Kindergartners at Boistfort Elementary lead the Pledge of Allegiance during a Veteran's Day assembly on Thursday morning.
Students at Boistfort Elementary sing 'Yankee Doodle' during a Veterans Day assembly on Thursday morning in Curtis.
Jerry Zabriskie, of Boistfort, speaks at a Veterans Day assembly at Boistfort Elementary on Thursday morning. Zabriskie, a Lieutenant Colonel, served 29 years in the United States Army.
Veterans were given roses by the eighth grade students at Boistfort during an assembly on Thursday morning.
William Knutz gets a hug from his son, Zackery, after he was handed a rose for his military service during an assembly at Boistfort School on Thursday afternoon.
Local veterans and their families were invited to a Veteran's Day assembly at Boistfort Elementary on Thursday morning.
Students at Boistfort Elementary say the Pledge of Allegiance during a Veteran's Day assembly on Thursday morning.
Staff and students at Boistfort School came together on Thursday to thank veterans for their service at an annual Veterans Day assembly.
Each veteran present was acknowledged and given a flower for the sacrifices he or she made serving the country.
“This is a very special day for me,” Superintendent Shannon Criss said. “My husband and stepfather and grandfather all served in the military, so Veterans Day is very dear to my heart.”
As the veterans were thanked, the students, all donning hand-painted American flag shirts, sang the “Star Spangled Banner,” “You’re a Grand Ole’ Flag,” “Yankee Doodle” and the “Armed Forces Medley.”
Guest speaker of the day, retired Lt. Col. Jerry Zabriskie, of the U.S. Army, shared an important message with the students in attendance.
Reflecting on when World War II started when Zabriskie was in first grade, he said the country came together and helped the war effort. As a young elementary school student, Zabriskie would collect the aluminum off his gum wrappers to later turn into the war effort.
“It was an amazing thing,” he said. “The entire country came to war and I feel bad about now, because we are sending our young men into battle, some of them to die, many to bleed, and many come back without arms and legs. We support our troops with a little thing on the back of our car, but ... the only way we will ever be successful is if the entire country realizes we are at war and acts accordingly.”
He challenged the students to take ownership of their country.
After the assembly, Zabriskie said the most important thing now is to encourage the young people to be patriots.
“I did my job, and we need to encourage people to understand that this is our country and we need to keep it,” he said. “They need to take that to heart. It is their challenge, it’s their country.”
Another veteran in attendance said it is important for the students to realize that their freedom isn’t free.
“The freedom they enjoy is because of people like Jerry and I, and the World War II vets that are here,” Pete Dykstra, retired from the Army, said. “They have to understand that and it’s going away.”
Criss said the assembly was well attended and said she is proud to be part of a community that comes together in support of each other.
“We may be small, but we have big heart,” she said.
