Cape Elementary to hold Veteran’s Day ceremony
Cape Elementary School will open its doors for a special Veteran’s Day ceremony to be held in conjunction with the Lawrence Kearny Chapter of the American Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
The school’s open-to-the-public veterans recognition event will held at 8:15 a.m. Friday, Nov. 9
Vets who would like to attend are asked to RSVP by Nov. 7 by calling the school at (239) 542-3551.
“We already honor about 40 veterans,” said Cape Elementary School Principal Nicole Osterholm. “We wanted to invite any veteran who would like to come and be honored.”
They typically celebrate veterans who have a tie to the elementary school, such as the students’ grandfathers, aunts, uncles, mothers, or fathers who have served. Over the summer, they met individuals associated with the group, Daughters of the American Revolution.
“They wanted to be a part of it. They honor Vietnam veterans,” Osterholm said.
Anne McGuire, regent for the Lawrence Kearny Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution said they welcome Vietnam veterans home and thank them for their service.
During the Cape Elementary School Veteran’s Day ceremony they will hand out a special pin, as well as gather information to provide a DAR certificate of appreciation.
“We are going to bring the Betsy Rose flag, Star Spangled Banner flag and our chapter and commemorative flag for our veterans,” McGuire said. “That way the kids can learn a little bit about that and give special recognition.”
McGuire said the members of the group all have direct lineage to ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.
“We do historic preservation and try to get the idea of what patronage is all about. We are trying to educate people what the United States is all about and where we came from,” she said.
The Veteran’s Day ceremony includes reading every veteran’s name, their military branch and rank. During the ceremony the students also give the veterans an essay, a card, and a red carnation for courage, love and kindness.
The Cape Elementary School choir will sing and the Cape Coral High School JROTC will conduct the folding of the flag.
Osterholm said it’s a nice veteran’s ceremony and a learning experience for the students. The experience teaches them such things as why the flag is folded, why the National Anthem is sung and why the taps are played, Osterholm said.
“When you are 5 or 6, Veteran’s Day is very difficult to understand. We try to teach our Cape kids what it’s about as well,” Osterholm said. “It pulls at your heart strings and how proud you are to be an American and how lucky you are.”
After the ceremony, some of the veterans visit the classrooms and participate in a question-and-answer forum with the students.