Soldiers' Hearts

Wow, I was so happy with everyone who was a part of the Veterans' Day program. It was a very special program that brought honor to all veterans, especially those who were at Woodbrook today. A huge thank you to Lieutenant Colonel Todd Spencer, who spoke to the whole school about why it is imperative that we, as Americans, honor and respect those who have fought for our freedoms. Thank you to all the veterans who came in, including 5-1 parents and grandparents.

Thank you to the members of my class who took part today: Jacob Pitz, Winter Owens, Reese Hicks, Elizabeth Hargis, Kyle Porter, Maria Saam, Caleb Vahle, Trevor Berridge, Will Hurdle, David Sampson, Alyssa Pisano-Martin, Matthew Harcourt, Anna Gans, Charles Hargis, Christian Chacko, John Keen, Cole Pergal, Emma Cunningham, Trey Brown, Jake Zimmer, Austin Vertesch, and Tera Botta. Flag holders from my class included Frisco Gonzalez, Vaughn Niemiec, and Reece Tofaute who sang in the choir. I also had choir members and flag holders from my math class, which included Derek Fronek, Ashley Witucki, Jackson Adams, Nick Atkins, Yosuke Yanagida, Tyler Trent, Divy Sunderraj, Xavier Cocca, Corey Birch, Alex Baldwin, and choir members Ally Eaton and Quin Dreyer.

Thank you also to Mrs. Kleinschmidt (who talked me down from panic mode at one point this morning) and Mrs. Melchi for helping me get everything situated on the technology side, Mrs. Davis and Mr. Hunter for their work in getting the presentation started and keeping the crowd controlled. Mrs. Ratner and the Woodbrook Choir for the songs they provided. Mr. Zangrilli was manning the sound system the whole time. It was just a great presentation. Mrs. Hegeland took some awesome pictures. She said she would burn them to a CD and get them to me by next week. Look for them here on the Dojo when I get them. Thank you to Mrs. Elder and Mrs. Bowman for working with some of my students to help them prepare the delivery of their lines. As I told the kids when it was all over today, I was just the guy who pulled down the screen.

As the show closed out while Mr. Vahle sang America, Lt. Col. Spencer had all of the veterans in attendance line up at the doors where the exiting students shook their hands and thanked them for their service. It was very moving.

Miss Mellinger's own father, a veteran of the United States Coast Guard, came in after the presentation and told the kids about what the coast guard was and what they did. The kids had so many great questions. I loved watching the kids as they held his special agent badge in his hands and looked at the pictures of boats with names like "Midget" and "Ice Breaker". As he was leaving, I thanked him and, smiling, he said, "Thank you, that really made my day."

The rest of the day was a blur to me. We had a math quiz for about five minutes in there somewhere, and I seem to remember throwing together a spelling test, but I apologize if the daily grind was pushed to the back of my mind to make room for the overwhelming pride I felt for what your kids did today.