To celebrate Veterans day and all the services and risks our soldiers take Conestoga hosted a Veterans Day Program on Friday, Nov. 8. Veterans were all honored for their service whether retired, on duty, or dead due to battle.
“There is a lot of planning and organization that takes place. Our continuous display of those that have served in our community continues to grow and is around 200 at this time,” said Rob Geise. “There is communication with NHS, FFA, Speech, the English Department, staff, etc. to get students in the right spot for when the day occurs.”
Geise, as well as Callie T and Alyssa B, were introduced to the audience to welcome all people who attended. To start off the program Conestoga FFA did the presentation of colors. White stands for purity, red stands for sacrifice and blue symbolizes perseverance and justice. All these colors mark the special anniversary of US history. While all attendees were standing the “National Anthem” by F. Scott Key Arr. D Keller was played by Conestoga’s 7-12 band.
“I have always loved our Veterans Day Program and each role I have played in it throughout high school has been an honor. My favorite part of our Veterans Program is that it is entirely run by students. The music played, the speeches given, and the flags presented and retired are all performed by students at Conestoga, with the exceptions of our principal and guest speaker. It truly shows the articulated and hard working student body we are,” said Callie T.
To honor all, all veterans were recognized along with CHS seniors who have devoted themselves to join the military. Davida G, Bella G, and Mason S are all CHS seniors who have committed to serving our country. Callie T then read “What is Veterans Day” and the history behind it all. To get peers’ perspectives on Veterans Day, 8th graders Emme P and Lorelai F read to the audience what Veterans Days means to them. After the speeches, “Washington Post Concert March” by John Phillip Sousa arr. E Osterling was performed by the 7-12 band. To continue on the music route 7-12 Choir sang “America the Beautiful”.
Earlier in the week elementary students wrote what Veterans Day means to them. Rachel C, a fifth grader, and Scarlett B, a sixth grader, were selected to read their speech. A veteran, Captain Daniel Ko, was kind enough to be our guest speaker. He is in the United States Air Force and works in court offices. He talked about all his experiences while in court offices and how his job changed him as a person. “Finding a speaker is sometimes difficult. This year we worked with Offutt Air Force Base and they helped line somebody up,“ said Geise.
Third Grade performed “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin followed by Bridget M, a CHS senior in Conestoga FFA, leading the “Meaning of the Folding of the Flag”. Every fold has a specific meaning relating to life once devoted to serving our country. Once the Folding of the Flag was completed the “Armed Forces Medley” was played. This video let all veterans stand up and be proud of what branch they served or are currently serving in. We got junior high and elementary’s perspective on Veterans Day but it was now highschool’s turn. Layla F, a sophomore, and Dylan K, a junior, presented their speeches and poems. Once all speeches were read Conestoga FFA did the retiring of colors ceremony. The Veterans Day program was coming to an end while Alex I played “Taps”, our closing. We thank all of you who showed up to join our program, honoring those who honorably served.
“I felt the program went really well. The students were amazing, we had a lot of families and Veterans in the building and everything ran smoothly. We also had a lot of positive comments from our guests regarding the program, our school and our students,” said Geise.
