The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
An opportunity for youngsters to relate the pledge to the veterans at the MK8 assembly.
KyAnna Petz, Brooke Wisnoski read a poem to the veterans in attendance at the MHS program Thursday morning.
The sixth grade opens the ceremony with the National Anthem.
Guests partake in a chili dinner as the American Legion and their auxiliary visit with local veterans.
Three years in the making, this American flag stands proudly as the veterans are lauded.
On Veterans Day, the Moorcroft High School (MHS) and MK8 celebrated local military men and women, grandparents, parents and siblings, who have in a very real sense given their allegiance to the flag as promised in the words of the pledge these youngsters say every day.
MHS juniors and seniors worked together to honor veterans Thursday morning with an assembly of seventh through 12th grade students, along with the veterans and other members of the community. The MHS band and choir, along with music teacher Shanna Kinnick, performed Amazing Grace as the event commenced.
Event coordinator Lona Tracy mentioned many of the highlights of the program including remembering POW/MIAs and honoring combat medics and corpsman, a rendition of Taps and a PowerPoint honoring local veterans, including a soldier named Lew Gimbel as well as a rendition of the poem "Flander's Field."
Tracy said of this event, "The ceremony's purpose was to make sure veterans understand how appreciated they are and for students to understand the price of freedom."
The MK8 concert started the program by singing the national anthem before the vets were asked to stand and be introduced to the assembly.
Students Lani Gill and Brennan Burris read patriotic poems before the concert continued with songs like "My Country Tis of Thee" and "Battle Hyme of the Republic".
The handmade flag that held place of honor behind the singers began about three years ago only to be completed this year, according to art teacher Dawn Anderson. At that time, "Mr. [Dane] Grondin's sixth grade music students cut out the paper stripes and then, with help from art students, we taped the flag together. I [had] kept it in the storage closet for the past couple years and dug it out again a few days ago. We weren't able to have concerts last year due to Covid, so it was all 'new' again this year."
After pulling the work into the light again, Anderson and her kids continued the creation of this special flag: "This year, elementary art students did a guided drawing of a soldier and added details of their choice in the background by looking at reference materials, basically pictures of military ships, tanks, airplanes, etc., to complete their picture, hoping veterans would enjoy viewing their handiwork. The drawings all had a white background so I had students tape their drawings onto the white stripe of the flag to jazz it up a little!"
