Jackson Junior High School instructors are teaching students the importance of Veterans Day

There are big-hitting holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, when one typically sees students give to the community, said Jackson Junior High School industrial arts teacher Joe Moss. But Veterans Day has been one in need of more recognition at the junior high, he said, and he and another teacher at the school wanted to make it significant for students.

According to that teacher, Kyle Mabuce, who teaches history, a gesture to honor local veterans this year is a first step. The teachers created a banner to honor veterans and students have been signing it this week. It will be presented by four students to veterans living at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau on Nov. 11.

Moss and Mabuce picked the four presenters based on who they believe will represent the school well, not only in academics but with good character. Ryan Baker, Dante Vandeven and Jacqlyn Sievers, all ninth-graders, and Kacie Walley, an eighth-grader, are those students. Sievers and Walley both have fathers in the military serving overseas.

Vandeven said he doesn't have anything yet prepared he will say when he presents the banner to veterans, but he anticipates it will express his appreciation.

"I'll say what comes to my heart, and what feels personal," he said.

He said he thinks it will be good for the veterans to know that teenagers appreciate them.

Baker said with all veterans have done for America that making and presenting the banner is the least the students could do. To Sievers and Walley, the presentation of the banner and the meeting with veterans has a special meaning, both girls said. They know the veterans also understand the effect of the time families have to spend apart in order for a sacrifice to be made, they said.

Jackson High School has a program for Veterans Day each year that is normally attended by some of the veterans home residents. Mabuce said he hopes the junior high students' visit to the home will be the start of a good relationship between that school and the home and foster plans for more activities. The banner will hang at the home after the presentation.

eragan@semissourian.com

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