A Veteran’s day event, held in the auxiliary gym on Nov. 3, was set up by Walnut High School teachers to inform students about the value and importance of the holiday by inviting veterans to speak about their experience.
The event is held annually during lunch time on the first monday of November of the year.. The purpose is to teach students about the backstory of the holiday and get to meet with real military veterans. The event is aimed towards students to help them understand the coming holiday’s significance and to build respect for all veterans. History teacher Brett Landis and security guard Donna Waggoner helped set up the event and contacted the veterans. During their work, Landis wanted the students to reflect on their encounters and experiences with the veterans, not just on a stage, but in face-to-face conversations.
“One of the important roles teachers have in working with students is to help engage students in their sense of civic responsibility, and this was an activity where students were able to contextualize their day off of school on Veterans Day, with their meeting of a veteran,” Landis said.
Despite the veterans being busy with their lives, most of them still took time out of their day to attend, as they wanted to help teach the students about the event’s true purpose.
“This event was not really focused on the military experiences of our veterans, but what they’ve done with their life since and how that experience has shaped them in their communities,” Landis said.
During the ceremony, senior Sean Vu helped in organizing and inviting veterans to speak about their time in the military and how it shapes them today.. Outside of the event, Vu has experience in Civil Air Patrol where he leads his fellow youth through military experiences and training to build leadership and discipline skills, all while helping him connect with the American military veterans on a closer level, In addition to this, he was able to give a speech about the MIA and prisoner of war veterans at the ceremony.
“I felt very proud to be able to speak for the veterans, and it definitely was something that was an honor for me. It was not something I get to do every day so doing that was really impactful,” Vu said.
Despite the event being focused on veterans, the main purpose of the event was for the students to reflect on what they learned from the event and to realize the sacrifice behind the federal holiday. When junior Natalie Marmolejo heard of the event, she wanted to be a part of it.
“I did meet a lot of people, and I talked to them. It made me feel really grateful for what they did for our country,” Marmolejo said.
Ultimately, the event helped the students respect and become closer with military service and military officials. Some students even started to contemplate joining or taking part in the military after connecting with veterans from this event.
“This event was important to me because I’m someone who aspires to be in the military eventually, and it’s also something that I have a close connection to. I have many family members who are veterans. So doing it is something that it’s just natural to do,” Vu said.
