Honoring heroes: Waynesburg Central students pay tribute to veterans
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg Central Elementary School fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders close the annual Veterans Day Celebration with “The Heart of America” Wednesday morning. Parents, family members and local veterans gathered in the high school auditorium for musical performances and a keynote speech to honor those who served ahead of Nov. 11.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Fourth-graders Kaleb Phillips, Carli Stieringer and Gunnar Novotny demonstrate a proper folding of the American flag as their classmates look on during the annual Veterans Day Celebration at Waynesburg Central High School Wednesday morning.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Joe Kirsch, a junior at Waynesburg Central High School, performs “Taps” on his trumpet during the annual Veterans Day Celebration on Wednesday morning.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct grade of the instrumentalist.
Parents, family members and local servicemen gathered inside the Waynesburg Central High School auditorium Wednesday morning for an uplifting and educational program put on by Waynesburg Central Elementary School students.
“Recent events have made us realize what we have as Americans and the freedoms that we do enjoy. Today, we recognize those who have protected and continue to protect our way of life,” principal Scott Headlee said during his opening remarks. “They have given us every day and they have protected every freedom. We must honor them every day in every way that we possibly can.”
Honoring veterans, Headlee said, includes actively maintaining the nation’s freedoms, teaching future generations what it means to be an American, volunteering, caring for veterans and their families, voting, and, in Waynesburg, demonstrating thanks through the district’s annual Veterans Day Celebration program.
The program began with the presentation of colors by Dave Munn and Don Keller, both U.S. Army veterans with VFW Post 4739, and the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. When the third grade’s video recording glitched, the audience completed the national anthem a cappella.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Heldreth, an E5 Navy SeaBee and 2015 WCHS graduate, delivered the keynote speech through a video recording sent from his base in Sicily.
“Serving isn’t just about serving your country. It’s really about, what does the military do to you, how do you transform in the process, through your career? Everyone I’ve worked with, we’ve all become better people,” Heldreth said. “And (service) also brings people together, one goal, one mission. We all fight for the same team.”
Heldreth remembered performing in the Veterans Day Celebration and thanked students for carrying on the tradition, begun in 2010, of honoring local veterans ahead of Veterans Day.
“It means the world to all of us who served and are still serving,” he said.
Fourth-grade students impressed the audience away with their rendition of “America the Beautiful,” fifth grade’s choreography to “Yankee Doodle Dandy” dazzled, and sixth grade delivered a moving performance of “You Are Our Heroes.”
Fourth-grade representatives explained the American flag’s symbolism while Kaleb Phillips, Carli Stieringer, and Gunnar Novotny properly folded a flag on stage. After eleventh-grader Joe Kirsch played “Taps,” grades four, five and six stood together to close the program with a spirited rendition of “The Heart of America.”
As students, parents, family members and veterans exited the auditorium, a video played, filling the space with thanks from students who shouted out those family members who served or are serving in the U.S. military.
“We honor veterans today because we know that without them, there would be no land of the free,” Headlee said.