Day 143: Memorial Day Program

When I started the annual Memorial Day Program at school back in 2000, I was disgusted by the cavalier attitudes that our students and staff held.  Partying, shopping, picnics were the main preoccupations for the holiday weekend.  It was an idea that developed over time as I observed my students and thought about what I wanted to teach them that would last a lifetime.  When we visited the cemetery each May, the graves of veterans, including my dad's, were decorated with American flags.   So few kids understood the sacrifices made by servicemen and women.

You wouldn't think there would be any objections to a half hour, interdisciplinary program honoring vets, but there were plenty.  Two departments insisted that students couldn't afford to miss the class time.  In the first two years, some science teachers refused to release the kids from labs to attend.   Jr. ROTC cadets from Dunkirk High provided the color guard and some of our kids mocked them, giggled or hooted during the ceremony.

But then terrorists struck the U.S. The ceremony in 2002 was incredibly solemn as we paid tribute to the firemen, policemen and transit workers and civilians who were killed that terrible day.  Resistance from the staff vanished.   When the ceremony for 2003 came around, Colin was in basic training and the war in Iraq was underway.  I was terrified, just like so many other parents of servicemen.

Today's program was incredibly moving and beautiful.  Pat's military history class conducted the flag ceremony with great dignity. The audience was silent and respectful.  Little preschoolers wore star spangled hats and sat at the feet of the madrigal singers.  Michael and Elijah sang "On Angel's Wings".  But what made us both cry was a song about an 18 year old traveling soldier going to Vietnam sung by Margaret, Abby and Cassidy and accompanied by Deanna.

I am so grateful that Amy has continued to organize the program and that it's become part of Fredonia's traditions.