Community Cares club, advised by Ms. Kayla Schweers, crafted homemade cards for veterans within the local community!
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John S. Hobart Elementary School
In recognition of Veterans Day, the John S. Hobart PTO arranged the "Field of Flags" on the front lawn of the school! Students and staff had the opportunity to dedicate flags to specific veterans in their lives. The flags will remain throughout November. Additionally, students in Ms. Kristin McNamara and Emily Kunsch's ICT class wrote thank you cards for veterans!
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William Floyd Middle School
In 2019, William Floyd Middle School art teacher Timothy Kosta created a beautiful sculpture on the school's front lawn as a way to honor our veterans! This year, with the help of head custodian Kayla Waring, Mr. Kosta upgraded the three metal doves to aluminum and also added flags representing the different branches of the military just ahead of Veterans Day! Pictured below is a written description by Mr. Kosta which describes the meaning of the sculpture and provides an excellent tribute to our veterans!
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William Floyd High School & William Paca Middle School
At William Floyd High School, Principal Philip Scotto stated the following to encapsulate this important nationwide recognition of our past service members. "Veterans Day was established as Armistice Day in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson after the end of World War I. President Wilson declared: 'To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the council of nations...' Today, we celebrate Veterans Day on November 11th and dedicate all of November to remembering those brave men and women who have fought in various wars to defend our country. Let us remember our veterans during this month of observance."
William Paca Middle School also paid tribute to veterans by sharing facts about Veterans Day over the morning announcements and recognizing all of the veterans that work at Paca!
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