Honoring veterans during a pandemic required some changes, but Eastside Elementary rose to the challenge and persevered.
“Our veterans mean so very much to us,” said Eastside teacher Jason Gann. “It is important to us that we honor these brave heroes as a school. We simply want to say thank you. Thank you for your service, thank you for your love, thank you for helping us to have our country – the United States of America.”
Eastside went virtual with its Veterans Day assembly, providing students system-wide and the public an opportunity to watch the event from the safety of their classrooms and homes.
A video can be seen on the Warren County Schools Television YouTube page for those who missed the live stream.
To watch video of the Veterans Day program, visit www.southernstandard.com.
“This is the first time in history the Veterans Day assembly is a virtual assembly,” said Gann. “Even during these times, it is important we honor the veterans of our country.”
The event opened with Student Body president Dillon Kester leading the Pledge to Allegiance and a moment of silence, followed by Darla Tollison singing “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Guest speaker was Warren County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jason Satterwhite, who served in the U.S. Army from 1991 to 1995. He is currently Eastside’s SRO.
“Thirty years ago, I voluntarily enlisted in the United States Army on my 17th birthday,” said Satterwhite. “As a young man, I felt a great sense of duty to serve our country. I just needed to repay our country for the freedom that I enjoyed growing up. For my family, that duty fell on me. Someone had to do it. Citizens have a duty to stand against fraudulent, corrupt and evil forces and protect our nation.”
Satterwhite quoted Edmund Burke in saying, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
“I knew the strength of our country relied on good men and women to serve as guardians of the future,” he said. “Their sacrifices of the past have ensured our sustained liberty thus far. When our founding fathers finished writing the constitution at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, there were crowds of people standing outside Independence Hall.”
Satterwhite relayed a verbal exchange between Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Willing Powel.
“There was a lady there from Philadelphia named Mrs. Powel and she asked Benjamin Franklin, ‘Well, doctor, what have we got: a republic or a monarchy?’ He responded, ‘A republic, if you can keep it.’ For over 230 years, it has been the duty of free men and women, veterans, to stand the post and secure our great republic. The same republic we pledge alliance to here at Eastside every morning.”
Presentations were given by students impersonating notable persons such as President Donald Trump, Dorothea Dix, James Madison, Tennessee First Lady Maria Lee, Debbie McKee-Fowler and An American Citizen. Those roles were played by Kingston Judkins, Madelyn Noll, Matthew Elder, Cadence Slatton, Kelly Bush and Samuel Blankenship, respectively.
Dix (1802-1887) was an American advocate. She worked on behalf of the indigent mentally ill. Through a vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, she created the first generation of American mental asylums.
“Yankee Doodle” was performed by student Lexie Hollandsworth, who offered the American version on a xylophone. Derek Masters offered a somber moment with the famous bugle called “Taps.” Singing “This Land is Your Land” were Megan Garwood and Darla Tollison, which was the finale.
