Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Lieutenant Colonel James Torok of the United States Air Force was the guest speaker at Canfield Village Middle School’s annual Veterans Day program on Nov. 11.
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Lieutenant Colonel James Torok of the United States Air Force joined his son, Logan, as the guest speaker at the Canfield Village School’s Veterans Day program on Nov. 11.
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.To close the Canfield Village Middle School’s annual Veterans Day program, Miles Johnson, an eighth-grade student, played “Taps” from the back of the auditorium on Nov. 11.
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.A Canfield Village Middle School student explained the significance of the inverted glass on The White Table during the school’s annual Veterans Day program on Nov. 11.
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Under the direction of social studies teachers Mike Kerensky (back right) and Jason Jugenheimer (back left) eighth-grade student volunteers prepared and executed the Canfield Village Middle School’s Veterans Day program, which featured Lieutenant Colonel James Torok of the United States Air Force (front right) on Nov. 11.
By ABBY SLANKER
Students and faculty at C.H. Campbell Elementary School honored local veterans at the school’s annual Veterans Day Assembly Nov. 11. The assembly featured Bruce Kirkland, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in August of 1956 at age 17. Kirkland is also the Toys for Tots representative in the Canfield Local School District.
CHC Principal Travis Lavery welcomed everyone to the assembly.
“I am honored to be here today to recognize our veterans. As a social studies teacher, I spent many years honoring our veterans. It was something I always did in my classes and getting the kids involved was great. I would like to thank the efforts of Mr. Fay for organizing our musical program today and Mrs. Zarlenga-Buist for organizing our veterans. I have veterans in my family and it means a lot to me to have you all here to honor our veterans,” Lavery said.
Lavery introduced the second-grade class, which, under the direction of Michael Fay, C.H. Campbell music specialist, performed “The Star Spangled Banner.” The students also acted as narrators, giving the audience facts about and the history of Veterans Day.
A skit was then performed by a group of students, about conducting research on and learning about Veterans Day for a school project.
The second-graders took the stage again and led the audience in singing “God Bless America” and then performed “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”
Fourth-grade teacher Dana Zarlenga-Buist introduced featured speaker Kirkland.
“Thank you for having me today. The veterans you see here today are a band of brothers and sisters. I would like to talk about the 13 folds of the American flag and what each fold means. It is a little known part of military history,” Kirkland said.
Kirkland went on to tell the audience the meaning of each fold, starting with fold one, which is the symbol of life. Fold two represents the belief in eternal life and fold three represents the honor and remembrance of veterans. Fold four represents weaker nature, while fold five is a tribute to country and fold six represents where our hearts lie. Fold seven is a tribute to our Armed Forces, while fold eight is a tribute to one who enters the valley of the shadow of death. Fold nine is a tribute to womanhood and mothers and fold 10 is a tribute to the father. Fold 11 represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and fold 12 represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in Christian’s eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. Finally, with fold 13, the flag is completely folded with the stars upright, which reminds us of our nation’s motto, ‘In God We Trust.’
Zarlenga-Buist then recognized the veterans in attendance. Each veteran was given a flag by a student, which was flown over the grave of a veteran in one of Canfield’s cemeteries.
Zarlenga-Buist also recognized family members of C.H. Campbell staff who are on active duty or are veterans. They were also presented with a flag.
“Our veterans take time away from their families and some have given the ultimate sacrifice. They are the real heroes in our society. The ones right in front of us today. Thank you, veterans. Veterans Day is everyday. Take the time to thank a veteran for protecting our precious freedoms. Lean over, hold out your hand and say thank you. Two little words that mean a lot,” Zarlenga-Buist said.
The second-graders took the stage again and performed “Salute to Armed Forces,” during which veterans were asked to stand during their branch’s song, to resounding applause.
In their final performance, second-grade teacher Patricia Mosure joined the second-grade students in singing “Proud To Be An American.”