Payson High School Honors Veterans through Essay Contest and Assembly

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By Melissa Green

       On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in1918, the Armistice was signed and World War I reached its end. Armistice Day was celebrated the next year under President Woodrow Wilson. Twelve years later, Armistice Day became a National Holiday that we now know as Veteran’s Day.

       Payson High School honored United States veterans by holding a Veteran’s Day assembly November 11. This year’s assembly was unique because of student involvement in the program; it was truly a great assembly.

     The assembly started with Eagle Scouts attending PHS presenting the colors and followed by the Chamber choir singing our National Anthem. The school-wide patriotic essay contest winners were presented: Wyatt McDaniel, Jesseca Owens, Taylor Brown, Ashlin Alexander, Alena Johnson, Kai Schulze, Gillian Howden, Keaton Evans, and Eden Penrod. Taylor Brown and Kai Schulze, who were awarded first place, read their essays to introduce the theme of the assembly. Two PHS students who were given the chance to tour Washington, DC, Greg Baird and Melissa Green, spoke about their experience at our Nation’s capital and especially the war memorials and Arlington National Cemetery that they visited on their trip. PHS Social Science Sterling Scholar, Melissa Green, then addressed the student body on the history and meaning behind Veteran’s Day.

     The very special guest speaker, Brent McClellan, a veteran of the Vietnam War, shared his experiences and emphasized that our freedom is paid for with the blood of soldiers. He urged the student body to remember that. The student body was then invited to stand in the audience and be recognized in representation of family members and friends who are or were serving in the military. The assembly ended with PHS Concert Choir singing “Distant Land”, a song that calls for peace and freedom for all.

       “It’s important to have an assembly to show that we still care,” said Social Science Department Chair, Stanley Robbins, “We show the veterans that we appreciate their sacrifices, even though the war may be over. We also show that we appreciate and enjoy the freedoms that they fought for us to have.”

 

Attributions
Story By Melissa Green. Photo by Krystal Baker
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