Wadsworth High School hosted the annual Veterans Day Assembly on November 11, 2024 for local veterans and students.
The assembly consisted of a variety of speeches and musical performances. The assembly is broken up into three parts: band, choir, and a third including educational pieces that honor veterans.
This year, speakers highlighted the Honor Guard and conducted a POW/MIA ceremony using a table that held symbolic representations. The choir and band played several performances, including a solo from the choir and national anthems for the six armed forces from the band. In the beginning of the assembly, the students and staff members stood and clapped for the veterans as they entered the high school’s gym.
“The veterans always say they love the beginning when they walk in and we give them a round of applause, that’s one of their favorite parts,” said Jason Knapp, a history teacher at Wadsworth High School.
He has been involved in the assembly for 25 years and aims to find new ways to honor veterans every year through his classes.
The presentations from the assembly came from Wadsworth High School’s Advanced Placement US History class, which is led by Knapp.
“Sometimes it is challenging to find some students who might do that [present], but we always find someone to do it and they do a good job,” Knapp said.
Some of the students who presented include Connor McNeill (10), Brynn Bemiller (10), and Carter Parsons (10).
“The biggest message we wanna send is for our kids to understand that what they [veterans] did is an incredible sacrifice,” said Rich Berlin, an assistant principal at Wadsworth High School.
Prior to this year, Berlin coordinated the Veterans Day Assembly for eight years. Assistant principal Allison Romano was in charge of coordinating the assembly this year.
“I think that’s the greatest thing that needs to come from it [the assembly] is an appreciation of what people are willing to do for other people,” Berlin said. “And when we look at that, and we look at them going to war and them going into battle, how hard is it for us just to be kind to everybody everyday?”
Overall, the Veterans Day Assembly aimed to emphasize the importance of respect and honor of veterans amongst students and staff at Wadsworth High School.
